Best fit short rider

mtb64

Member
Oct 22, 2018
14
2
UK
Hi, I'm looking to get my wife an e-bike. She's tiny - 5ft 3in (160cm), inside leg 26.5 inches.
For context - she currently rides a Ibis HD3 in small (14.5 in seat-tube) and also a 2009 14-in Orange 5.
Key factor is seat-tube length - getting it as low as possible for technical descents.
Anyone know what might be suitable / even possible?

Many thanks
 

R120

Moderator
Subscriber
Apr 13, 2018
7,819
9,185
Surrey
maybe one of Giants LIV women specific sub brand E-MTBS:

Intrigue E+ (2019) | Liv Cycling United Kingdom

Screen Shot 2018-10-22 at 23.09.12.png


MY19IntrigueE+1Pro_ColorA.jpg
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
Author
Subscriber
Mar 29, 2018
10,496
10,686
the internet
From the title I thought this was going to be an Emily Batty Vs Kate Courtney picture thread. ;)

Don't just go on seat tube length. Reach comes into it too. pretty much every manufacturer over the past couple of years has lengthened their entire size range meaning smaller riders now don't actually have all that many actual short bikes to choose anymore.

I ride a small vitus e-sommet. it has a 15" seat tube but it's far from small in reach (445mm).
also be careful the bike you choose has a long enough useable seat tube (straight and reamed out the full length internally) or you'll struggle to get a dropper post short enough to have a useable dropper post drop for a shorter legged rider.
 

Shane

New Member
Sep 16, 2018
67
56
Adelaide
Cheers @mark.ai

Yeah we looked at a LOT, but in the end the only one my wife was comfortable on was the Giant Liv XS.

My wife is barely 5ft so maybe your wife might have more options. The other one we looked into (that doesn't seem to be easily available in South Australia) was the Haibike Sduro Ladies range. These look to be pretty damn compact but she never actually tried one, as there don't seem to be many local dealers and none with any as hire bikes for us to test.

Good luck with the search, but the XS Giant Liv is definitely the smallest full-us EMTB that we have come across so far.
 

smokey_jo

Active member
Patreon
Jun 28, 2018
123
75
Uk
My wife's riding a small Vitus e-sommet and is 5' fuck all. She manages fine but it would be better a bit shorter and we needed to put a shorter travel dropper on
 

Shane

New Member
Sep 16, 2018
67
56
Adelaide
Don’t think they sell Vitus down under (not where I live anyway), bus yes, similar story @smokey_jo.

We haven’t bought an evoke yet but on her current trek I needed to fit an 85mm travel Lev dropper as not much else could be inserted far enough into the seat tube to be useable for her.
 

Laura JD

New Member
Nov 8, 2022
7
3
Bay Area
What bike did you end up getting? I'm 5'1" and have a regular Women's XS Trek, would love to get a eMTB that actually fits me
 

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