Wanted: Tiny frame/bike for midget/umpalumpa other half

p.s all sorted now. got myself a brompton!

garr, that's a beaut....

thanks for the info, the globe mixte 1 is kind of the opposite of what i want though....

i looked into the fuji track 43cm, also there's a pake frame which measures up to around 46cm but not sure if it fits 650cc wheels?

OTP are actually pretty hard to find fit wise, i've tried the specialized langster XS (too long), all of the other small frames have too tall a standover height, if i wanted to try out the kinesis decade convert/giant chixie/bowery/fuji track i'd have to order it in and pay for it without actually seeing it first :(

i just got a 43cm fuji for my girlfriend, sent it directly to the painters (her favorite colour is turqoise) and will post a pic when its all together... she's 5'2'' so hopefully this will work.

nice - are you getting brakes fitted?

another option is buying a frame and building one myself (or attempting to)-

http://www.irocycle.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=205

yeah she's not too keen on the fixed so it will run singlespeed with risers. from the research I did it seems the fuji is quite good value b/c the parts are still pretty good, the wheels look quite nice, just a bit of a pain to get different tyres i suppose... although bricks & mortar like blb etc will probably have a good choice stock of 650s.

the effective top tube length is still 50cm if i remember correctly so even though the seat tube is real tiny its still a respectable size....

before this I built her a pompino which was unfortunately stolen, she really liked it and it was quite comfortable although I had a 50mm stem on there which in my opinion made the handling quite twitchy, although she never complained about it. Also because of the top tube length it was quite an upright riding position which for her as a casual rider was nice but for you may not be what you're looking for!

on the US forums using google there seems to be a lot of happy shorter people who've built up the iro... but even sourcing parts yourself it will turn out to be a fair amount of money probably.

the fuji is 285£ delievered on ebay just fyi.

edit: just clicked the iro link, wow thats a great price. just factor in delivery & the inevitable customs.

the pompino looks great (just googled it), i am quite a casual rider, just don't want a beastly lady's bike and would like some speed as well.

am going to head over to cavendish bikes today to see if they have any of the 46cm IRO frames, sounds like 650's are the way to go?

fuji track is also a possibility, only downside is that i can't see i beforehand, and it's not on the cycle to work scheme but would be in budget without it, am looking to spend around £600-£700 if it's cycle to work, but obviously a lot less if it wasn't...

good plan on the iro @ cavendish, they're nice clean frames & you can probably get some nice parts on that budget.

fyi blb have the fuji & cycle to work scheme, don't know if they have any 43s in stock but could probably order it in.

i'm a huge fan of the pompino, they're really solid, relatively light & fairly cheap (although not as cheap anymore... when I bought it they were 135£ now they're 200£ incl fork) only thing is you have to deal with v-brakes :P

hopefully cavendish will sort you out

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/info_CLEARANCE90.html

Planet X have a 39x46cm frame minus fork in their clearance at the moment.

that frame is really nice, am quite tempted to build one myself now, free postage too...but aluminium?

went to cavendish and they are ordering in the IRO Mark V HD for me to take a look at, apparently a full custom build will cost around £700, is this worth it?

If your looking at just frames. How about this:

£99, steel and comes in kids (no offence intended) sizes?

went to cavendish and they are ordering in the IRO Mark V HD for me to take a look at, apparently a full custom build will cost around £700, is this worth it?

yes, especially when you're buying a bike that's definitely will be reliable (especially from a trustworthy shop) and fit you nicely without paying a lots of money for a custom-made frame.

i have an old raliegh mixte, you could have for like £15-£20.. pm me if you are interested..

the archie frame looks good - the main problem is being able to see framesets/complete bikes first without commiting to buying them first, i think i agree that it's probably worth it esp on cycle to work for a custom build if it's the right frame.

anyone interested in starting a bike shop for wee ones?

i think this could be the new future here - especially with so many blokes on here looking for bikes for their diddy girlfriends...

If your looking at just frames. How about this:

£99, steel and comes in kids (no offence intended) sizes?

is there anywhere in london that i could check these frames out at?

That frame is design for cycle speedway, not for everyday riding, though you can ride it on the street, the geometry may be a little strange to ride, especially with the twitchy steering due to zero rake on the fork.

Polo, souths. They sponsor a team plus two others have them they're nice frames. Do a search here there's a thread on them somewhere.

This was Eingang's. The twitchy steering can ben compensated with a new fork (as in the picture below).

Ruthy...

The standover height on most CS bikes is approx 78cm..

There is also an aluminium version.

Ruthy...

The standover height on most CS bikes is approx 78cm..

There is also an aluminium version.

hi Varno, 78 is too big - my standover is 725mm (700mm comfortably according to gav)

am liking the sound of the IRO heidi more and more and hearing good things about them

ruthy, go for it, it's a decent frame and worth getting for your height.

I agree ruthy, ed speaks logic. Even building your own will get you close and if it's from a reputable shop you can be more secure in the fact that everything works well together and you can go back to them when things go wrong..

Standover is in my opinion the silliest way of trying to find a bike that fits.

How often does anyone stand with both feet flat on the ground and the top tube between their legs?

You should be looking at seat tube and top tube measurements as a first priority, toe overlap and geomtry should be next on the list.

Trying to find a bike that fits when you are not riding it is a bit illogical, but for some reason a lot of shops use this as a primary sizing guide.

what i've done is find an old steel youth racing frame designed for old 24" wheels (540mm ISO) and chuck 650c wheels (571mm ISO) on it, as well as putting 155mm cranks on (Miche Young). changing the wheels also means you can put a regular drop brake on (after drilling out the back of the fork to 8mm).

these kind of frames turn up really rarely though, although when they do they're usually pretty cheap.