Wife is 5'5" and looking for her first road bike so she can come with me on rides. She would also use it to carry the kids in our bike trailer. She's not going to use the aero bars so we'll probably take those off entirely. Thankfully the shifters are not on the aero bars. Thanks all for the input!
Description:
2007 TREK 1500SLR Road Bike
2x9speeds. 700c wheels. 52cm frame.
Shimano 105 drivetrain. Profile design aero bar
Aluminum frame with carbon fork and seat post.
by MGoRobo
4 Comments
If it fits her then that’s a fine bike. Looks in good condition for being almost 20 years old. Only caveat might be that if she’s pulling a trailer, the gearing might be a little unforgiving depending on how flat it is where you live.
It is a good looking bike, for its age it seems to be low mileage. I don’t see a price.
Forgot to mention that it is up for $390!
Also going to look at this Quintana Roo that is up for $450 (with a Bontrager cycling computer): [https://imgur.com/a/HZRfsuG](https://imgur.com/a/HZRfsuG)
It’s really all about sizing. You do not want to end up on an oversized bike and be stretched out and uncomfortable. Someone 5’5 might be alright on a 52cm frame, or they might not. Depends on the specific bike geometry, the stem, the bars. And it largely depends on different proportions rather than straight up height. Women tend to have longer legs and a shorter torso for a given height, so sizing up can cause issues with reach.
If you know broadly what to look for with a bike fit, then you can go and check out these bikes in person, see if she can sit on them or test ride them. That’ll give you a better idea if it’s actually going to work than anything. If you’re not confident in your ability to judge that, then I would suggest going to a local bike store at a time when they’re not too busy and seeing if she can try out some new models in different sizes, get an idea what works best there and then you can know what you’re looking for.
Especially for towing a trailer, you really need to be confident with riding the bike and starting/stopping whenever you might need to. So, standover height could be a consideration.
The other thing I was trying to explain in your last post is that bike manufacturers tend to put the same size cranks on all their bikes, but shorter cranks can really help on some of the smaller sizes. If the cranks are too long you can have trouble setting a saddle height where your legs aren’t going to be too extended at the bottom of the stroke and too compressed at the top of the stroke. It probably wouldn’t stop her from being able to start riding, but it’s definitely worth bearing in mind if she starts to have some issues when riding more regularly.