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Trek 6500 WSD Disc - A mid-range Mountain Bike for female riders
Posted Monday 27th February, 2006.
Women no longer have to adapt to a bike built for men. Myra Vanlnwegen tests a mid-range mountain bike for female riders
Women often find it difficult to get a good fit on a standard bike. That's because the geometries and parts of adult bicycles are standardised around the average-sized man. and these are not properly scaled down to make smaller bikes that fit women, especially small women. Along with component problems such as brake levers that are difficult to reach, the frame design often leaves a woman too stretched out. Some say this is because women have proportionally longer legs and shorter torsos than men do. This is not actually true. On average, women's arms and legs are in the same proportion to height as men's and mostly its just that women come in smaller sizes. The shape of a woman's pelvis is quite different, however, and this can affect how one sits on a bicycle saddle. Although there's a lot of variation, in general women cannot comfortably lean so far forward and accordingly need the handgrips a bit higher and closer to the saddle.
The problem is made worse by smaller bikes generally having proportionally longer top tubes. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, if you keep everything else the same, a shorter top tube moves the front wheel closer to the bottom bracket, producing toe overlap, meaning your toes might touch the wheel on sharp turns. Secondly, a shorter wheelbase (distance between wheels) makes the bike a bit less stable. One of the key points of designing a bike for women is to get the handlebars higher and closer to the saddle whilst avoiding these problems.
Trek, with their WSD (Women's Specific Design) range, were one of the first of the major manufacturers to make bikes designed specifically for women. This bike is the feminine version of the 6500 Disc. The bike I tested is the 16" 6500 Disc WSD; the 15.5' 6500 Disc (which I will call the men's bike) provides a useful comparison.
In general, women cannot comfortably lean so far forward and accordingly need the handgrips a bit higher and closer to the saddle.
WOMEN'S SPECIFIC DESIGN
Let's see how this bike meets the design goals for a women's bike. The handlebars on the WSD bike are fair bit higher and closer to the saddle than on the men's bike. The effective top tube is 1.8cm shorter than on the men's bike, and the stem is shorter and more upright. This certainly makes the bars easier to reach!
You might think that they made the top tube shorter on the WSD bike simply by moving the front wheel closer to the rear one. This could easily have been done: mountain bikes wheels are smaller than road wheels, so you can move the front wheel back without getting toe overlap. Also, the wheelbase on the men's bike is plenty long at 103cm. so you could lose some of this without compromising stability.
But this isn't the way it's done. The wheelbase is a bit shorter on the WSD bike (by 07cm), but it's mainly done with angles. The seat tube angle of the WSD bike is 1/2 steeper (more vertical), while the head angle is 1° less steep.
Do these angles make a difference? According to Trek's WSD blurb: 'A steeper seat tube angle places the hips over the crank for more efficient power generation.' I don't buy this; there's no reason why a steeper seat tube would be more appropriate for women than men. What that blurb really means is: 'Sorry we couldn't get you the shorter cranks this size of bike really wants, so to keep your knee above the descending pedal we shifted the saddle forward instead!' Note that the smallest (14") WSD bike still has the same cranks and is another whole degree steeper: maybe too steep for some.
Up front, the less steep head tube angle means that the WSD bike has a bit more trail, which makes it a bit more stable and easier to keep going straight. It's still well within a sensible range and won't interfere with making those tight singletrack turns.
There are few component differences between the WSD and men's bikes. The most important ones are the women's specific saddle and short-reach brake levers. The saddle is one of the few truly women's specific (rather than smaller-person specific) aspects of the bike. The sit bones are further apart on women then men and thus, generally speaking, women need wider saddles. The short-reach brake levers are a good idea too: like most mountain bike brake levers the reach of disc brake levers is adjustable, but it helps if the default position is closer to the bar to begin with.
The effective top tube is 1.8cm shorter than on the men's bike, and the stem is shorter and more upright. This makes the bars easier to reach.
Much of the gearing Is Shimano Deore. The rear mech Is one step better.
POSITION AND RIDE
I found the handlebars set up too dose and high for serious off-road riding. Modern mountain bikes have fairly tall suspension forks, so on smaller bikes the saddle is fairly low in comparison with the height of the top of the headset. Add to this 4cm of spacers between the top of the headset and the stem, a short stem, and riser bars, and the result is a high ride position. This means there was very little weight on the front wheel, and this made me feel unbalanced, with too little control on twisty singletrack. I had to swap the stem for a longer one and put all the spacers on top of the stem to get my position right. I was surprised that I had to get the bars further away and lower. With every mountain bike I have owned I've done just the opposite! With my ride position sorted out. this bike was well suited for trail riding. I found the handlebars a good width at 60cm. The fork handled well, although it wasn't ideal. I didn't have any real problems with it, but it didn't seem to have been adjusted for a woman's lighter weight. The fork used very little of its available travel, and it didn't seem very active: it didn't respond much to small bumps.
OTHER COMPONENTS
The Shimano shift levers and derailleurs used on this bike are good, reliable kit. An XT rear mech is a bonus. The construction of the wheels is excellent, with a good uniform spoke tension.
The tyres were wide (2.2") and gripped well enough when the trails were dry. but they picked up mud very quickly on damp trails I would suggest a different set of tyres for UK winter riding.
The chainset supplied with this bike has a 170mm crank length; an acceptable compromise between the commonplace 175mm and the 165mm on my own mountain bike. However that's surely too long for the smallest (14")6500WSD, and the buyer would do well to replace them.
DISC BRAKES
Discs are a good answer to muddy UK conditions Out wear out rims
Two of the most obvious features of this bike are the disc brakes. I didn't find them greatly better than a set of well-adjusted V-brakes when conditions were good, but in bad conditions they shine. When your rims ate covered in mud and slime, the disc brakes stilt stop you quickly and easily when you want them to. and let you keep rolling when you don't. Add the fact that they don't wear out your rims, and they seem ideal for UK conditions. However, there is a safety problem with disc brakes in the way they are currently supplied, with the brake caliper behind the fork leg. Under heavy braking, the forces on the wheel act to push the axle out of the dropouts. This is not just theory; quite a few disc-equipped riders have lost their front wheels going down steep slopes. Some have crashed badly. Is this problem likely to affect this bike? I would say no. Women are lighter than men, and, this being a limited travel cross-country bike, it's unlikely to be ridden at breakneck speeds down a steep rocky slope. Still, it's wise 10 follow precautions. First, don J, replace the Shimano skewer that comes with the bike. Most aftermarket skewers are not as effective at holding your wheel in place. Second, adjust the quick release about as tight as you can. Third, check the quick release regularly to make sure it hasn't loosened.
SUMMARY
This is a very capable trail bike. It's a lot of fun to tide, and it handles serious off-road riding well. By and large the components are good quality and are well chosen. Although I found the handlebar too high and close out of the box, this is easily sorted by rearranging the spacers and swapping the stem. Get some narrower tires for winter riding and watch that front quick release, and you should have some good years of off-road riding from this bike." - Review supplied by Trek UK.
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