Ladies e bike for 4ft 11" lady

[Donna]

Hi & thank you in advance for any advice you can give

I am looking at purchasing an ebike for leisure use but I am struggling to get one that I am comfortable on. I have hired a juicy classic which was ok but my feet don't touch the floor when seated so every time I stop I have to jump off the seat.
I have tried an A2B but again too big. I tried the Electra townie go 8i & it was fine but I really don't want to spend £2000 on a bike for little use. We live in Plymouth Devon so not many places close to us to test out bikes
Any advice much appreciated

 

[Fordulike]

Hi & thank you in advance for any advice you can give

I am looking at purchasing an ebike for leisure use but I am struggling to get one that I am comfortable on. I have hired a juicy classic which was ok but my feet don't touch the floor when seated so every time I stop I have to jump off the seat.
I have tried an A2B but again too big. I tried the Electra townie go 8i & it was fine but I really don't want to spend £2000 on a bike for little use. We live in Plymouth Devon so not many places close to us to test out bikes
Any advice much appreciated

Both the Juicy and the A2B appear to have quite thick saddles. If you are only talking an inch or two too short, then a lower profile saddle on one of those bikes might solve the problem.

 

[RobF]

Hi & thank you in advance for any advice you can give

I am looking at purchasing an ebike for leisure use but I am struggling to get one that I am comfortable on. I have hired a juicy classic which was ok but my feet don't touch the floor when seated so every time I stop I have to jump off the seat.
I have tried an A2B but again too big. I tried the Electra townie go 8i & it was fine but I really don't want to spend £2000 on a bike for little use. We live in Plymouth Devon so not many places close to us to test out bikes
Any advice much appreciated

Your feet do not need to touch the ground when stopping - you pop forward off the saddle putting one foot on the ground.

If your feet are flat on the ground while sitting on the saddle, the saddle will be too low and painful knees await.

Lots of new cyclists think they need a saddle low enough to have their feet on the ground while seated, but the critical dimension is the length between the saddle and the pedals, and standover height if there is a crossbar.

I expect the Juicy and bikes of similar size may fit you once you've learned to mount and dismount as per the linked video.

Alternatively, woosh make a bike called the Petite aimed at those from 4ft 10" to 5ft 6".

If you get one of those, you still need the correct saddle height which gives your leg almost full extension at the bottom of the pedal stroke.

The classic set-up is to have your leg fully extended when your foot is flat on the pedal, because you pedal with the ball of your foot your leg will be slightly bent while riding.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/starting.html

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?petite

 

[anotherkiwi]

Yes we are all on our toes when we stop.

 

[JuicyBike]

We have a 24" wheeled version of our Classic called Poco which you can see here.
https://www.juicybike.co.uk/electric-bikes/poco-click

 

[Donna]

Yes we are all on our toes when we stop.

Hi I'm not even on my toes my feet are a good 2-3 inches off the ground which means using the pedals to get on & off & I just don't feel safe

Thanks

 

[Donna]

We have a 24" wheeled version of our Classic called Poco which you can see here.
https://www.juicybike.co.uk/electric-bikes/poco-click

Hello. I have seen this in the catalogues but sadly no where near me has any to try one out & I don't want to buy a bike that I'm not going to like

 

[Angelnorth]

As you say you hired the Juicy Classic it's not clear whether you have a Juicy stockist near you - if you do, ask if they can get a Poco in for you to try.

If you can get frame and wheel measurements of the Townie bike that fit you, maybe you can narrow down your search by looking for similar measurements.

Maybe you could plot a short break to somewhere that does have a stockist with a bigger range - the Peak District is lovely

 

[trex]

check the Gallego out:

http://wooshbikes.co.uk/?gallego

That's probably the only bike that lets you have both feet on the ground.

 

[Donna]

Hi Thanks for the suggestion but I don't want a folding bike, I just don't like the look of them
Fussy I know but no point buying something I won't use

 

[trex]

the minimum rider's height for the Petite is 5ft to have both feet on the ground with pointed toes.

 

[Suseka]

Hi again Donna,

I posted a response about the bike I've got on the other thread you posted in, not noticing you had already started this one.

Like you (sorry RobF) I need to be able to touch the ground when I stop -otherwise I simply do not feel safe. I cannot begin to say how many times I've fallen off a bike when trying to 'jump off' the saddle... okay, I'm officially a saddo

So I always need to have a bike that I can sit on the seat and touch the ground with my toes.. but that's just me

Anyways - I plumped for the Wisper 705se because I wanted/needed a step through. I did try the Wisper 705 Torque and may well go that route in years to come, but for now the pedal assist version suits my needs.

Angelnorth has also responded on the other thread and linked to her review of the Torque (well worth a read) -so, my advice is try, if you can, to have a test ride on whatever brand/model is available to you before you buy.