Do Most ladies don't need a 29'er so don't even worry about that set of bikes?

[ibike]

I heard my friends once said "Most ladies don't need a 29'er so don't even worry about that set of bikes",is it true?Show me your opinion.

[RS VR6]

It would depend on how tall the lady is.

If she's under 5'3" (160cm), then I would consider a 650b. The issue with short riders and 29ers is 1: standover, 2: handlebar height. A lot of women's geometry frames have a curve where the top tube and seat tube meet. That will help with standover, but not with the bar height.

My girlfriend is 5'6" (168cm) and she fits perfectly on a small Niner EMD 9.

[trekcarbonboy]

I don't think most guys on here could keep up with CMH's wife on her 29er. Myself included. I'm behind her on all the local Strava segments. She's not very tall either.

[ibike]

It would depend on how tall the lady is.

If she's under 5'3" (160cm), then I would consider a 650b. The issue with short riders and 29ers is 1: standover, 2: handlebar height. A lot of women's geometry frames have a curve where the top tube and seat tube meet. That will help with standover, but not with the bar height.

My girlfriend is 5'6" (168cm) and she fits perfectly on a small Niner EMD 9.

Well,thanks a lot.Maybe I can choose a 650b

[cmh]

I don't think most guys on here could keep up with CMH's wife on her 29er. Myself included. I'm behind her on all the local Strava segments. She's not very tall either.

This is truth. Yesterday we rode the race course for a race that happened this past Saturday. Chasing her in the prologue trails, (just the last 2/5ths of the race course) my Strava time was 8 seconds off the PR that I had set in the race - and we had stopped for a quick regroup on the segment, so we were going faster than my race pace! A buddy who was riding with us knows his max HR is 176 - and he hit 175 on the same segment.

She resisted even trying a 29er for a long time, but then we got a chance for her to demo a Scott Scale 29er. She really enjoyed it, so we got that one, an aluminum frame. She rode that bike and her carbon 26er about evenly, but then we got the chance for her to demo a carbon Scale 29er, and that basically spelled the doom of her 26er. I just rebuilt the 26er as a 2x10 'cross bike with 29er wheels and Continental X-King 700x32 tires that JUST clear the frame and fork arches.

She's 5'3", and the 29er works REALLY well for her. I'd love to have her try a 650b bike, but of course, true to form, she's resisting that. 

[timwa]

Whilst my wife and I don't race our bikes, we both have 29ers and love them.  In fact she has two - an On One Inbred 29er and a Giant Talon 29er.  Great for getting around on. I do like my IP-057 tho