Woman's Mountain Bike

I just bought me a Trek 3700 mountain bike off a friend a month ago. My fiance and I am looking for her a mountain bike. We would use it for the trails and occasional road. Nothing too serious.

We have narrowed it down to three bikes:
Cannondale F9 Feminine
Specialized Myka HT Sport
Trek 3900 WSD

She will ride all three of them and choose but just from everyone's personal opionion which would you go with? My parents have Cannondale's and they are really light. She doesn't want anything too heavy.

 

As a girl, you are def. smart having her ride as many bikes as she can!

I own a trek 4900 non-women specific. Differences between wsd bikes vary from narrower handle bars, shorter top tubes, crank arms, seats etc. to fit our shorter reach, hands, hips ya know? She will know from test rides & keeping notes on each one. Also other adjustments can be made after like putting a nice woman specific saddle & a different handlebar stem right at the shop. These were changes I made to mine.


I would read forums on bike net or google those specific bikes to see what hits you get from real riders or reviews. These will go over the bikes specific components (shifters, brakes, f/r derreilleurs) to see what gives the most for your money at that price range.

There are some good subject matter experts on that here who may chime in for ya. In any case, heres a bump and great that she is getting out to ride a bike!

 

+1 for what xedge said...its very important that she gets a bike that fits her...

My wife started riding on hand me downs from our friends but couldn't get into it because they were so uncomfortable...we finally bought her one that I thought she would like...waste of money...she tried out a bunch of bikes and ended up picking a santa cruz juliana...It was one of the only bikes that she could fit (xs...about a 13in) that had the travel that she wanted. With her build Fox floats XT...mavic wheels...its around 22-23 lbs. Now that she has her own we ride about 4-5x per week together.
http://www.santacruzbicycles.com/juliana/

You can find some good deals on craigslist or mtbr.com
good luck.
thats great that you guys are starting to ride.

 

I agree 100% that it is important that the bike fits. But don't limit your choice to the women's bike frames. If she fits on a rockhopper or hardrock, then go with it. The women's frame, typically, just shorten the top tube. If her arms are fairly long, then there is no reason to not buy a better frame.

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy a Cannondale. My mom worked at the Bedford plant for 15 years, and I did as well for a summer after high school. With that being said, I've always wanted to buy one but never had enough money. By the time that I did, the quality went completely downhill and prices stayed super inflated from my view. The company has been sold, and they are completely moving overseas. BUT, somehow retaining their "Made in the USA" badging.

About 3 years ago, my fiancee and I bought Gary Fishers. They're a division of Trek. I was just not sure about the lifetime warranty that Cannondale boasts. At the time, I new people that worked there and could get 40% off, but still choose GF.

As for Specialized, I love their stuff. I have a pair of shoes and a seat from them. Their body geometry stuff. HIGHLY recommend Specialized. My next bike might be one, or Santa Cruz of course...

 

over the past 4 years, i've worked at 2 different bike shops (one at home, and one near my college) as a bike mechanic and builder.

while all three are very respectable brands, and the bikes you are looking at are all light and have good components, as a mechanic, i can tell you that in my experience, specialized are usually easier to fix and maintain.

but what it really comes down to is riding them...test them all, and the oneyou feel best on, is the right one.

 

Update-

We went to the bike shop and she chose the Cannondale F9 after riding them.

We took them to the trails this past weekend and she loves it.