# Good XC FS bike for leggy woman - Rocky Mountain Element



## r39205 (Aug 8, 2005)

Just thought I would share with you all another bike that is a good fit for women - or me at least. I'm 5'9" with a 33" inseam. All legs, no torso, no arms, stereotypical female geometry. My husband who is 6' has about the same inseam that I do, but way more torso and 3" longer arms. Most all men's bikes stretch out my upper body way too much. And I'm too tall for the WSD bikes, all too small. Looking for a bike in the sub $2K range.

What I ended up with was a 19" 2004 Rocky Mountain Element 50, bought used. I had ridden a bunch of bikes and they all felt OK, but when I got on the Element it was like "ahhh..... this fits!" It has a shorter top tube, not a lot of standover height for its size (which is fine by me, my legs are long and I don't have male dangly parts), it is built really well.

I can't say how impressed I am with this bike. It fits great, climbs well, is really light and just a blast to ride. It is so nice not to have to feel like the handlebars are a mile away and my hads support all my wieght. On my first test ride I forgot my gloves and my hands didn't even ache. On my past bike, riding 1 mile to the library on the road without gloves caused major hand pain.

As a bonus, Rocky Mountain has a reputation for excellent quality (if not low prices) and they take a lot of care in the details. They build their own wheels and frames in-house and on my bike all three of these are signed by the person that put them together, how can you beat that!!

The bike I got retails new for around $2300, but they have two trim levels below (the 30 and the 10) with the same frame and geometry and lower-end components, and you can always buy a used one like I did. It's worth checking out if you are a leggy person with short arms!

Monica


----------



## kaboose (Oct 27, 2005)

Nice looking wheels, though fit is the most important thing. Enjoy it!


----------

