# Any women on a medium Niner? How tall are you?



## @dam (Jan 28, 2004)

Hey all. My wife has been looking for 29ers. She really likes the Anthem, but the medium just doesn't have enough standover, and the bike is slightly long.

A friend is selling a nice Niner RIP 9 for about the same price. It's a medium, a half inch LONGER, but it has much better standover.

She's just under 5' 7". I think this bike is too big for her.

Are there any other women out there riding a medium Niner? If so, how tall are you?


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## Endothermic Cavewalker (Sep 6, 2010)

She will need to ride a small Niner RIP 9.


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## @dam (Jan 28, 2004)

That's what I think too, but she likes it. That said, she tends to overshoot when getting frame sizes...too big or too small.

What about with a 60mm stem? I've actually considered getting a bigger frame for myself just so I could get a shorter stem with the same overall reach.


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## mudgirl (Jun 19, 2007)

I'm shorter than your wife, but this might help. When I test rode before buying my 29er, I demo'd a small AIR carbon 9er and a small JET 9er on the trails at DirtFest, and then my LBS let me take a Giant Anthem out on our local trails to test ride. I found that the Niners, whether full suspension or hardtail, felt way too long in terms of reach. The XtC also felt too long in the reach, just by sitting on one in the LBS, whereas the Anthem was perfect. I really loved the Niners, but my LBS owner (as much as he would have preferred selling me a Niner, I'm sure, and as much as I wanted to buy one, as they are BEAUTIFUL) said that to shorten the stem enough to accommodate the reach I needed would compromise the steering too much. 

I ended up buying the Anthem, and I couldn't be happier. I love the bike!! That said, if your wife is already feeling that the reach is too long on the Anthem, the Niners are going to be too long as well, as their effective top tubes are a full inch longer than the Anthem's effective top tube. Btw, the Anthem still turned out to be a touch too long in reach. We put an 80mm stem on it vs. the 90mm stock stem, and Origin 8 riser handlebars with a 15 degree sweep backwards, and now it is perfect!


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## @dam (Jan 28, 2004)

Well, her primary complaint about the Anthem is lack of standover. I think it's slightly long for her, but she doesn't think so (but remember- she tends to overshoot...she'll ride a bike that's too big for a while, compensate by getting one too small a few year later, and on and on).

What steering compromise were they speaking of with a short stem? I put a shorter stem on my bike and the steering was SO much more confidence inspiring. Most DHers run VERY short stems, and handling is their primary concern.


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## Niner Bikes (Dec 9, 2004)

@dam -

I am about 5'6" tall, and ride a small Niner frame in all the Niner models. Reach is one issue, but what I find is more important is the ability to really get my weight centered on the bike for great descending - on a small I can really push through berms, etc. This is even more important on a longer travel bike with a taller front end, such as the R.I.P. 9.

There are some slight changes in the way you fit a 29er, particularly for a smaller rider. I recommend going at least a centimeter shorter in the stem length than you would on the equivalent 26, and going with a wider bar. This helps the rider with that extra body english that makes for great 29er riding style. I personally run a 50cm stem with a 710mm bar on my R.I.P. 9, but I definitely have it set up for desert shredding (it still kills it on those uphill tech climbs, though. it has more to do with learning your balance point than anything else). A person riding for more XC purposes might go a bit longer.

For a woman, make sure you have a good saddle that she can rotate her soft tissue onto - if she has her pelvis tilted back, she loses up to 2 inches of comfortable reach, and definitely can't get her weight centered or balanced on any bike. I often see women riding with locked elbows and stretched out arms - usually the reason is not that the bike is too big but that she is on the wrong saddle. Oftentimes, a simple saddle change can completely change a woman's ability to descend, corner and climb for the better.

Cheers,
Carla


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## mudgirl (Jun 19, 2007)

If she's ridden the Niner on the trails and feels comfortable on it, then by all means, buy it for her!! They are SWEET bikes! 

A shorter stem tends to make the steering more responsive, which can translate to "squirrely" or "twitchy." Some people like the faster response, others don't. I'm one of the ones who doesn't like it. As Carla just said, though, you can offset that some by using wider handlebars.


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## muzzanic (Apr 28, 2009)

My wife is 5ft 3 & rides a small Jet9 & runs a 50mm stem & likes it & also finds the stand over great.


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## fattirebliss (Jun 30, 2007)

I am 5'6, I ride a small Air9 Carbon, and I love it! The fit is perfect! They make really sweet bikes!


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## H0WL (Jan 17, 2007)

Just a thought: 
I"m tall 5'9" with a long torso and 31.5" inseam. 
I've gone through this cycle of buying a bike because the position over the pedals felt perfect but the bike eventually felt "too short" in top tube length.

Re:_"but what I find is more important is the ability to really get my weight centered on the bike for great descending" _
For some reason, women's specific bikes feel "right" to me, even though they are not a perfect fit, perhaps because I do feel correctly balanced on them.

Adam, If your LBS wants to make the sale, have them do a very basic bike fit to make sure the seat/pedal/handlebar set up is right for her and then have her test ride. She will then get a good feel for a ride with a correctly set up bike. Also, can you go back and measure her previous bikes -- both too long TT and too short TT and find the happy medium?

NinerBikes, can you say what your inseam is relative to overall height? If Adam's wife has the same proportions, she can move forward on your advice.


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## @dam (Jan 28, 2004)

OK- so she went on a few rides on this bike, with a 65mm stem. She really liked it, but by the numbers it still seems too big. It's only .25" shorter than my bike (large Tallboy), and I'm 6" taller! I don't think she's ridden enough bikes to have a solid idea of what she prefers.

We also, at the last minute, got to do a short ride on an older, small rip 9 with a 50mm stem. She said it felt short, but that's compared to her road bike I think, and she had done the last few rides on the medium/65mm combo. Being last minute, we didn't have time to really set up the small for her, or try it with the 65 stem. She was also very tired when she tried it from a big run the day before.


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## fattirebliss (Jun 30, 2007)

I ride a small Air 9 Carbon with an 80mm stem, I am 5'6 and the bike fits so good, I keep thinking it was made just for me! A medium that I rode, felt way too big!


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## nybike1971 (Oct 6, 2005)

My wife is just shy of 5'8" and rides a medium Niner Air 9 with an 80mm stem and 650mm bars. This is her race rig, so it is biased towards a more stretched out position but she demoed a small and found it too short for her. She is very happy on the medium and has never had any complaint about standover height. 

I don't know if the Rip 9's front end is taller but I would make sure that she can get the bars and the height she wants them. That can be a challenge on 29ers for shorter riders. Overall I think Carla had some really solid suggestions.


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## tlevine (Aug 1, 2011)

I am a little over 5'7", i ride a small Giant Anthem 29er and love it! My last bike was a med ( I went with the height rec) and I struggled with it.


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## pingey37 (Aug 1, 2011)

any shorties out there? i'm only 5'1" and haven't found one with a short enough standover...


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