# Wife's bike...Juliana Furtado?



## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

I have a lead on a new 2016 Furtado S Build Medium for $3,000 plus tax. It is a brand new bike that a local shop is clearing out.

My wife has ridden a few bikes, in order:
My old 2000 K2 XL (26" wheels) - She hated the high frame. It has very little standover. Didn't mind the fit (once I put a 35mm stem on it). Ride was ok, but not very confident.

2017 Juliana Furtado Small - She liked it. No complaints, but just a parking lot ride with a few curbs (that she rode straight into and it ate them up which my 4" 26wheel K2 most definitely would not do).

2017 Juliana Joplin Small - same as the furtado. No real preference between the two, but again it was just a parking lot.

2015 Santa Cruz Bronson Small - She likes this one. Cleaned a rock garden that she didn't on my K2. No complaints from her on this one. She felt much more confident than on my K2. Having standover was a big relief (mentally) and the wheels/suspension ate up the rocks and roots.

2016 Kona Process 134 Medium - She didn't find anything to complain about, but just did a parking lot ride. She said the parts (shifting and brakes) felt "cheapie". It is a base build so does skimp on parts.

2017 Specialized S-Works Camber 650B Medium- She really liked this one. Felt very connected and confident. She rode the big roller/drop at this demo event with a huge grin. She rode the same roller on the Bronson and felt more confident on this one. On the single track sections this one tracked well while the Bronson was not as good in the tighter corners. However we'll have to pass on this one, $9,000 isn't in the budget.

I've done a few training sessions with her. She is getting the hang of pedal kicks and manuals to get the front wheel off the ground or over/up obstacles. She has ridden road bikes for years and done some 70+ mile rides (on a hybrid) so she is a strong rider, and drops me on some climbs when we ride our road bikes.

I've attached a few screen shots from photos or video I took to compare fit. I'll leave my comments aside for now. Which looks like it 'fits'? Which do not? She is 5' 5.5" (bare feet) with a longer torso than average and shorter legs than average. Her arm span is same as height, 65.5".

She will be riding mostly smooth singletrack, some with technical rocky stuff. Nothing big and chunky just yet, but she is pretty fearless and aggressive in the outdoors (rock climber, hiked Half Dome, category 4 rapids...)

We won't be able to try the Furtado on dirt, but based on this and the deal...what would you suggest we do?

Bronson 














Process 














Camber


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## Steel Calf (Feb 5, 2010)

110mm Joplin vs. 130mm Furtado:
"smooth singletrack, some with technical rocky stuff" clearly points towards the Furtado. (even 130mm is still more at the short end of travel)

The Joplin is more of a boring XC bike and "Nelly Furtado" is far cooler than the infamous "Crankbrothers Joplin" -> bad karma!

Neither the Bronson or Process are women specific bikes, she won't like them. The Specialized S-Works chamber would be a great choice but it's only meant for women with a rich husband (who's then usually to old to ride himself...)

Giants LIV bikes is worth a look, they come in with fresh colours and have a women specific geometry. (colour is the most important thing, I hard to learn that the hard way)

I bought both an Intrigue and Avail Advanced last year with great success (acceptance) 

Furthermore keep the timeframe in mind. Women usually stop riding when they give birth to a child or reach the age of 40. So depending on the circumstances the bike will be out of service sooner or later. Plus, if you convince her the 2000 K2 XL is the best "choice" you can save a lot of money and put it in your own bike.

I find it pretty cool that you bought her Five Ten and a Bell Super 2R. No need to wear a chinguard in the parking lot but security is important.


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## kevinboyer (Jan 19, 2012)

Doug,

My wife just went through somewhat what you are doing. Only difference, she got to demo the Furtado twice on trails. She's 5'3" and fit perfectly on the small with a 40mm stem. Long story short...she loved it. The Furtado she demoed was tricked out. Probably easy $6000.00. She saw the 2016 Furtado last year in the Hella Yella colorway and fell in love with that color. So I found brand new frame on PB in that color for $1650. Needless to say I jumped all over it. In the process of now of acquiring all the parts for the build. I'll be putting a 2017 Fox Float 140mm fork on the front and a Rockshox Monarch RT3 in the rear. She's been riding with me for about 5 years now. She's strong, but not to prone to do anything out of her comfort zone. No jumping, but will hit small drops. She is coming off a 2011 Rocky Mountain Altitude 50. Once she rode the Juliana she felt the immediate difference between the 2 bikes. Can you say night and day??

