Spec the lady a bike

[Russinating]

My girlfriend's been after a bike for a while and we've just been keeping our eyes out on the second hand market to no avail.

If she lived in Amsterdam/in her dream world then this is her ideal pretty bike: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dawes/cambridge-mixte-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035291. Unfortunately even 7 gears won't cut it in Bristol and it won't be fun to exercise/do proper rides on.

If she wasn't a student then this would be her ideal sporting bike to match mine: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_777803_langId_-1_categoryId_165710. Unfortunately she's still going to be a student for another year so can't justify/afford £800 on a bike.

So, we need a middle ground and I'm after some recommendations. Basically around the £300-400 mark, decent range of gears, pretty (so she can potter about on it feeling good about herself) and functional (so she won't get fed up of doing longer rides on it).

Any ideas?

Edit: Oh, and she's tiny (around 5ft) so it needs to be available in a small frame size.

 

[Saundie]

Does she specifically need a woman's frame? It limits the choice quite significantly.

Something like this would be my suggestion; it's not "pretty" but then again, it's not ugly, and more importantly it has a really decent range of gears.

 

[Russinating]

When you say a woman's frame, do you mean a dropped bar?

 

[George Hincapie]

When you say a woman's frame, do you mean a dropped bar?

Some companies make racing frames with female specific geometry. Not a dropped top tube in the sense that I suspect you're thinking, but more female friendly

 

[Saundie]

When you say a woman's frame, do you mean a dropped bar?

Yes, in part. Though as I understand it, women's frames have slightly different geometries - I'm no expert on that though, as I barely understand how it works for normal frames.

 

[[DOD]Asprilla]

Women tend to have longer leg / shorter body ratios than men so the geometry is different.

 

[Russinating]

I'm not sure then to be honest. She'll try any recommendations before buying anyway so happy to have some from both sides.

 

[Big Chris]

I'm looking at getting my Mrs one of these: Specialized Vita

 

[Russinating]

Interesting that they do a step-through version of the Vita too. That would be good considering her height, but what are the disadvantages of that?

 

[Big Chris]

Interesting that they do a step-through version of the Vita too. That would be good considering her height, but what are the disadvantages of that?

None at all, AFAIK it just makes it easier for women in skirts to get on/off the bike without flashing! They do that bike in XS too, although from Speccy themselves there's a wait but you should be able to find it elsewhere.

 

[Jonny69]

As mentioned above, generally, women's frames are shorter because they have proportionally shorter bodies and arms than men. Watch most women on a men's frame and they look uncomfortably stretched out.