Small Mountain Bikes

by Akkana Peck

Update (11/2/2002): Matt Rule tells me of the Orange Sub 3, a small full-suspension bike. I haven't seen one myself yet, but it's available in frames down to 14", has a low bottom bracket and a design intended for quick steering and good handling, and looks quite nice.

Update (5/26/99): Heather Anita Rennalls informs me that some new small bikes are on the market!

The first bike I researched was by Trek. They have 2 new bikes under the "Women's Specific Design" (WSD), the 6500 and the 7000. These bikes have a shorter top tube, higher stem, brake levers with a short-reach and lighter wheels. Their specs also state that the Rock Judy C fork is customised for women riders.
I have not had a test-ride on one as yet but they do have a 13" (WXS) 17 and 19" frames. (I will no doubt be applying your parking lot tricks when I do get a chance to try one.) The March 1999 issue of "Bicycling Magazine" had a very good article on these bikes.
Another line of bikes is GT's "Anatomica" series. There are 4 bikes in these series ranging in price. The one I hope to test is the "Ricochet". They have 12.5", 15, and 17" frames.
An internet search found that Rocky Mountain has 3 bikes with 14.5" frames: "Blizzard", "Hammer Race" and "Cardiac". If you want, I can keep you posted on my search for a good small mountain bike. I would also appreciate any updates you have on this subject as well. Thanks.

Update (3/5/99): A 5'1" correspondant tells me that Titus makes very small aluminum frames in XS and XXS sizes. "I have the XXS and love it! But it aint cheap."

Update (5/21/96): I've added a section on some tricks I use during a parking lot test-ride to tell whether a bike fits.

Note: this is an html-ized copy of a mail message I sent to a specific person seeking a bike in the under-$700 range for his girlfriend, but it's probably applicable to anyone in the 5'0" to 5'4" range seeking a mountain bike. It's somewhat out of date (written in late '94) and could use being updated. If you know of a great small bike that I haven't mentioned, please tell me about it! I do want to update this and make it a fairly complete guide eventually.

Yep, as you've discovered, finding small mountain bikes is a big problem. Unfortunately, at 5'0", she really won't be able to find a 26" wheeled bike that's quite small enough for her; the limitations of 26" wheels plus the avoidance of toe/front wheel interference prevent it. But 24" wheels have disadvantages, too. I think if I were 5'0" (I'm actually 5'3"), I'd very strongly consider going with a 24" wheel, because having a frame that really fits is SO much better to me that it might even be worth the disadvantages of a 24" wheel. But it's borderline, so if she wants to stay with 26" wheels, I can understand that.

(BTW, if I were 5'0" and buying a 24" wheeled bike, I would probably either buy a Terry, or buy Cannondale's nifty little 24" wheeled frame and put better components on it.)

In 26" bikes, the problem is not standover clearance, it's top tube length. Before you buy anything, take a tape measure with you to bike stores, and measure the distance from the center of the handlebars to the center of the seat (imagine the seatpost sticking up through the seat), which tells you how far the reach will be with the stock stem; and also measure the distance from the stem binder bolt to the seat center, since stems can be changed and a short top tube bike with a long stem is better than the reverse.

Having said that, be especially sure to measure the Fisher, since you mentioned it as a candidate. Fishers, even the small ones, tend to have extremely long top tubes (at least, they did a few years ago), so the short seat-tube length is deceptive, and the bike really may not be that comfortable for a short person (unless it's a person with short legs and a long torso, more typical of short men than short women). The Kona is more likely to fit, I'd guess. But you absolutely should check out:

Cannondale. The 14" (really smaller than that, Cannondale measures their bikes strangely) rigid vee-frame is THE shortest top tube I've found, and the standover clearance is one of the best. Also, they're light, which is good for small riders. That's what I ride (mine's a 14" '93 M700) and I love it.
Barracuda. They've made a 12" for quite a while, which is very similar in all the measurements that count to the Cannondale (except that the 'cuda has a longer top tube and compensates with a super- short stem, which I don't like quite as much) and supposedly they recently came out with a 10", though I haven't been able to find one. Call (800)GET-CUDA to find a dealer.
Alpinestars - they make a very small size, but nobody around here carries them any more so I don't know much about their current offerings. A few years ago, their small size was a special down- tube-only frame (no top tube) with a special low-rise headset. Looked like an excellent bike, but it didn't fit me quite right (top tube was a bit too long, and my calves or heels hit the chainstays). But their current small size is a normal diamond frame, I think, and might be available in your price range, and is worth checking out if you can find one.
Giant - a few years ago they had a special women-oriented bike (not the silly step-though frame, but a small-size short-top-tube MTB, like a Terry except it had 26" wheels). Again, I have not been able to find one of these in person (I didn't look very hard, though, because I already had my Cannondale by the time this was introduced) but it sounded great, and probably would have been well within your price range.