Good luck with your decision. I'll put my vote in for the Juliana.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

Steel Calf said:


> I find it pretty cool that you bought her Five Ten and a Bell Super 2R. No need to wear a chinguard in the parking lot but security is important.


The Five Tens were $30 at the company store 

I'm surprised the shops didn't require her to wear a helmet. I do want her to wear her helmet, and she should when she hops over curbs and such.

I want her to have a nice bike. It will help her enjoy it more and I want to do all I can to allow her to enjoy my favorite pastime.

You are right about kids, we have a 14 month old and we are just getting back into riding on the road. she pointed out if we want #2 MTBing will wait a year or two. Something to consider...


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

kevinboyer said:


> Doug,
> 
> My wife just went through somewhat what you are doing. Only difference, she got to demo the Furtado twice on trails. She's 5'3" and fit perfectly on the small with a 40mm stem. Long story short...she loved it.
> 
> Good luck with your decision. I'll put my vote in for the Juliana.


I don't think we can go wrong with the Furtado. Its a great bike and she LOVES the color (matches her helmet, shoes, and jersey). Lifetime warranty sure helps as we think long term. At least until there are new "Standards" to improve our biking...or their bottom line?


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## Steel Calf (Feb 5, 2010)

Doug said:


> I want her to have a nice bike. It will help her enjoy it more and I want to do all I can to allow her to enjoy my favorite pastime.


wow... contender for husband of the year?

Buy the Furtado, it fits the description best and will give her the opportunity to improve on her skills. She's already got an appropiate helmet and shoes, an XC bike like the Joplin doesn't fit in there.

I'm not a women but was involved into some recent acquisitions, they see a bike more as a whole and thus make decisions based on intuition and less on technical facts like men tend to do. You could say men choose by their minds, women by their hearth.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

Steel Calf said:


> I'm not a women but was involved into some recent acquisitions, they see a bike more as a whole and thus make decisions based on intuition and less on technical facts like men tend to do. You could say men choose by their minds, women by their hearth.


You are right, she rides the bikes and uses very different language to express how it was. She just sort of knows: Yes!, No!, and "eh, so so". I'm helping two male friends buy bikes and its very different shopping with/for them for sure!


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## formica (Jul 4, 2004)

Steel Calf said:


> Furthermore keep the timeframe in mind. Women usually stop riding when they give birth to a child or reach the age of 40. So depending on the circumstances the bike will be out of service sooner or later. Plus, if you convince her the 2000 K2 XL is the best "choice" you can save a lot of money and put it in your own bike.


Wow I don't know where you are riding but the over 40 crew in my 'hood is strong and present, probably outnumbers the younguns.


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## Steel Calf (Feb 5, 2010)

formica said:


> Wow I don't know where you are riding but the over 40 crew in my 'hood is strong and resent, probably outnumbers the younguns.


I don't know where you're riding either but we once had a 45 year old woman on one of our multi day trips across the alps which taught us a lesson. She started off great but tired badly during the 2nd day till the moment of total exhaustion which, how convenient, was right on top of a mountain far away from civilization (we had to carry our bikes through a snow field @ ~3000m altitude) We gave her all the food and water we had but a snow storm was approaching fast so we eventually had to leave her behind. Never heard of her again mhmmm...

Of course it was agreed among the group to keep silent about this unfortunate incident but as a result next year an age limit for women was introduced. But hey you can still ride in the backyard of your retirement home and brag about "outnumbering the younguns" if that's helping to boost your self-confidence. Just be careful not to put yourself into danger once reality is catching up.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

Steel Calf said:


> But hey you can still ride in the backyard of your retirement home and brag about "outnumbering the younguns" if that's helping to boost your self-confidence. Just be careful not to put yourself into danger once reality is catching up.


Way out of line. No need for that kind of comment, it is neither needed nor welcome here.


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## Steel Calf (Feb 5, 2010)

Doug said:


> Way out of line. No need for that kind of comment, it is neither needed nor welcome here.


Why are you playing the moralizer now.
I'm not the one here phantasizing of fobbing off my wife with a 17 year old bike so I can use the saved money on my own rig.

If you want to be a hero put your money where your mouth is and get her the Furtado. Sram Eagle 12speed, Fox Factory suspension, Enve carbon wheels - nothing less! And post a picture of her on her new bike, this time with a happy smile!


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Rescinding earlier stuff after rereading. Sorry, broken coffee.

Doug: get the Juliana. Your wife will be much happier. She looks well positioned on it.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

stripes said:


> Doug: get the Juliana. Your wife will be much happier. She looks well positioned on it.


