Ladies bikes

Velorution do the Princess for £445.
http://www.velorution.biz/?page_id=988

but tell her from me it's a rubbish idea and she should get a road bike

I like this site - it offers a more gentle approach and then maybe she can choose her own bike?
http://londoncyclechic.blogspot.com/*http://londoncyclechic.blogspot.com/*
[COLOR=#800080][/COLOR]

hmmmm....

Velorution do the Princess for £445.
http://www.velorution.biz/?page_id=988

but tell her from me it's a rubbish idea and she should get a road bike

you just remind me about the Pashley Poppy, it look like a good bike for that much money (under £400).

It's ok, the pashley. Always feels front heavy to me, but then the poppy hasn't gotten a basket.

My God, that's twee looking.

The princess is all black, it's pretty. I don't like the way it handles, though.

Yeah, I'm trying to get my Mum to get that.

I just wish it wasn't called the 'princess'. It sounds a bit My Little Pony :-/

hate to say it but i think evans cycles stock them

ooo ooo ooo, just remembered lunar cycles has lots of vintage rebuilds. dont know anything about them but bikes look nice on their gallery. also freshtrip.co.uk has a few on their site (previous builds but im sure you can request). dont know anything about them either...

Personally I like the Electra bikes. Not only for mrs though.
Especially the cruiser and Amsterdam collections.

http://www.electrabike.com

Oh yes, the Electra look pretty good so far, it's kinda like the cheaper version of the retrovelo bike, as much as I love the retrovelo, it's far too expensive for what it is.

http://retrovelo.de/

I thought I'd rejuvenate this thread rather than starting a new one. I was wondering if anybody could tell me if it is easy to find smallish frames, with horizontal rear dropouts? I'm looking to build one for my girlfriend with a frame of about 48-51cm.

Oh, and don't want it to be too expensive. Would £80 get me a decent frame? Was thinking of something like Reynolds 531 from the 1970s. I want to then powder coat it, and add on all the other components.

Thanks for any advice you can give

It's not easy to find however they tend to be cheaper (if you're talking about a normal frame), don't worry about whether it'll have 531 or not, I hardly doubt she'll care about the different whEn she just want a bike to ride.

But yes, £80 would be fine for a butted/double butted frame in good nick.

Hi Ed,

Thanks very much for your reply, much appreciated.

Talked to my girlfriend again about the bike and she has a few ideas of what she wants. She saw the bike you made in this thread and absolutely loved it (as do I!), so she's thinking of something like that. Alternatively, maybe something geared, with mudguards and pannier rack to be a mid more versatile, but with a vintage look, i.e. brooks, brown handle bar tape etc.

She actually might need a smaller frame than I thought, was told by a bike shop she needs about 43-45cm, as she's 5"3. But she is pretty sure she doesn't want a mixte frame, so its somehow finding a small steel frame 1970s/1980s bike which we can then convert or restore. Any ideas? Or places to go for them?

I had a search on this forum, but it seems a lot of people are going down the track frame route which isn't really what she wants. Our plan is to buy the right bike and then powdercoat it, change components etc. She's got a budget of £500, so I think we should look at getting a good bike made, i.e. probably something like 531 frame or similar.

Any more advice would be massively appreciated!

Also, would like to say hello to the forum too, as pretty new here. I did go on the London marathon ride though and absolutely loved it!

Tom

Your missus may need a frame with a smaller wheels size, says, 650c, as 700c will be too big for her body proportion.

It limited your choice of frame sadly, but there are decent frame out there (as well as complete bike) that's design for 650c wheels, such as the IRO Mark V HD, it fit a 5'3 person as well as a 5'7 on a 700c.

Another inspiration, the Retrovelo, apparently these guy finally bridge the gap between a commute bike and a town bike;

whos missus is thissus?

anyway looking for a classy saddle for a lady that doesn't require a long break in period.

any advice appreciated.

Selle An-atomica, shitload better than the Brooks and it's already 'broken' in, just get out and ride.

just found a shit tonne of destroyed old brooks saddles and a guy that will replace the leather for a whopping 20 bucks. In.

I've designed THIS ONE some years ago for Giant.
Would make a nice SS of FG too. Intentionally, because IMHO schoolkids don't always need gears for racing.

THIS ONE just EUR 35.- , but pick up only

Tagging on to this thread... The bike @edscoble built for his missus is superb. If anyone ever built a bike like that for me, I would happily touch my toes and let them push me home.

I've just received the EVANS mini-catalogue/brochure yesterday and one bike in there I thought might be appropriate for this thread.
The blue and white scheme may not suit everyone though.

Scott Sub 30 Solution 2010 (on sale at £399.99)
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/sub-30-solution-2010-hybrid-bike-ec020662

I guess if one wished to convert it to a singlespeed, then it might require an Eccentric Bottom Bracket.
But if run as a stock geared bike, I think it would be an okay choice. And a bit of a bargain.

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And one of my favourite bikes is now on huge sale. Its the Kona Africa Bike. Now £199.99.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/africa-bike-one-2009-hybrid-bike-ec017263

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Plus one to the kona.