In a somewhat higher price range, two more good bikes are:

Bontrager - the "extra-small" size is roughly an 11" or 12", depending on how you measure, and the top tube is fairly short, just a little longer than the Cannondale's. The chromoly frame is widely hailed as one of the best built frames around, and is reputed to be quite strong while being about as light as a steel frame can get.
Fat Chance - their low-end bike, the "Buck Shaver" (supposedly that's the actual name of one of their employees, if you can believe that) comes in a 10" or 11" size, which from what I've seen (I haven't seen one in person, though) has THE lowest standover of any 26" wheeled MTB made. This frame is also said to be quite well made.
Here are a few more, recently contributed by Kevin Bailey (Bailey@cebaf.gov):
Yeti makes a 14" 21" TT , nice and stiff and large $$$
Lightspeed makes a 12" and a 14" 21" TT for both, different standover height seems like the 12" standover was 25", 27" for the 14". Frames from $900 Ti of course is the only choice here.
WTB 12" with WAY to long TT....made for someone who normally rides a 16" frame. Not very interesting for your survey but something I found. Steel frames for $1200 or so.
Trek now makes a 13.5 with a 21" TT. A friend rides one, it seems to fit her pretty well, she's 5'2" Gary Fisher also makes a 13.5 should be the same as the Trek. Priced from $500-1000 depending on the components.
Nevil cycles is a small builder in NW South Carolina. makes a 12", 21" TT standover height is about 25". I bought one. He claims to have made a 9" frame for on of his racers, she's 4'10". He builds in steel and Aermet. I believe he will build custom frames for a nominal charge, he makes several different bikes in about 6 stock sizes. All are hand made so it depends on what you call custom. He offers a fork/stem/seatpost/headset package that is cheaper than the parts. Custom stems are about $70, any length or angle, and you don't have to buy a bike to get a stem made. Frame sets start at about $700, he'll build a bike to fit a price range. You may have seen his ads in Dirt Rag. Yes, I love my new bike!

There are also several high-end (over $1000) manufacturers who have started making small bikes, so if she likes the sport and eventually wants to upgrade, things are looking better all the time. (Me, someday I'm going to have a custom frame built, but I think I'll be happy with my Cannondale for at least a few more years.)

Good luck! Feel free to ask if you have any questions on small-bike fit. I had so much trouble when I was getting into mountain biking that I want to do anything I can to help fellow small riders find something that fits them well.

Test-ride Tricks

or, How to tell whether a bike fits you from a parking lot test ride

Bike length affects two things: comfort, and balance. The comfort factor has to do with whether you're leaned forward too much, with your arms extended too much, so that after a long ride, you'll have a sore back or shoulders from the extended position. This is very hard to tell without riding for a few hours. If you have a bike now, even if it's a road bike, put in some time on it (road riding is fine, it doesn't have to be off-road) and get a feel for how far forward you can lean and remain comfortable. Then try to remember that when test-riding a new bike. Of course, if you can talk the shop into letting you borrow or rent a bike of similar size for a day, do it! That's the best possible test.

The balance factor has to do with the fact that mountain biking involves riding in situations of poor traction, where the rider has to shift weight constantly to keep the weight in the right place. If the bike is too long, then the rider won't be able to shift her weight enough, which means that technical trail rides get a lot harder (and of course nobody else on the ride understands why you're having so much trouble, because their bikes all fit properly). Again, off-road riding is the best way to test this, but since that's not usually possible, here are some things I used to test my current bike when I test rode it:

Pedal up to a reasonable speed, coast in a straight line, and practice getting all the way back behind the seat. Get so low that the seat is in your chest and you're worried that your butt is about to brush the front tire. If the seat is around your navel rather than your chest or upper abdomen, the bike is probably too big (but keep riding, you may have different tastes from mine.) Then move back up to the seat, and repeat this a number of times, preferably while riding around at different speeds, maybe even while turning (don't push it, though, it's not a stunt competition so don't do anything that makes you lose your balance and fall). NOTE: if the seat is too wide, that may make this maneuver difficult. If you're having trouble getting your legs around the seat, but you don't think it's because the bike is too long, ask to try a narrower seat. It's very important for mountain bike fit that you be able to get behind the seat easily without disturbing the bike's trajectory, so don't let a too-wide seat interrupt your testing of this.
Wheelie. I spent a while riding around in circles trying power-wheelies. If the bike is too long, then your weight will be too far forward as you put your weight on the bars, and you won't be able to wheelie. If you don't know how to wheelie and are nervous about trying, skip this step, it isn't crucially important, but it's fun, and does tell you something about the bike's weight and balance.
Bunnyhop. This presumes that you already know how to bunnyhop; if you're a new rider and haven't learned this skill yet, I'm not sure what the best substitute is, but you probably won't learn it on a test-ride; if you do, buy the bike immediately, it's obviously you! If you DO already know how to bunnyhop, then practice hopping the bike and see how it does. This tells you whether it's front or rear heavy compared to your normal riding position. (I find that the 14" Vee-frame Cannondale is somewhat rear-heavy and doesn't like to get its rear wheel off the ground, but I did eventually manage it. Later I put on a suspension fork and a super-light rear hub, so mine's a bit better balanced now.)
Ride up and down curbs. Ride toward a curb at a reasonable pace, yank up on the wheel at the last minute and ride onto the curb. Turn around, and ride back down. The riding up isn't so important as long as you can do it with a reasonable amount of confidence; the riding down is more important. Ride down at several different speeds. In particular, ride off it once slowly with your butt behind the seat and the seat in your chest, since this is the closest you can get in a parking lot to what a technical downhill MTB trail will be like, and this sort of maneuver is where a small-enough bike makes the biggest difference.

Note that if you do all of what I described, you'll be out in that parking lot for quite a while, maybe 20-30 minutes. That's good, since assuming you spent the whole time on the bike, it also helps you decide whether the basic seat/bar position is one which will be comfortable rather than fatiguing to you. A good bike shop should have no problem with letting you do this (they've always been very patient with me for my extended test-rides).

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