DH-ish options for short (5') riders

[Big E]

My gf is kinda wanting to do some DH riding, and as usual she is SOL on bike options. We had a helluva time finding options that fit for her regular bike, but ended up with a closeout Yeti AS-R in size XXS. Yes, really, size XXS. It fits her great, though, she loves it, and she doesn't want to pound it into the ground with lift-served riding.

Anyway, trying to find a DH-ish option is even more painful. I think the 24" kids-bike options are out - they have pretty lousy components, a much shorter wheelbase than her Yeti, and smaller wheels. Coming from the Yeti, all of that would make for a fairly unpleasant experience methinks. At the same time, given her size and that she's not exactly the most aggressive/fastest rider, she probably doesn't really need a full-on DH sled either. If the frame was small enough, I'm thinking something in the ~150mm rear travel range would probably work well, maybe thrown on an AngleSet to slacken it out a little compared to the normal trail-bike geo.

The other thought I had is possibly a slopestyle-type bike since they usually have really low standovers for doing tricks, but a lot of them are only 100mm of travel, in which case she might as well just ride the Yeti.

I wish Transition still made the Syren, that might have been perfect. But I think I looked a month or so ago, and even that one was a tad tall in the smallest size.

Any thoughts???

[LaBelle23]

XS Demo? I'm 5'8 and ride a medium Syren so I could see the small would be too big (I also ride a small demo 7). Diesel who is a lurker here found a great XS Demo at the end of last season and is loving it (I think she is 5'2ish?).

[Full Trucker]

My GF is 5'2" and rides a small Yeti 303R-DH... we have it set up with the fork stanchions as low as they go in the crowns, a shorty short stem, and flat DH bars. She likes it quite well, and it seems to fit her. She demo'd it before we got it for her, and she was pumped on it so we pulled the trigger. She's also a bit longer in the torso proportionally than a "typical girl", not freakish or anything but a bit, and is fairly flexible from years of gymnastics. So that may be part of why she's comfy on it. I guess my point is that a "small" DH bike might fit her alright, with the right setup and paying attention to the details. Measure the TT length and standover on her trailbike, and see how a few bikes compare?

[Big E]

Measure the TT length and standover on her trailbike, and see how a few bikes compare?

Yeah, my GF is similar in having shorter legs and longer torso, and standover is usually the issue. She needs something in the realm of like 27", which is ... short.

I have come up with this crazy PowerPoint method of measuring bikes, where I pull a side-view of the bike from the mfr's site, then paste it into a slide that I have a bunch of reference lines on it from her current bike, scale the pic based on the tires. Then I can sorta compare frames and see where the tubes lay relative to her current ride. Not perfect since I don't usually know which size frame the pic is from (I'm guessing M most of the time), but we can at least get a sense of things.

[ikkin]

Turner DHR. Not sure about the new DW link frames, but the previous generation is TINY. I'm 5'2'' with a 28" inseam and I have plenty of room.

[Diesel]

XS Demo? I'm 5'8 and ride a medium Syren so I could see the small would be too big (I also ride a small demo 7). Diesel who is a lurker here found a great XS Demo at the end of last season and is loving it (I think she is 5'2ish?).

I'm 5'3 dammit. Every inch counts.

So are you looking for a full DH rig, or for an AM bike? Full DH...I do like the XS Demo, though it's taken a while to dial it in.

AM, I have a Pivot Mach 5.7, which is the only AM bike that I've found that fits me well. I haven't tried the ASR's, but in general I've found Yeti's to have too long of a top tube for my shortness.

I know Full Trucker's GF loves her Yeti's. I haven't seen her on the 303, but I would be curious to compare dimensions to my Demo. Maybe over a Sleepy Monkey IPA.

[DirkaDirkaJack]

kona entourage has a ridiculously low stand over. its a 7" bike. look up the reach on a size small and see if its short enough? just throwing that out there...

