Short people FS bike... HELP

Originally posted by Leifless
dont sc bullits come pretty small these days?

they come in extra small also - one of the girls that used to be on here had one and she ran 24" wheels front and back - i think she was only 5' tall also.

whatever you get i'd suggest running a 24" front and rear, rather than just in the rear

Originally posted by Lady Gravity
**

whatever you get i'd suggest running a 24" front and rear, rather than just in the rear **

I was wondering about that… doesn't it make it harder to roll over things though? the last thing I want to do is build her a bike that makes it harder to ride technical trails…

although 24" wheels accelerate faster then 26" so she could run a little larger tire and still pedal up…

anyone on here using dual 24" for trail riding? just curious how they roll over logs etc…

We have been looking for a light weight free ride bike for my girlfriend too. She has been running dual 24"s on an older cross country dual suspension. It is warn out.

We have found the small Chapparal, the Specialized Enduro, and the Cannondale Jekyll to fit well and offer a more relaxed geometry.

-the Chap. is likely the strongest and most durable, but it costs more.

-the Specialized Enduro works pretty darn good but the geometry is still a bit on the cross country side I think.

-the Jekyll is a Cannondale which is hard to look past and comes with their Lefty Fork. They have adjustable travel though, their suspension action is great and they are super low and lite.

The 4x4 is really kinda heavy for a little bike isn't it?

Thanks for posting the question, I have been able to get useful info. from this thread.

Cheers,
Buzzes

Originally posted by buzzes
**We have been looking for a light weight free ride bike for my girlfriend too. She has been running dual 24"s on an older cross country dual suspension.

Cheers,
Buzzes **

what does she think of dual 24's? I'm really curious because that could help a lot…

I'm just looking for a frame… she has some great kit that has come off some of my other bikes… and I'll be getting her a pair of 170mm cranks soon so that will work with the dual 24's…

Cannondales aren't cheap either… and finding a jekyl that small used will be like searching for a needle in a hay stack… but they are light and small with 5" so that might be perfect… the bike has got to be light…

I have a small Santa Cruz Superlight for sale. SC claim it fits down to 5'2" though so it might be too big. Being a small guy myself, one thing you just have to get used to is not being able to reach the ground when seated. The bb can only be so low before the pedals start smacking the roots and rocks, particularly for full suspension as both ends squat down. If you put 24's on a frame intended for 26, the bb will be too low IMHO and it'll be a shitty pedal smacking ride. Not to mention the rings snagging every single log ond rock.

It has a lot to do with crank length… also… she doesn't run a big ring… though I will defiently consider BB height before doing it…

what year/ colour is your superlight? does it have a rear disk mount? PM me if you still have it for sale…

Center-Top the SL is a 17" frame and Santacruz actually suggests it down to 5'0"… that doesn't seem like it works to me?

dual 24?

im a midget and the small chaparral works great for me.

also, the small heckler is awesome for us shorter folks.

Actually now a that I read this thread again. How about the Santa Cruz Juliana? Women's specific bike. Essentially a Superlight but smaller and geometry for a woman. I don't know if they make them anymore but they did last year so a used one might present itself.

Originally posted by flowrider
Actually now a that I read this thread again. How about the Santa Cruz Juliana? Women's specific bike. Essentially a Superlight but smaller and geometry for a woman. I don't know if they make them anymore but they did last year so a used one might present itself.

I was looking at those… and yes that would be perfect… but a new one is some pretty serious coin… especially since it is only minorly lighter and has less travel then the C-Dale Jekyls… I'm going to call BSP and see what one of those frames goes for… but it C-dale so probably an arm and a leg…

VPS Fluid? 3.0, 2.0 or 1.0, they're all nice frames, light, and small.

the womens specific Bullit is TINY….

theres hardly enuf room in the frt triangle for teh shock to fit..

your GF @5' could easily ride the tiniest Bullit….

To answer your question:

My girlfriend absolutely loves the 24" wheels. They make the bike lower, lighter, and they even shorten the overall length of the bike.

You should keep an eye on bb height, but with shorter cranks (my g.f. has 170mm cranks or maybe even 165mm actually)

I even borrow her wheel set sometimes because I enjoy the set up for jumping. You can make a pretty strong wheel set out of 24" wheels and still keep the weight way down. You can even add fairly fat tires (she uses 2.7" highrollers) without as much of a weight penalty and depending on the frame, you can fit bigger tires in 24" than you can with 26" rims.

On the Cannondale thing:---they ride great, are super light for 5"x5" and are readily available here. The Jekyll 900 or whatever with a 5" Lefty fork, and Fox pro pedal air shock with rebound and lockout, xt rear mech and decent cranks etc. is 2500CDN with Hayes 6" hydros etc.----not bad.
--------It's Cannondale's reputation (crackandfail) and brand specific components that make us unsure about it.

But with 27" standover height, 26lbs total weight and a lifetime warranty it may be worth it.-The adjustable head tube angle and bb. height is another bonus for fit challenged smaller people.

All said though, If we could afford it we would probably go with the Chapparal.

Hope that helps some.

CHeers,
Buzzes