Tall women (wsd or men's bike?) Trek or Specialized?

[thinkpink1718]

I have been shopping for a hybrid bike for a while and have narrowed it down to the Trek fx series or the Specialized Sirrus/Vita series.

I'm really confused about whether or not I should be getting a women's (wsd) or men's model. The shops tend to steer me towards the men's bikes, but mostly for resale reasons.

I'm 5' 10.5" and have a long torso, but not particularly long legs or arms for my height. I'm know I'm not suposed to care about this, but I like the look of the women's design better.

The thing I worry about is that the shops dont tend to carry womens bikes in the 19" model that I would need, so I probably wouldn't be able to ride it before ordering.

So, tall women: WSD or mens? Trek or Specialized?

[tzvia]

If you have a long torso and shortish legs, I would suggest the Mens first. Of course, try them out, and have the shop work with you on getting the size right. WSD bikes tend to have shorter top-tubes and possibly shorter stems, as the 'typical' woman has longer legs and a shorter torso than the typical male.

Remember, you need to be comfortable on the bike. The WSDs will probably make you more upright, try it and the mens before deciding. Between the two brands I would choose whichever felt better, and if that was a wash, whichever was the better value and had the better component spec.

[tulip]

Whichever fits best. It doesn't matter, as long as it fits you properly.

[roadwrider]

I had a bad bike fitting experience a year ago when I was fit to a bike that actually turned out to be too big for me. It was not a WSD, but I found at the time that some manufacturers downplayed the mens vs. womens designs. You're right, not many shops carry womens designs, especially if a mens bike is pretty close to the same size. After having trouble with the fit of my bike, I found a LBS with a legendary fit master whom I now hold to near guru status. I highly recommend you find someone like Art who really knows their stuff and can help you choose and fit the bike; not just the bikes the shop sells, but really knows bikes. I'm tall too, 5'9"+, and I have long legs and arms but not a particularly long torso. We went through a process of measuring every imaginable angle of my geometry and then looking through bike specs to find just the right one for me. It pained me to have to do it but I now have a new "new" ride and couldn't be happier.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

[SheFly]

I'm 5'10" with a long torso as well. The WSD bikes are simply too short for me in the top tube. I am comfortably riding men's frames on ALL my bikes (road, 'cross, MTB).

As others have said, fit is THE MOST IMPORTANT aspect. While the colr/design is nice, if it doesn't fit, you won't ride it.

SheFly

[thinkpink1718]

Yeah, it's just hard to know what fits best when I can only ride one of the four bikes on my list... The mens trek. It's frustrating...

And everyone keeps talking about how important the fit is, so it is stressing me out.

[tulip]

Trek and Specialized are fine, but you might want to take a look at some other offerings, too. Jamis and Giant come immediately to mind. Ride as many as you can, in the correct size. If your bike shop won't order one for you to ride, try other bike shops. It's very difficult to know how a bike is going to fit without riding it.

[FlyingScot]

I'm only 5'5" but am very long in the torso and short in the arms and legs. As much as I wanted the Specialized Dolce because it was prettier, hey I'm still a girl, I ended up having to go with the Sequioa Elite. The LBS tried to get the Dolce to fit but it just wasn't going to happen no matter how much tweaking they did with handlebars, stem and seats. My bike may not be all that pretty but it fits and I'm comfortable on it. If it wasn't comfortable I doubt I'd ride it and those cute butterflies would have been an expensive mistake.

[out_spokin']

Fit before style....but no need to stress! Even if you don't want/can't afford a full fitting, one of your shops should be able to do a mini fit to help you get into the correct size. If they can't or won't do that, search for an online fit calculator, there are a number of posts in this forum suggesting ones you can do yourself/with a friend. Then use those measurements to compare different models on top tube length and standover height. Then you can call around and ride some potential matches!

They shouldn't be steering you to models based on resale (!) but based on fit and your riding style and goals. There are very few tall WSDs, so if your torso and arm length allows it you'll find more options in mens.

And +1 to what Tulip said -- yeah, Trek & Specialized are best known, but consider a few other brands. My experience is that the biggest shops in town carry those brands, but sometimes smaller shops will offer more attention and a different variety. I'd consider adding Raleigh, Cannondale and Fuji to the mix...

[thinkpink1718]

The problem is we only have one "local" store, so they kind of have a monopoly and don't seem to be much help... They only cary Trek's in the store, it's a hassle to get a Specialized in, and they can't get much else...

But, I called around to neighboring towns (about 40 mins away) and found a couple of others who carry Specialized, Cannondale, and Giant. One store was very helpful and is going to order a couple wsd in my size and let me ride them and the "mens" bikes to compare.

It'll only take 3-4 days to get them in too!

I'll let you know how it goes...

[Jiffer]

I am 5'9". I have a regular frame (as opposed to women's specific). The non-women specific aren't technically "men's frames", they're just frames that men or women can ride. My husband and LBS guy considered the Specialized Ruby for me when I got my first bike (I didn't know nuthin', so I let them pick!). But because of my height, they decided it wasn't necessary to get a WSD and they gave him a screamin deal on a Cannondale CAAD9 frame, to which DH put all the components to his previous bike on (and bought himself a new Cannondale System Six). So, while the Ruby might not have been the wrong "fit", it was economically better to go with the CAAD9, and I ended up with a better bike, because all of the components DH put on were better ... Dura Ace, etc.

I had it professionally fit by a really great fitter and the size seemed fine for me. However, I did finally figure out that I needed compact handlebars. I was never comfortable in my drops, reaching the brakes and shifters, and that was not a matter of the bike sizing, just the handlebars themselves. I told dh I needed WSD handlebars and, after research and talking to LBS, he got what are called "compact" handlebars for smaller hands ... not technically "women's specific". He ended up getting himself some as well after trying out my mine.

So, for me, I didn't need a women's specific bike, but I did need compact handlebars. I have since upgraded to a Super Six frame, same size (54) as the CAAD9.

[KnottedYet]

I'm 5'10" with a long torso as well. The WSD bikes are simply too short for me in the top tube. I am comfortably riding men's frames on ALL my bikes (road, 'cross, MTB).

Me, too. The only really "WSD" thing about me is my long femurs, which is easily managed with good saddle placement.

[ScaldedCat]

I'm not especially tall at 5'9.5 and 32" inseam but I don't need a bike with women's specific geometry. I had a bike fit session on the jig in my local road bike specialists and found that a standard road frame would fit, in my case a 21.5 inch(c-t) with am 80mm stem and 40cm wide bars.
Of course everyones body proportions are different so even someone the same height and inseam as me may require a quite different set-up.

[WolfGirl]

I'm not at all tall (5'3") with a longish torso and short legs. I have a Trek 7.5 WSD that I bought before I knew anything about fitting bikes. Recently I took it to a fitter who said that the bike was the right size ("not at all too big for you" was how he put it) but that he would have probably had me try one size up if he were selling it to me today. We ended up putting a longer stem on it, which has helped considerably; apparently my longer torso was scrunched a bit with the stock stem. FWIW.

I'm glad the other shop out of town is helping you out more! Good luck!

[thinkpink1718]

I rode a Specialized Sirrus and a Raleigh Cadent FT1 today and liked them both better than the Trek FX! I should be able to ride the Vita this week, but it's looking like the "mens" model is going to work well for me.

I'm leaning toward the Raleigh, but liked both bikes a lot...

Anyone know anything about the components? From what I can tell, the Raleigh has upgraded tires and rear derailer. It's only about $40 more, so I'm thinking it would be worth it. The seat seemed more comfortable to me too.

Does anyone have any Raleigh experience?