Originally Posted by
a1penguin
With sloping top tubes, stand over is less of an issue for finding a proper fitting bike. Women typically have smaller hands and brake reach and drop bar curl might also be problematic. Shops will often swap the stem at no charge, but no one wants to purchase a bike and then have to replace a lot of the parts. I suspect that these are more of a problem for people who fit the very small frame sizes, like 48s.
I am so tired of the mostly women's colors when trying to find cycling clothing to purchase. I don't want pink or aqua and I do not want flower patterns on my clothing. Often there is no high viz green/yellow in women's jerseys. While i don't see non-women specific bikes being much of a problem, it matters a lot with it comes to clothing.
I don't see 48 as 'very small', as I'm 5' 4", average height for a woman, and I ride ~48. If you're going by men's sizes, then yes, it is pretty small. That's what I like about Surly bikes; all their smaller frames are designed for smaller wheels, usually 650b. And yes, my brake levers are pretty far out, but I plan on wearing them out before swapping for something smaller.
My refurbished old skool steel mtb has 26" wheels, and it's a flippin' revelation. My hybrid with 700c wheels fits fine, but the mtb feels proportional, and is a delight to ride. Fortunately I had it set up as a road bike with big supple cruiser tires, so I rarely have to get off. What surprises me is that I'm just as fast as on my hybrid. It's also lighter, '90s steel vs. modern aluminum. Go figure.
And I feel ya about women's cycling clothes; I prefer plain hi viz as patterns tend to act like camouflage to break up your outline. I discovered that men's tech tees, while not stylish, work great at a fraction of the cost.