[Conundrum]

I bet your gf and my gf have a lot in common from your description only my lady friend is taller at 5'2"...never thought I would say she is taller. She got the smallest Canfield One and really digs it. I think it's an XS but am not at home to check. It's not super slack and you can only run up to a 2.3 or so tire in the rear but it looks to be proportionatly awesome for her when I watch her ride.

[drsmonkey]

My wife is on a small (I don't think that there was an xs) 1st gen Canfield the One as well. She is a few inches taller, but her bike could definitely work for someone shorter. I don't think there are any of them left, but you could drop Sean an email and find out.

[Big E]

Thanks for the suggestions all. Diesel, the full-on DH vs. AM is a good question. I wasn't sure if we could even find a DH rig that would fit, so I thought that given my gf's lighter weight and less aggressive riding, we might be able to tailor an AM option to make it work. Good to know there might be some actual DH options though.

So now that we've determined that, how to find something that's not $3500...

[Diesel]

I do have a few friends that have been riding DH on their AM rigs, which is why I asked - a few on the SB66, a Knolly, and an Ibis Mojo. The problem is finding an AM with that kind of travel that also fits a very small rider. I've been told that Transitions can run very small, but all the shops that I'd called had said they'd have to special order one for me, just so I could try it out.

Depending on where you are, you might be able to find a used DH for pretty cheap, particularly if there's a substantial DH community there. I'm thinking of a kid racing DH who's outgrown their bike. I was lucky...I put some feelers out within my community and someone knew of a gal who had a Demo 8 that she had ridden once. It was collecting dust in her house, but she hadn't done anything active to sell it yet. I picked it up for about 2800.

I'm not sure where you're located, but if you happen to be in the Front Range, she's welcome to check out my Demo just to see how it matches up with her dimensions.

[300hp]

Check out the atomlab trailking SS. It was designed to have the same standover as a dirtjump hardtail. Short TT, burly cro-mo, and tons of fun. I absolutely loved riding mine. 150mm rear travel, 13.7bb 67 HA with a fox 160mm 36 on the front. Super stiff. I have a frame/RP23/headset/post/clamp that is yours for $250 if you want it.
H

[1000-oaks]

Check out small Demo (now called "XS" in current gen Demo) or small SX Trail from a couple years ago.

[Big E]

Mucho thanks for the suggestions all. Not as hopeless as I had thought. Found a couple viable options, hoping maybe we find an ex-rental bike that will save some serious coin.

[kidwoo]

Yeah man, if you're convinced the smallest syren would work, don't frown a used frames. In general though, I'd say stay the hell away from anything from specialized made in the last few years....their frames are huge.

Sounds like full trucker has a good option for you. I know the small turner DHRs are minuscule but yeah.....not cheap.

[1000-oaks]

My 5" GF just bought a used small Syren, but the standover is still several inches higher than a Demo or SX Trail. And Transition suspension is pretty low-tech compared to a Demo or SX.

Also look at the GT Sanction super-D frame in extra-small (super low standover, & recent models have a 1.5" head tube so you can use a 2* Works Components headset), or the recent GT Alloy Fury in small.

[beaterdit]

A friend is looking to unload her size XS Rocky Mountain Flatline. I believe it's the lower end 'park' spec. Very low miles, ridden literally like 10 times by a timid girl who has discovered that mountain biking and specifically downhill really isn't her thing. Bike has never left the ground or even gone fast. It's tiny with a very low standover but is IS heavy, like 45 pounds. She wants to get $1700 out of it. Let me know if you'd like more info.

[Big E]

woo - I hear you on the Spec stuff, but the size XS Demo actually appears to be perfect (I seriously couldn't even conceive of the idea that they made such a beast until Diesel mentioned it). I found a pic of an XS Demo last night and worked the Powerpoint magic on it, and the cockpit actually looked almost identical to her Yeti. Also found a pic of a size small and yeah, it was way too big.