The Furtado is one I don't have photos or video of. Which of the bikes pictured look ok or best to you? (Edited to label which is which)


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## petey15 (Sep 1, 2006)

Kind of hard to tell - they all seem pretty similar. Did she have any preferences as to what she thought she felt more comfortable on? I can tell you, too, without a decent test ride, sometimes what feels great on the road/parking lot can be a whole 'nother ball game on the trail. I would make sure to choose something where she doesn't feel like she's stretching to reach the handlebars and can easily switch from one position to another. Also, if she's comfortable on the K2, maybe choose the one that is closest in size to that bike?


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Doug said:


> The Furtado is one I don't have photos or video of. Which of the bikes pictured look ok or best to you? (Edited to label which is which)


Sorry, she looks comfortable on the Camber or the Bronson. She looks quite stretched on the Kona.

Between those Camber and the Bronson, she looks most comfortable on the Camber.

Does that help?


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## petey15 (Sep 1, 2006)

I agree with Stripes - definitely seems more stretched on the Kona (if that one picture is of her actually just sitting on the saddle and pedaling normally). Her arms appear to have a bit more bend on the Camber - more relaxed and less stiff. That fit looks the best.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

stripes said:


> Sorry, she looks comfortable on the Camber or the Bronson. She looks quite stretched on the Kona.
> 
> Between those Camber and the Bronson, she looks most comfortable on the Camber.
> 
> Does that help?


Yes, thank you! I wanted a few other sets of eyes to help.

The Kona photo was when she was a bit back in the saddle transitioning from "attack" position so she looks more stretched than she otherwise would be.

The Camber is the bike she felt most comfortable on and "connected" as she called it. She was really able to move around as she needed and had the best laps on the test course they had set up. When riding on the flat section she was much less hunched than on the Bronson (but she naturally rides with a hunched back...her dad used to tell her to get low for aerodynamics...I'm working on her form).

We rode for about 2 hours on Saturday (she rode the Bronson) and she did great. The Bronson did wander a bit on climbs, but otherwise felt OK. She said she did notice it felt a little short and when turning her knees are nearly into the bars/shifters.

I did a quick mock up using the geometry to see how the bikes compare in terms of BB, seat, and bar position. You can see the Camber and Furtado are nearly the same. Small adjustments in bar rise, stem length, or spacers can move it around to dial it in. I have the seat moved forward a bit on the Bronson to get her knee in a better position, so that would make it a bit shorter than this shows.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

petey15 said:


> I agree with Stripes - definitely seems more stretched on the Kona (if that one picture is of her actually just sitting on the saddle and pedaling normally). Her arms appear to have a bit more bend on the Camber - more relaxed and less stiff. That fit looks the best.


Thats what I thought too, and it matches her experience. She only rode the K2 a few times until I got the Bronson for her to have as a safer 'test' bike. She liked it and didn't have any complaints really, except for the lack of standover. However now that she has ridden the Bronson and Camber she knows what a new bike is like and is FAR more confident to ride rough and steeper stuff.

Fit on the K2 was pretty good, but it is a "Way Big" (aka XL) frame. The short stem makes it more like modern geometry so it can sort of fit her. That was just a test to see what reach/cockpit size to look for.

She is right on the edge of what Santa Cruz recommends. 5'5" is the cut off for small, 5'6" is where they recommend medium. SC do tend to run a bit small, and she has a longer torso than most 5' 5.5" women so Medium seems to be the way to go. A small is just a hair longer than the Bronson with a 60mm stem.

I may be over thinking it, but we hope this bike will last a long time and give her years of riding. We'll probably check it out today, and asking about a ride on dirt is tops on the list of questions.


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## stripes (Sep 6, 2016)

Doug said:


> Thats what I thought too, and it matches her experience. She only rode the K2 a few times until I got the Bronson for her to have as a safer 'test' bike. She liked it and didn't have any complaints really, except for the lack of standover. However now that she has ridden the Bronson and Camber she knows what a new bike is like and is FAR more confident to ride rough and steeper stuff.
> 
> Fit on the K2 was pretty good, but it is a "Way Big" (aka XL) frame. The short stem makes it more like modern geometry so it can sort of fit her. That was just a test to see what reach/cockpit size to look for.
> 
> ...


It's really hard to say unless she throws a leg over one.

