Looking for McGyver (Cross Post)

[happyslug]

8. your problem is to small a bike

Last edited Mon Jun 29, 2015, 11:00 PM - Edit history (4)

LEED gas an electric,as sit for less than $1000 dollars but requires a 26 inch front wheel. At 5 foot you have to go with small frame 26 inch bicycle. They are hard to fine. My sister had special order hers and she is 5 foot 4 inches tall. You need a 48 cm frame or smaller frame equip with one inch tires.

Now I did check the LEED web cite, they sell electric kits for 24 inch bikes:

http://www.e-bikerig.com/products/PBJ-e-bike-kit-samsung-li-ion-front-wheel.html

Here is E-bays recommendations for bike size, they recommend the 46 cm for people who are 5 foot tall:

http://pages.ebay.com/bikesizingguide/road/

Bike Frame Size: 46 - 48 cm
Height: 4'10" - 5'1"
Inseam Length: 25.5” - 27”

http://www.amazon.com/CFG-Cycle-Force-Cro-mo-Cyclocross/dp/B00HPKVVBK

If you go with a LEEDS, read my report from last year on their electric converstion system:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1207413

Please note since that time I have managed to destroy the battery and had to order a new one. I do not think I came close to what LEEDS said the battery should be able to do, but it did failed me after about a year of off and on use do to my own errors in installing it.

AS to the bike itself 26 inch bikes with frames below 18 inches/46 cm are are to come by.

You can get them even in cheaper bike but such small bikes are rarely stocked. Thus you have to special order them. Please note the 46 cm is a guide not a rule. Fitting is important. A front shock increase the height thus you may want to avoid a front shock or if the bike comes with one replace it with an steel front fork.

Bike wheel sizes are set by diameter of the tire on the wheel at the size it first came out in. In 26 inch tires that was 2 1/2 inch tires in the 1930s. You can get smaller tires for most 26 Inch bikes and that can drop the height of the seat almost an inch.

Sounds like you need a 46 cm frame with 1 inch wide tires on 26 inch wheels. Anything bigger is just to tall. The corresponding frame size is the most important thing when it comes to a bike. There are ways to work around a to small a frame but not to large a frame.

Go to a bike shop and get a Giant or other bike with a frame no larger then 48 cm. I would like advise a better quality bike like a Trek or Cannondale but you may want to look in on a Terry which is designed by a female engineer for females. Go to DU'S bicycle forum for more information. The Terry is high end but sometimes the fugal act is to buy top end for it is cheaper for it cheaper in the long run.

Home Depot has a 46 cm frame for sale this the frame only no parts. Price is $129 just for the frame. No further details were given.

I did run across a 46 cm bike for $399.00 that came equipped. 46 cm is about 18 inches. 48 cm is about 19 inches. Frame size is based on the length of seat tube from the bottom of the seat to hub. Add about 6 inches for the difference between the bottom bracket and the ground to approximate inseam.

I also ran across a 46 cm frame only for $79 on overstock.com. Again that is frame only.

http://www.overstock.com/Sports-Toys/Bike-Parts-Accessories/2664/subcat.html?gclid=CjwKEAjw2cOsBRD3xNbRp5eQxzYSJADZGYbz0uB_ffn5xVcQWddV9hmx4DNUFpBCyz-i67xct2hjnBoCekTw_wcB&featuredproduct=8985076&featuredoption=12845594&cid=202290&kid=9553000357392&track=pspla&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=16191088-000-001&utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=Sports+%26+Toys&utm_content=Sports+%26+Fitness&ef_id=VQBoMwAABe4rwwOR:20150630021541:s

Now Cr-Mo means Chrome-Moly (or Chrome Molybdenum) Frame. Cr-Mo was the wonder material of the 1930s. A Bike Frame made out of Cr-Mo is stiffer then one with high tension Steel (The wonder material of 1900). The stiffer the frame the easier it is to peddle (you can lose up to 60% of your peddle power to the frame, if the frame is High Tension Steel as compared to Cr-Mo).

If you buy a frame make sure it is Cr-Mo, Aluminium, Titanium or Carbon Fiber (That is the list of bike frame materials in order of Stiffness, the big improvement is between High Tension Steel and Cr-Mo, the other materials are stiffer, but marginal compared to the difference between Cr-Mo and High Tension Steel). Please note the above is not only the order of stiffness but also the order of price.

Most bikes made prior to 1980 were High Tension Steel (and most children's bikes are still High Tension Steel, it is a good material, can take a beating and can easily be repaired. Had the Titanic been made of High Tension Steel it would have survived the iceberg, the Steel used in the Titanic was crap). I bring this up for a lot of older bikes are still made of high Tension Steel, Cr-Mo is wroth the extra money.

Here are E-bays list of 46 cm 26 inch and 700 cc bikes:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/Bicycles-/177831/i.html?_dcat=177831&Frame%2520Size=45%2520cm%7C46%2520cm&_sop=15

E-bay had some 45 cm, which shocked me, but all of the bikes had 700 CC Wheels. The sellers suggest 42 cm bikes for people who are 5 foot:

42c has a standoverheight of 28" & fits most riders 4'11" to 5'3"
46c has a standoverheight of 30" fits most riders 5'4" to 5'6"

I suspect the reason for that is 700 cc are much taller then 26 inch tires and wheels. Thus these 46 cm bikes all sound TO BIG for someone who is 5 foot,

Something is wrong here, and thus why I recommend you go to a bike shop and ask about bikes for short people. Do NOT take a bike they have in stock, they gear themselves for teens and adults and that tends to be people over 5 foot 4 inches tall (Which is the minimum height to operate various pieces of equipment, a few years ago a Female Soldier who was shorter then 5 foot 4 inches lost control of a M113 Armored personal carrier she was driving and proceeded to get herself killed, the Commander was later Court Martial-ed for to drive a M113 you must be AT LEAST 5 fort 4 inches tall thus it was determined the accident was his fault for leaving her drive the M113).

Thus, you have to get to a bike shop (NOT a Walmart or other department store an actual bike shop) and see what they can get you in a bike that you fit. That is step one.