1000 - I did see the Sanction as possibly being an option, but haven't actually found it in existence in too many places. Jenson had some, but no XS. I think it's called the Force LE / Distortion now - they all look the same if I ignore the name.

beater - that RM might be of interest. Let me poke around. But ... 45 lbs !?! Holy shite. My El Cuervo seems morbidly obese (except when I'm riding it) and it's like 41 lbs. What are they using for tubing, lead ?!

[beaterdit]

It's gotta be something like that, not really sure just what's going on there. I've hefted myself though, and it's hefty.

Personally I think the price she wants is a little ambitious but there's already a standing offer of $1500 from a friend so that's what she said. Friend is kinda flaky though so there might be room on the price. Let me know...

[1000-oaks]

I think it was 2011 when Spec resized the Demo 8 line (might have been a year earlier...). The 2010 small became 2011 XS, the 2010 medium became the 2011 small, the 2010 large became the 2011 medium, and the 2011 large is basically an extra-large. So don't ignore the older small frame, which would be a lot cheaper than the new XS.

There's a bike shop on eBay selling an extra-small GT Sanction frame for about $660, but it's the older one with the 1-1/8" head tube. Which might be fine if your chick doesn't need a real slack ride.


Also look for the small 2011 GT Ruckus, it's the same bike as the current Fury Alloy. Killer looking bike. Info & photos (as you can see I was researching this for my GF):

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/2011-GT-Part-2.html

http://www.pinkbike.com/product/gt/2011-Ruckus-7-2.0/

http://www.gtbicycles.com/2012/bikes...fury-alloy-2-0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inz_WBSh1hU

Fontana dh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVehR...eature=related

http://mybikestand.com/bike-review-gt-ruckus-7-1-0/

http://forums.mtbr.com/gt/2011-gt-mt...og-645418.html

More photos: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-GT-Ruck...item43ac3a2dbb

http://forums.mtbr.com/gt/2011-onwar...-a-704229.html

http://www.schwagstores.com/default.asp

http://www.sicklines.com/2010/04/27/2010-gt-ruckus-7/


The 2012 Fury is the 2011 Ruckus frame with beefier frame gussets and a bit more travel.
http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/06/24/...mx-throwbacks/

[Diesel]

FWIW, we just weighed my XS Demo, and it comes in at 37lbs and change. It's a pig for sure, but I honestly can't begin to imagine muscling anything heavier than that. Your GF is smaller than me, and even though you didn't mention her weight, I'd imagine that would be a lot of bike to control, at potentially close to half her body weight.

Interesting history on the Specialized sizing. I had no idea.

[alpineadventure]

Check out the kona minxy- it's a light freeride 6in bike. I just grabbed one of eBay for the wife that is currenty on a fh team. It is complete and new for the stellar price $650. It will be here tomorrow, I'll let you know size wise how it is. otherwise, maybe the new gen rocky mtn flatline- they have a pretty tight cockpit. Maybe check out giant too, there's a kid that rides a glory at our local series that is about 5'3". Best of luck!

[ikkin]

seriously. decent advice here, but from a girl, would just like to reiterate that the 2009-2010 (the gen just before the DW link) turner DHR is tiny, and even more importantly, it can be built relatively LIGHT with a LOW FRONT END, which is important for us ladyfolk. i did a crapload of research (including dorking out with a spreadsheet and everything), and this is absolutely the smallest full DH frame i found, and it rides GREAT, i love it. my riding took off after getting a full-on DH bike that i could actually move around.

check it out. like i said, i'm 5'2", and the frame almost looks like it's too small for me!


the recent demo frames might be as small, but they're also expensive.

[skiergirl]

Not sure what year they re-sized the demo, but I'm on a 2010 small and I've ridden a 2012 medium that felt larger/too big for me. I'm 5'8". No idea on the sizing, but Grassroots in Grand Junction has a small Jedi for sale...

[Big E]

ikkin - what size is that DHR, a S or XS ??