What do short people ride?

[bre...@msee.dec]

In searching for a new sport bike for my 5' 1" wife, we have found the
number of choices severly limited in the $300 range. Univega's Nuovo Sport
is available with an eighteen and a half inch frame and twenty-six inch
wheels. The '85 Nuovo Sport is equipped with Suntour ARX hardware and the
'86 version comes with Shimano L series components. Shogun's '86 line of
bikes include seventeen inch versions with twenty-seven inch wheels but the
top tube on the one we looked at (the 400) seemed disproportionately long.

Does anyone know of any other bikes worth looking at? She doesn't like
a mixte style frame (and neither do I).

Thanks in advance,
Brian

/decvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-msee!breault/

[Walter R. Underwood]

I think that Bianchi makes an 18 inch frame.

I remember hearing about a "Flying dutchman" frame in an 18" size.
They used a track fork crown and cantilever brakes to get extra wheel
clearance.

A friend of mine in Houston had a custom frame made in a 16" size. She
uses 700C wheels (27" do not fit), but normal brakes. The top tube is
not level. It slopes down a couple of inches from the headset to the
seat. My friend likes this frame a lot. It was made by Ray
Gasirowski, owner of Romic frames in Houston.

walter underwood
6' 3", looking for a 27" frame

[win...@uiucdcsb.cs.uiuc.edu]

I am not sure of the exact model numbers, but Fuji has a bike for
short people which has a 26" (maybe smaller) front wheel and a 27"
rear wheel. I think it is the 450 something or other. Miyata also
has frames as small as 17 inches in some of their models. If you
want to know the exact models and aren't having any success in your
local bike shop, call Paul's Bike Shop in Urbana IL (217-367-1221).
I'm sure they can direct you to the right bike/dealer.

-L.W.

[Walter R. Underwood]

Another option, though probably expensive, is a "junior racer". In
Europe, kids race on very good road racing bikes with 24" *sewup*
wheels! These items are pretty much non-existant in the US, but I have
see one. It was at Jocelyn's Bikes in Mountain Veiw, CA. Kind of
strange to see a perfectly normal rad bike that is too small.

wunder