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How to fit a mountain bike for a woman
Most women don’t fall into the 5′9″ to 6′ which category which, until recently, meant they had to stretch themselves onto a bike designed around a much larger body type. Finding a bike that pedals well without sacrificing comfort and proper geometry can be a real chore. In my neck of the woods, I see a lot of women riding small or extra small bikes with short stems and raked angles — I truly feel for these people because riding a poorly fit bike sucks.
Titus Cycles has a section on their website devoted to fitting a mountain bike for a woman (link via Mountain Bike Action. The article is pretty informative and provides a good starting point for finding an appropriate bike for a woman.
In addition to the Titus Cycles website, another good source for information geared specifically to women cyclists is SheCycles. SheCycles aims to be a complete resource for female cyclists and provides a number of decent (and free) sources of information for its readers. I’d recommend checking out the SheCycles Forum if you're a woman looking for some honest feedback about such-and-such a bike and its suitability for you and your riding style.
Sources: Titus Cycles | Mountain Bike Action | SheCycles
1. Posted by 2005 Specialized Enduro review at NSMB.com » The Biking Hub | 12:05 pm, 10 January 2006
[…] That being said, I do know that it’s difficult for many women to find a frame that matches their specific needs and the frame fitting process for women immediately eliminates a whole bunch of bikes from contention. However, the news isn’t all bad for you women riders out there. More and more manufacturers are realizing that bike fit plays an important role in getting people interested in your product and we’re starting to see more designs that take differing body types into consideration. […]