smurray

As a birthday present for my wife I've decided to get her a new townie style bike. In order to have it be a fun project we can do together I either wanted to get a vintage bike we could fix up or a frameset we could build together. I did a bit of research and unfortunately it seems her first choice in style (vintage English 3-speed) isn't going to work for her due to her being a bit vertically challenged (5'1"). Her second choice is to get a mixte frame and build that up as a townie. Soma has their Buena Vista frameset that she likes but I'm having a hard time figuring out what size would work best for her. The smallest they have that uses 700c or 650b wheels is a 50cm. I'm afraid that might still be a bit big for her but I'm not sure. They also have a 42cm size that uses 26" wheels, but I have no idea how sizing works when converting to a different size wheel so am not sure if that would be too small. I could really use any advice I can get. I unfortunately don't have her inseam measurement but I can try and get it if it will make a huge difference.

EDIT: In case it's relevant, her current bike is a single-speed Electra Townie. That bike only comes in one size and it seems to fit her fine. I don't know what the frame size is and I can't seem to find it published anywhere.

Wilfred Laurier

there are two measurements you need to check to see if the frames and bikes you are considering
are in the same ballpark as your wifes current bike

on the drawing below

A
is the seat tube length
usually the length of the tube between the centre of the bottom bracket axle
and the top of the frame where the seatpost emerges


B
is the top tube length
the distance between the top of the head tube
and where a horizontal line meets the seat tube or seat post




if A is close then the seat will almost definitely
be able to be adjusted to the same height as her current cruiser

if B is close then the reach to the handlebars can almost definitely
be able to be adjusted to similar to her cruiser

when a bikes size is given in inches or cm it is usually the seat tube length

my wife is a tad under five foot three
and she has a 14 inch mountain bike
and a 43 cm road bike

ThermionicScott 

The confound is that the Townie has that goofy geometry (really slack seat tube) in order to let the rider put their feet on the ground from the saddle, so it's not directly comparable to a more conventional bike. Otherwise, I'd suggest using a level ruler between the top of the head tube and the seat tube to measure the "effective top tube length" which you could then use when looking at the geometry of other bikes.

fietsbob

5'1" a better fit and balance happens with smaller than 700c wheels . so let go of that wheel size.

smurray

The 50cm frame can take 650b wheels and the 42cm takes 26" wheels.

cyclezen

this chart was posted in Road forum a little while back.
https://pistescyclables.ca/bikes/ebic...road-bikes.pdf
now it doesn't work for everyone, but it's handgrenade close for many. It might help/confirm some of you rthoughts on a size for her.
without the basic sizing measurements, I would say that sizes from 49 down to 45 should/might be workable, with 47 being in the middle and 43 being on the extreme small side for someone 5'1".

fietsbob

Ms Terry uses 559 wheels a lot.. She ha long been making bikes for women, now you can get one from her

built around a frameset she gets from Waterford to her Specs. so its quality.


https://www.terrybicycles.com/Bicycles/Semi-Custom

TampaRaleigh

It all depends on her inseam. My first wife was 5'2" and rode a 46 cm. My 4th wife is 5'1" and rides a 48 cm.

KBentley57

+1. My wife's bike is a BD giant clone. it's a 48.5 cm frame and she's ~ 5'5"; the front wheel is already oncomfortably close to the tip of her shoe on turns if she's not careful about it. at 4" shorter, she'd probably need a 45-46 cm frame in that style.

fietsbob

Usual fit tweak for many frames is just make the seat tube steeper to shorten the reach .
making weight shift to the hands..

sreten

Hi,

A 26" wheeled bike is more likely to fit a person around 5' than a 700C wheeled bike.

Around 5' and 700C requires extreme geometry, for 26" more conventional.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/somafab...57632050563429

rgds, sreten.

A little too small is generally better than a little too big.