I’ve been asked by a few girls recently whether it’s really worth buying a mountain bike specific to ladies. What is it, they ask, that makes a Ladies Mountain Bike unique?
Well, to be honest, I didn’t have a clue! So I asked Angela Hall, a female biking friend of Mountain Bikes Apart, what she thought. Luckily, she had a much more insightful female view on the question, making up for my ignorant male ways. Here’s what she had to say on ladies mountain bikes:
Ladies Mountain Bikes are designed around the average women’s build. Women in general are smaller, lighter, and shorter in the torso and arms than the average male. In general we have proportionally longer legs than men and not surprisingly our hips are wider and shoulders narrower and therefore we may be more suited to a frame designed specifically for our build. Women specific Mountain Bikes are designed with a shorter distance from the seat to the handlebars, shorter handlebar width and several other features that may accommodates the female frame better.
My suggestion would be to try both (male and female bikes) as I’ve also ridden a few male mountain bikes and found them equally comfortable. Granted, not for any long distance, but enough to get an idea. In the long run, though, when looking to prevent prevent upper body strain and joint injuries, I think I’ll always prefer my ladies mountain bike. Saying that, male mountain bikes can be modified to make them more user friendly for women. [You can make huge changes to your bike’s geometry with really small changes: see below – Colin] It’s all about comfort and getting the best out of our bikes.
So, thanks to Angela for that. You can find Angela on twitter if you want to ask her any more questions.
Customising a Men’s Bike for Ladies
To follow up Angela’s comment about making guys’ bikes more user friendly for women, that’s totally true. Two parts that can make a huge difference to your geometry are the stem and the handlebars. Simply installing a longer or a shorter stem straight away gives you a tighter or a more spacious cockpit. And a pair of riser bars can do the same thing. Similarly, both components can be set so that you’re more upright in the saddle, or in more of a racing position. Both seem to fit a lot of the requirements for ladies’ mountain bikes.
Another place to tinker with is the seat-post. Easton do some great lay-back seatposts which give you a bit more room, so possibly you could toy with getting a very small men’s bike and then customising with that. You’ve not got as much flexibility here as with the stem and risers (they go plus and minus in terms of shrinking/expanding the cockpit) but everyone’s unique, so you never know.
Anyway, I hope that gives you some ideas on whether you need to buy a specific ladies mountain bike. If you decide to go for it, check out our article on the Top 5 ladies mountain bikes around – should give you some tips!
If you have some views on this, please drop a comment below. If you’re a girl riding guy’s bikes, then let me know. Or a girls that swears by ladies mountain bikes, again, drop us a line.
Image Credit: hyper7 on Flickr
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