WSD road bike for tall women?

[HipGnosis6]

I'm considering a road bike and after talking to the ergonomics specialist at work, I've had to revise my previous thinking on women's specific designed bikes for myself. It was previously set at "can't be arsed" because I'm tall enough that a men's bike is okay or can be easily modified to be acceptable. Additionally, when I bought my current bike nobody had any WSD bikes in stock large enough for me to try! There were lots of choices out there, but they only had frames suitable for women around 5'4" (or less) available to try out.

I'm 5'10" and if I'm going to spend $2K on a bike I certainly want to test ride it before I buy. Is it going to be worth it to try to get a shop to order one in? What WSD bikes have other taller riders liked?

[colorisnt]

Well, I would say find a good LBS. They should be able to order in an appropriate frame. I just went through this with my Dad and myself. We are both very small people and need the smallest frame possible. So, opposite of your issue, but same. In the end, we both found bikes at my fave LBS because they always have a TON of sizes, but if we would have gone back to the one store, they would have ordered one for him.

They don't have a lot in your size because a lot are waiting for the 2011's to come in, but if you are serious about trying one, they will do it for you. A good one will NOT pressure you to buy.

I don't blame you at all for wanting to try the WSD before committing. Unless I try something, I am not willing to buy. Sorry. That is silly. But you can have them order you one in to try, which is what I would do.

Good luck and I hope you find the perfect bike!

[HipGnosis6]

Even without it being year-model turnover time, most bike stores don't have larger WSD bikes to ride, ever. I totally understand why - why stock an expensive item like a road bike that will only fit <5% of the population?

[7rider]

If you are tall, no one seems to carry your size in a WSD bike, and you can fit a "unisex" bike just fine, why do you feel you need a WSD bike? There should be plenty of alternatives for you to try in your price range.

[moonfroggy]

could you afford to spend more money and get a custom bike? if your proportions make it difficult to find a bike that fits and you have the money then a custom bike can be really wonderful. i love my luna! i am very short and find it very difficult to find bikes that fit at all so i went with a custom and it was expensive but worth every penny.

[Bike Goddess]

I am 5'9" + and have 2 road bikes (59 cm) as I have long legs and arms. As far as I know, WSD bikes were designed for women much shorter than you and I.

I've been riding since 2003, probably over 50,000 miles with no problems on my bikes. Sometimes I reverse the stem depending on what kind of riding I want to do. I even tried an adjustable stem on one of my bikes, but recently changed back to its original stem as it wasn't as comfortable as my other bike.

Not sure why you are concerned about WSD. I suggest you try out different brands and if you need to play around with the stem have the shop adjust it for you.

The big issue is making sure a bike is compatible with your body measurements. Any good bike shop should be able tell if a bike needs to be modified to fit you.

[KnottedYet]

The big deal seems to be torso length compared to appendage length.

If you think of the stereotyped female build as long appendages and relatively short torso compared to a male of the same height, then the chick may want the same size bike, but with a shorter top tube.

So yeah, there are WSD bikes for taller women, with relatively short top tubes compared to a standard bike of the same seat tube length.

WSD also takes into account a woman's longer femurs relative to a man of the same height, so tend to have slacker seat tube angles to keep KOPS correct.

WSD is also often applied to mean "small", which is unfortunate because then the benefit for taller female riders gets lost in translation.

But there is such a wide range of top-tube lengths (in the same seat tube size) and seat tube angles in the average sized bikes that it's fairly easy for most taller women to find one that fits. The selection and variation is much larger in the "average" sizes. (And those who can't find a geometry in the standard bikes should be able to find one in WSD, but with the emphasis on WSD=small, that can be tough to arrange.)

And some tall women (like me) have such long torsos that shorter top-tube WSD feel kind of freaky and cramped.

Hip, with all your clothing design experience you probably have a darn good idea about your torso/leg proportions, so you have a great short-cut to guide you on the WSD choice. If you want someone to take a peek, wander up to Free Range and ask Steen to help you. She is awesome about women and fit. She talked me out of a Soma Buena Vista, advising me to wait until they solved some issues... sigh.

[lcinva]

As someone above mentioned, WSD is more about torso length than height. While I'm not 5'10'', I am 5'7'' which is taller than most women the WSD were built for. I can't ride unisex bikes, I guess because my arms are short...I don't know, I've always been told I have a long torso - but on unisex bikes my arms are way too stretched out and it is totally uncomfortable. Getting a WSD was like night and day. I ended up with a Giant Avail Advanced 2, and I LOVE it. I think it was a teeny bit longer in the top tube than the Specialized WSD bikes, so I definitely am not cramped, but I'm also not stretched out hanging on to the bars for dear life. The bike stores I shopped at all had XS, S, and M in stock. I fit on a S.

I did notice in shopping around that the Specialized WSD were very difficult to find in 54" and above - many were totally out of stock.

Anyway, it totally depends on your body geometry, but I happen to fit on WSD bikes, in the same size that a petite 5'2'' with long arms would fit on.

[out_spokin']

Really depends on your inseam vs. torso. If you can ride a 56cm, you have a number of WSD options. If you need a taller frame than that, you really have only a couple choices. I'm 5'10 and all legs (need a 59ish seat tube) so believe me, I've tried. Another custom rider.

Terry has a great trial program and have a couple larger sizes. If you have a good LBS talk to them about getting one of them in to ride. And a few of Trek's road models come in a 58. Haven't ridden one yet, on my list IF I can track one down. Guessing that might not happen. I have yet to find any other stock WSDs in larger than a traditional 56cm size.

But if you really don't need WSD...just test ride the heck out of all the appropriately sized men's bikes, right??

[colorisnt]

The custom bike idea is a great thing, too. I just recently discovered the Luna cycles. Wow! If my next bike could be one of those - a commuter specifically - that would be awesome. Beautiful bikes and you can make them what you want. I don't know what I would do without my road bikes. My Columbia (the commuter) is a really old ladies custom. It's a nice bike.