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Women's Fitness/Flat Bar Road Bike with Thru Axles?

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Women's Fitness/Flat Bar Road Bike with Thru Axles?

Old 05-12-21, 01:55 PM
  #1  
aliasfox
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Women's Fitness/Flat Bar Road Bike with Thru Axles?

I'm looking to buy a bike for my wife - she's not big on cycling, so no point in recommending a Pinarello, but I want to get her a reasonably nice flat-bar road bike. Selfishly, I want her bike to have disc brakes and thru axles, mainly because I want to upgrade her bike with my Vision Team 30 wheels, and get myself a pair of LBW between seasons.

It seems like there's very little out there that meets that requirement - the only bike I've been able to find is the Marin Terra Linda 3. Are there any other options that people are aware of?

My wife is 5' 0.5" (about 153cm), so it's unlikely that there's a men's/unisex frame would fit her, unless sizing goes down well below the 49cm frame sizes that I see.

So basic requirements:
- Flat bar road bike
- Women's frame, or available in very small sizes
- Disc brake, thru axles
- Ballpark ~$1k
- All other specs/features can be considered

Looking forward to hearing what people have. Thanks!
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Old 05-12-21, 02:28 PM
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It can be very annoying on longer rides to only have one hand position. You can add horns and other stuff to flat bars to give more positions for hands. But then why spend that money when you can just get a drop bar bike with a high stack if that is what is desired.

If the riding isn't going to be much longer than an hour, then maybe not the big issue I make it out to be. <grin>
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Old 05-12-21, 03:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Iride01
It can be very annoying on longer rides to only have one hand position. You can add horns and other stuff to flat bars to give more positions for hands. But then why spend that money when you can just get a drop bar bike with a high stack if that is what is desired.

If the riding isn't going to be much longer than an hour, then maybe not the big issue I make it out to be. <grin>
Yeah, I don't expect she'd be joining me on very long jaunts, but I imagine the high end would be about an hour in each direction, with a break/lunch in between. I'd be surprised if we were to do more than 30-40 miles at a stretch - I don't often go beyond 40-50 miles myself anyway.
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Old 05-12-21, 03:35 PM
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I just found the Giant FastRoad SL. Smallest size is 17.5. Of course they're all sold out.

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Old 05-12-21, 06:20 PM
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Someone else ask about these the other day.....

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/sh...wheelsize:650C


They look like nice bikes, though they have the flat bar I dislike so much. But on their plus side, they have 650B wheels and tires that will probably be better for some one < 5' 4" or somewhere there about.

I've also been trying to get my wife to check out these bikes............

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...=%3Arelevance#


I'd actually get one for myself if she does buy it. I feel that if I'm on that same type frame that it might curb my need for speed somewhat. And note that most have sweptback bars that IMO will be more comfortable. Wheel sizes might vary on those, but I think most are smaller diameter than 700C.


https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...colorCode=blue

Last edited by Iride01; 05-12-21 at 06:23 PM.
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Old 05-13-21, 07:25 AM
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Thanks, but was definitely hoping for something a bit sportier, specifically with thru-axles. Definitely plenty of options without thru-axles, even if they're not really available at dealers.
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Old 05-13-21, 10:58 AM
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Sounds kind of selfish to make her get what you want. But maybe you aren't. Just seems from the posts that your wants are the overriding concern.

My wife won't even look at a bike with 700C wheels anymore after having a very small framed bike with 700C wheels. It just didn't fit her short 5' 2" height like she wanted. So if those wheels you want to put on your wife's bike are 700C, then you might find she won't ride much.

But if your wife has always been a very active person she may not mind the bigger wheeled bikes.
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Old 05-13-21, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Iride01
Sounds kind of selfish to make her get what you want. But maybe you aren't. Just seems from the posts that your wants are the overriding concern.

My wife won't even look at a bike with 700C wheels anymore after having a very small framed bike with 700C wheels. It just didn't fit her short 5' 2" height like she wanted. So if those wheels you want to put on your wife's bike are 700C, then you might find she won't ride much.

But if your wife has always been a very active person she may not mind the bigger wheeled bikes.
It's more that I have no trouble finding bikes with smaller wheels, or bikes with quick releases, or suspensions, or adjustable stems - almost every manufacturer has something that fits that criteria. I could walk into an Trek, Specialized, or Liv dealer and find something that she could test ride. My thought in starting this thread was just to provide a few more options for her to try - and if they happen to provide a better upgrade path in the form of thru-axles and mutual compatibility with my bike(s), then even better.
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Old 05-14-21, 02:09 PM
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Sirrus 4.0 meets your specs but it's $1,400 and good luck finding one.
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Old 05-14-21, 02:12 PM
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Originally Posted by Razorrock

Sirrus 4.0 meets your specs but it's $1,400 and good luck finding one.
I somehow missed that. Shame on the price... and the availability. I would've thought that with lockdowns relaxing and vaccines being distributed, the bike boom would be petering off this year - really doesn't seem like it.
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Old 05-14-21, 08:31 PM
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I picked up this on the used bike market for my wife and then put the Bontrager Aelous Pro 37's on it. She loves it. Trek FX 4 Sport Carbon. She likes it cause it is a 1x setup. I replaced the 11-34 as we do not need that much climbing cogs, to a 14-28, which is perfect for her. Could go with a 11-28, but I had this one on hand. She does like it though as we get lots of wind, and she can find the perfect cogs as it has 1 tooth jumps to from 14-21. I also recently put a Bontrager Verse saddle on it, which she found much more comfortable. My wife is 5-3, barely.....she thinks she is 5-4.


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Old 05-15-21, 06:20 AM
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https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/thrive-2-2021

My wife was considering this bike but I convinced her to go with a drop bar road bike instead, the Liv Avail AR 4.
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