OK so my husbands friend's wife is 5'3 and has a 26in inseam and is having a hard time finding a road bike that is small enough. she currently rides a 15 inch hybrid. What brand makes a road bike in her size?
trek, specialized, and believe it or not Cervelo... trek and specialized both offer women's specific bikes and cervelo makes an xs frame that is too small for me should fit her. take her to the lbs they can help. Look and Pinarello also offer a super small road frame the smallest pinarello may be too small for her.
what specific trek and cervelo should I look at? I'm thinking it would to be a 40cm or prolly smaller if she can barely sit on her 15 in hybrid.....
a road bike when stood over and the top tube is pulled all the way up til it rests in between your legs should place the wheels about an inch off the floor. this is of course a rough fit.. not exact. with a 26" inseam i would say about a 43-44cm bike depending on who makes it. the cervelo rs comes xs.. it may be too big but i would be surprised. all the wsd treks come in 43. generally a 15in mtb or hybrid rider would ride a 17in (43cm)road bike but often road bikes are measured different than mtbs thus a 45-47cm is closer to a 17in mtb in size... best thing to do is sit on a 43 and 47 and then decide.
i don't know if she's even be able to stand over the top tube. it just doesn't make sense to me. I have a 48cm bike and the top tube is like right against me when i stand over it. i would think i'd have plenty of room since my inseam is 32in. I need to find a bike that has a top tube lower to the ground for her and most bike sizing for the seat post i think. there's no way she'd be able to stand over a 43cm that's 16in, only 3 in down from what i have and our inseams are 6 in apart.
road bike geometry changes everything... a 43 cm road bike has a stand over somewhere between 24-25.5 inches depending on who built it. vs. a 15.5in trek Utopia that has a 28.4in stand over or the 17.5in that has a 29.4in stand over.. the trek madone in a 43cm frame that is 17in has a 64.4cm stand over that is 25.4in so 17in hybrid 29in stand over 15in hybrid 28in stand over 43cm road bike 25in stand over
basically because of the geometry which is why they ride different a 2" longer seat tube on a road bike has a 3" lower stand over than a hybrid/mtb
