Women's frame

[gddavid]

Where would I find a women's specific frame (only) at a decent price. I'm looking to build up a bike for my gf using a majority of the components of an existing bike. We have visited a couple of shops looking at bikes and the women specific bikes to seem to fit her better. I was thinking along the lines of trying to find a unisex bike with similar geometry and going from there but I'm struggling to find alot of options under $200. Maybe I'm just being too cheap but I'm perfectly happy with my bike build around a access frame from performance that I believe I spent $100 on maybe $130. Where do women go if they want to build up a bike to their spec's. There really seem to be limited options for she bikes. So far the best option seems to be buying the lowest tier bike that uses their nicer women's frame and swaping out the fork, shifters, brakes, etc. with parts I have, but it seems wastefull. I'd appreciate any advice, I might be asking too much. (looked at trek, specialized, and cannondale she bikes so far).

[jabberwocky]

Your best bet would be to find a complete bike that she likes and ask if they can order a frame only. Or, as you said, buy the bike, swap the parts and sell the ones you don't use.

The problem is that it seems none of the inexpensive 'frame only' manufacturers make women-specific frames. So you are stuck with either boutique builders (which are expensive) or large manufactures (Trek, Spec, Giant etc) which might not make the frames of their less expensive bikes available by themselves.

[gddavid]

Your best bet would be to find a complete bike that she likes and ask if they can order a frame only. Or, as you said, buy the bike, swap the parts and sell the ones you don't use.

The problem is that it seems none of the inexpensive 'frame only' manufacturers make women-specific frames. So you are stuck with either boutique builders (which are expensive) or large manufactures (Trek, Spec, Giant etc) which might not make the frames of their less expensive bikes available by themselves.

I guess I assumed that these frames are not available from the dealer a la cart. I'm looking at their upper tier hardtail frames. Maybe I just need to ask more questions at the shops. Thanks

[riderx]

$200 for a frame, not a lot of options out there for the guys, so expecting a women's specific (something that doesn't generate large volume sales) is asking for a lot. The question is, does she need a women's specific frame? Figure out top tube length and standover, then look for an off the shelf frame to fit the bill. My wife used to have a C-dale WSD frame, now she's on a Soma Groove that fits her great. Of course, she did a pro bike fitting before getting it set up, so that makes it easier to dial things in.

[rizetech]

^
WSD doesn't mean a perfect fit for all women, just keep in mind that a good fitting can do a lot in the way of getting her comfortable, with or without a WSD frame.

The higher end stuff will be iffy in that price range, the lower end stuff you probably won't get just a frame - but call some LBS's and have them call some manufacturers you like! See what they can do for ya.