I'm 5'4". I have a mix of sizes I ride:
- Small in most Specialized bikes.
- Small on the Ibis HD3 but..
- Medium on the Ibis Mojo 3
- XS on Yetis and Guerrilla Gravity

So I can't say. Last time I rode a SC, I could fit a medium. Not sure about now what I would ride there.


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## JillRide45 (Dec 11, 2015)

You do know the Joplin bikes are just a different paint color than the Santa Cruz bikes for years before 2017. In 2017 the shock tune is lighter on the Joplin. Since she really liked the Bronson I was going to say get her on a Hightower but I think you have to go medium. Personally at this point I would not buy a bike that could not take at least 2.8 tires. Have you looked at the carbon Rhyme from specialized? Have fun! 


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## JillRide45 (Dec 11, 2015)

Another bike I would recommend she try out is the Pivot 429 trail. I was all set to buy a new tallboy when I rode the pivot. I really enjoy the suspension on the pivot 429 trail. I have a small with 27.5 plus wheels she is welcome to try. 


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

JillRide45 said:


> You do know the Joplin bikes are just a different paint color than the Santa Cruz bikes for years before 2017. In 2017 the shock tune is lighter on the Joplin. Since she really liked the Bronson I was going to say get her on a Hightower but I think you have to go medium. Personally at this point I would not buy a bike that could not take at least 2.8 tires. Have you looked at the carbon Rhyme from specialized? Have fun!
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


The 2016 like we are looking at has the new VPP3 and the custom shock tune. Same bike as 2017 but Rock Shox Pike and SLX brakes.

The 429 was on the shortlist to try but we never found one and price was always substantially more. The deal on the furtado is what makes this something we'd consider.

Big tires do help her feel more confident. The Bronson has 2.5" and I may swap them over. I'll check to see how big we can go on the furtado.


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## MTBR_Saris (Apr 26, 2016)

Hmm, sounds like you're contemplating a lot of good options. Hard to go wrong. I've tested every bike on your list...The bike I ride? A Santa Cruz Tallboy 3 (same as the Juliana Joplin 2). It's fast, playful, and has just enough travel for everyday riding. 

I'm not tall. 5'8 on a good day, but I have no interest in going back to regular 27.5" wheels. While I appreciate how much fun they are, I prefer the traction of big wheels in corners and the ability to monster truck over everything. On smaller wheels, I have to work alot harder to go as fast. It just beats me up. 

If your wife wants more travel than the Joplin/TB3, perhaps she should check out the Hightower? It fits into the same catagory as the Bronson, but has bigger wheels. You could set it up as either a plus or 29er. Really fun bike. Santa Cruz usually releases new colors around this time of year, so you might be able to pick up last years model for a steal.


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

MTBR_Saris said:


> Hmm, sounds like you're contemplating a lot of good options. Hard to go wrong. I've tested every bike on your list...The bike I ride? A Santa Cruz Tallboy 3 (same as the Juliana Joplin 2). It's fast, playful, and has just enough travel for everyday riding.
> 
> I'm not tall. 5'8 on a good day, but I have no interest in going back to regular 27.5" wheels. While I appreciate how much fun they are, I prefer the traction of big wheels in corners and the ability to monster truck over everything. On smaller wheels, I have to work alot harder to go as fast. It just beats me up.
> 
> If your wife wants more travel than the Joplin/TB3, perhaps she should check out the Hightower? It fits into the same catagory as the Bronson, but has bigger wheels. You could set it up as either a plus or 29er. Really fun bike. Santa Cruz usually releases new colors around this time of year, so you might be able to pick up last years model for a steal.


They do have the Tallboy and Hightower (maybe Joplin) at the shop. She did ride the Joplin around the parking lot and off curbs. She didn't really notice a big difference other than the bike seemed bigger (and at the time this intimidated her). I was all for a 29er at first, but her size, fit, and just comfort on the 27.5 bikes steered us that way. We'll try and get a 29er to at least parking lot compare. I sure wish she had made it to the recent demo that SC and Juliana were at! Riding a 27.5 and 29 back to back on the same trail would be helpful.

At the end of the day, I know she will like the Furtado and it will serve her well for a long time. I'm the type to research to death and try and make the perfect purchase and decision. Thats good in my job (IT) but not so important when buying a bike for your wife!


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## MattMay (Dec 24, 2013)

My wife loves her Furtado...she has the first edition. I'm sure your wife will as well!


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## Doug (Jan 12, 2004)

MattMay said:


> My wife loves her Furtado...she has the first edition. I'm sure your wife will as well!


Did she or has she ridden a similar 29er like the Joplin or Tallboy?


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