Standover heights?!?

[tattiefritter]

Hi Cari,

I've had a quick search on our web hosted photos and found a few of me on the ML, most of them are from the front though. There is a panning one from the side which although slightly blurred does show how I fit on the bike. I do like a small frame and I have also moved my saddle quite a bit further back since that photo was taken (on an inline post) as for reasons that escape me now it was quite far forward on the rails. There have been problems with directly linking to Fotopic pictures directly but you should be ok with going into the gallery (fingers crossed). The photo to look for is "Julie-pan" in the bottom left hand corner.


http://gallery127676.fotopic.net/c966863.html

There are other pictures of me on the ML (and some of my other bike - but its green so obvious) in the various galleries accessible from the Index.

Anything labelled Julie...

[Lara]

I just bought an XS Ellsworth Truth that has 4" travel in the rear and up to 105 mm in the front. It has a slightly shorter wheelbase than the S, but I felt that the cockpit fit me perfectly, whereas I was a bit too long in the torso for the SC Juliana. I am 5'4" with a 30.5 inseam but have shortish arms...

One thing about Ellsworth is that they are handcrafted in the US and the bike tracks like a dream over technical stuff. Also, the styling is better than anything else on the market though the bent top tube does compromise the look (yet provides a nice clearance when you have to bail.)
The "Ellsworth Mafia" makes it hard to get a hold of the XS (you may have to wait a few months), but they should fly one out to your local dealer if you would like to try one.

Cost of bike with a SRAM X7 gruppo...4500. Having the coolest bike in town...priceless.

[Puffin]

Cari, I'm about 5"3 and ride the smallest GF Cake, with the saddle quite far back. It's my first full susser and I feel invincible on it. It is very forgiving of poor riding and slippery surfaces.

The key is to test ride in conditions you normally ride in so you have a good comparison. I did find that since I'd never ridden full suss before, all the bikes I tried seemed pretty good. In the end I got the Cake because the price was right (the bogey green colour certianly wasn't! ) and I felt safe on it going down hill - the set up is pretty laid back. It's a bit heavy to pull up hills but I've got lock down forks that help with that, as well as some lightweight components.

Good luck!

[fatbottomedgurl]

So Cari did you ever get a bike?

I'm 5'2". For those interested the Giant Trance has an EXTREMELY low standover. I ride the 14" frame. It is not a racing bike but a great trail bike. The Trek Fuel also has a low standover. On it I fit a 15" (unisex) frame whereas the Gary Fisher Cake gives me no clearance on the same size bike. The 13" Cake fits my inseam but feels a little short in the cockpit, as does the small WSD Fuel. These bikes all come in lower pricepoints than the Santa Cruzes and Titus.