goldfinch

I am very short, using a 43 to 44cm road bike size. Does anyone make a road bike that is electric assist that small? It looks like Trek's Domane is not even small. One of the Specialized Creo's on their website lists extra small but out of stock. Did one ever exist? Any ideas?

Martha, at 4'11"

linberl

Put your own assist unit on a bike that fits you well. Lots of options. For a light road bike, if you're only going to need a bit of assist, you could go with a friction drive (Onemotor, Zipdrive, etc.). For a bit more weight penalty, you can do a small hub motor system (Grin Technologies, Bafang). If you've got tons of $$$, get something custom built for you and see if they will install the assist system.

veganbikes

We are hoping the Creo will be out in XS later this year I could have sold at least one last year but ended up customizing a Vado 5.0. She still loves it but I know she wanted the Creo. If you are looking at road bikes you might consider reaching out to Zinn Cycles, Lennard and his team specialize in bikes for those outside size ranges and could probably build quite a nice e-bike with the Bosch system. He built one for himself and is making others.

https://zinncycles.com

Cheers,
Jeff

goldfinch

If it looks like the Creo might be out this year in xs I will probably wait. I want the light weight, and something comfortable for long rides (75 miles or more). Rather not fuss with custom unless I have to. But, I'll do what I have to do. Money isn't an issue.

The Big Wheel

Just from my own experience owning a mountain bike and a commuter bike with no front or rear suspension, I plan on putting an electric motor on the mountain bike. Just comparing the ride between the two the mountain bike feels like a Cadillac compared to the other bike which feels like riding in car with 20" rims. If you add a motor to a non suspension bike the ride will get pretty harsh and you'll have to watch out for cracks/small potholes whereas with the mountain bike you can just float right over it.

2old

As noted above, why not add assist to one of your current bikes now, especially since you'll have a "perfect" fit? The type will depend on how much assist you want/need. There's everything from a 7 pound Leeds front wheel kit, even lighter friction system or a 14 or so pound mid-drive (Luna BBS02 and "mini" battery which is quite powerful). Delineate your requirements and we'll try to help, but sounds like the friction would be an excellent choice.

chas58

I love canyon bikes, and I'm grateful they started selling them in the US. For women like you, an extra huge bonus is that they make the small bikes with 650b wheels instead of 700c wheels. This gives you the benefits of "typical male" bike geometry, but with a wheel size more appropriate to someone under 5 feet tall.
The roadliten is a flat bar road bike. I like the subtle integrated look of the fazua drive train (which makes the bike look like a nonebike). in the XS size, it uses 650b wheels (for people under 162cm). They just announced their "endurance" road bike in an ebike version if you like the roadie thing. They have mountain bikes too. Not sure on their release schedule where you live. Still, Canyon rocks for people under 5' tall!


https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/e-bikes/e-fitness-bikes/roadlite-on/roadlite-on-al-8.0/2294.html?dwvar_2294_pv_rahmenfarbe=BK#!accordions=0_1

I so want one, but I've been riding my own designs for about 7 years now. Still, if they get around to making a gravel bike with a fazua drive (My e-grail!) I may want to go that direction...

goldfinch

I have two road bikes, a Madone (43cm carbon) and a Serotta (44cm titanium) Both have 650c wheels. Don't need a lot of assist but I don't know how hard it would be to put an assist on such small frame. The assist is to help me deal with hills, as I am having knee and hip issues. I can ride very long rides without assist but hills are becoming more difficult to come at all close to keeping up with my riding partner and not hurting myself.

goldfinch

I like these. Have to see if they sell anywhere near me (holed up in our Arizona home awaiting virus pause to go back to Minnesota home). EDIT: no indication of US sales of anything bu the mountain ebike. And the 2XS is too big.

2old

Hill assistance screams mid-drive (to me), so it's DIY or whatever OEM you can locate (I've built front and rear hub drives, but don't think they're the answer for hills). It's too bad Revel Propulsion in OR sold their current production run in 24 hours since they have an excellent mid-drive. You can look for the posts here, in MTBR and Endless Sphere as well as their web site.

linberl

Check out the system I have. Onemotor.co. I use it on both my bikes, an advantage over any other system on the market. Super light weight, and you can pull the entire thing off to ride analog in seconds. I bought it because I started having issues will hills. Easily gets me up SF hills and I've not come close to usinng full power!

Bluesfrog

I hope you find that bike. I am 5'1". Mom was 4'11". I had difficulty until I went to a "local" Trek store. I found Bike store Valhalla there. Biscari Brothers Bicycles in Liberty Missouri. They got me a Trek 520 in '08 and the rest is history. I now have three bikes from them. All fitted to me and a year of service from them on each. They stuck with me on the road bike even though it was a used bike. No, I don't get paid or any other considerations. The store is 35 miles each way but they always work me in for bike service. If you look into the custom bike more let us know what you find and decide upon. Good luck and Be Well, Bluesfrog.

The Big Wheel

Don't most brands like Specialized and Trek offer XS bike sizes? I have a Trek XL so I don't see why they wouldn't offer XS.

veganbikes

If budget is less of a concern, go custom and you will thank yourself for it. Having a bike that is built for you to your size and shape and fitness and things you want on it is absolutely awesome. I know it sounds like it is some work and I won't lie and say it isn't but at the end you will have YOUR BIKE. That bike is actually yours not just a stock size salesperson A pulled off the shelf. You will be so happy with it and you will be helping out the building community which is awesome. Lennard Zinn in particular is a fountain of bike and fitting knowledge and having built a pretty nice e-bike for himself he can do the same for you and make it work well for you. Plus it will have Bosch so you can more easily get it serviced and get parts for it and warranty support that sometimes above and beyond. Plus titanium is such a great material for bikes especially in the right hands.

Getting a fit and then coming out with a bike based on that is pretty neat and something I hope to do with him this year unless I end up going "cheap" and getting the Supercharger2 Rohloff HS from R+M and upgrading certain things that don't quite do it for me on the stock build. I was talking with the team at Zinn last year and they said they could make my vision come to life so I just have to decide if I can do it or if I need to wait.