I'm iffy on gearing, at best. I live at sea-level, and not much applies. That's why I thought a frameset would be better, but that can be a pain.
FWIW, Trek has great women's bikes. Dialed in, backed by a lot of research.
Very true. My Domane 4.3 WSD is one of the very few bikes I've owned that fit me right, no mods or ad ons needed. All I had to do was adjust the seat height and start riding.