I've come across what appears to be a really good deal on a used Cannondale Synapse. The person that owns it is female, I'm male. I asked her if it was a feminine or unisex bike and she said she thought it was unisex Is there a way to tell by looking at it? It's 2 years old but she says it only has 10 miles on it, 53 cm.
How to tell if a bike is womens bike
flyby201
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I've come across what appears to be a really good deal on a used Cannondale Synapse. The person that owns it is female, I'm male. I asked her if it was a feminine or unisex bike and she said she thought it was unisex Is there a way to tell by looking at it? It's 2 years old but she says it only has 10 miles on it, 53 cm.
Look for women's specific parts on it such as narrower handlebars (38, maybe 40cm); short reach brake levers or levers with little adapters slipped in that move them closer to the bars; handlebars with a very short drop; a woman's style saddle which is typically wider than a men's saddle, and a shorter than common top tube length for a frame that size-a 53-54cm top tube would be "unisex" or normal; anything under 53cm would be an attempt to design the bike to a typical woman's shorter torso; and it might have a shorter than average stem say, 10cm or shorter, although this may be a tougher call.
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is it pink?
Waterford 1100, Specialized Langster, Trek 400, Bianchi..... Campagnolo on all and Brooks!
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no..... it wouldn't have........bikes have no sex......they fit, or they don't...... "woman's specific" is an unfortunate term used by marketing.flyby201 said:
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Um...except that many manufacturers use thinner/differently butted tubing on their women's frames as well as different geo. And so they won't fit most men as well as they'd fit the average woman. That's not to say a man can't fit at all on a woman's bike or vise-versa, as many women find men's bikes to fit better than women's.Touch0Gray said:
As for the OP's question: Look to see if there is "Fem" printed anywhere on the frame. Otherwise, you can check the model against the archives on Cannondale's website and match up the paint scheme to see if it's a men's or women's frame.
Waterford 1100, Specialized Langster, Trek 400, Bianchi..... Campagnolo on all and Brooks!
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right...and i am 5 foot 5 with a short torso and long legs and arms, as well as fairly narrow shoulders....weighing 130 pounds......so I shouldn't ride a woman's specific because it's the wrong tubing?.....
FWIW I have seen a HELL of a lot of women who need heavier tubing than I do.........unless THAT is what you meant, in which case i aplologize.
I'm going with the original response...it either fits or not
FWIW I have seen a HELL of a lot of women who need heavier tubing than I do.........unless THAT is what you meant, in which case i aplologize.
I'm going with the original response...it either fits or not
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Google & the Cannondale website.
http://www.cannondale.com/none/none/Products/2009/Road/
http://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng/Products/2008/Road/
http://www.cannondale.com/none/none/Products/2009/Road/
http://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng/Products/2008/Road/
Looking at the current geometry charts (which don't usually change much year to year), the difference between the uni and women's Synapse are minimal. For the "54" size, the uni has a 54 TT and the women's is 53. If anything, I like some of the women's version numbers better.
I would love to see a reference to this "different tubing" theory. Most bikes don't use different tubing across the full size range, let alone the uni vs. women's.
I would love to see a reference to this "different tubing" theory. Most bikes don't use different tubing across the full size range, let alone the uni vs. women's.
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Its all in the geometry. Thats the difference between a "womens specific" bike and a unisex bike. Shorter top tubes, different head tube and seat tube angles, head tube length.Jwiffle said:
What does the tubing have to do with whether or not its a "womens specific" bike? Absolutely nothing. They don't use thinner/differently butted tubing unless its construction is totally different, which it isn't when comparing like models.
I'd like to see a reference about this as well.
Here is an example. As for working at a Fuji dealer, the "Unisex" version is called the Newest series, the "womens specific" version is called the Finest. Its pretty much the same bike, except for the geometry and components. The tubing is exactly the same.
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Why is it so hard to believe that manufacturer's use different tubing on women's bikes? They advertise they do, anyway.rx-79g said:
From Felt: (clicked on Fit Woman on their website):
"...This isn’t just a repurposed men’s bike—the ZW4, built with Felt’s FitWoman geometry, is custom designed to meet the specific needs of women athletes. Smaller-diameter carbon fiber tubes, a shorter cockpit to accommodate female proportions..." They also claim the woman's alloy bikes are custom-butted, so different from the men's.
Felt isn't the only one to say they use different tubesets on women's bike, but I'm not going to make an exhaustive list of who does and doesn't. Not all manufacturers use different tubing on woman's frames, but many do. FWIW, I can remember just a few years ago some of the major manufacturers didn't even change geos - they simply threw on a women's saddle and a shorter stem and called it "women's." But nowadays, most of them make the women's bikes with at least different geos, and many with tubesets or carbon layups that are different than the men's.
And Touch...I'm sure you can ride a woman's frame, even it has a different tubing, if the geo is good for you. It wouldn't likely fall apart or anything, but they do apparently design them with the idea that weight and likely power will be distributed slightly differently due to the differences in men's and women's physiques.
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Check for a string hanging out of the bottom bracket.
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I just thought the same thing.....but I LOLPlatyPius said:
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Shorter top tube that men's models.
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Lift up the seat bag and take a look.
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