New bike advice please - drops, guards and rack lugs, women's geometry, etc

[phantasmagoriana]

As others have said, difficult to find those specs without disc brakes these days. Something like a Spesh Dolce or Liv (Giant) Avail might be a decent bet - I think the Liv Avails come with cross top levers, though I've never ridden one so am not sure. I used to have a Pinnacle (long-discontinued Gabbro model), but I see they now do a "Laterite" non-disc model which comes in a women's version as well - that might be worth a look.

[hatler]

Everyone, this is brilliant, thank you so much for your continuing thoughts on this.

[mzjo]

Looking through this I am left with the conclusion that 50cm frame height is about the limit for 700c tyres (judging by the range of frame sizes on offer from various builders. The Mercian upstream falls into this category).

Here are a couple of bikes used by my smaller (male) clubmates on our recent Auvergne outing. The owner of the CBT, which is on 650c wheels, also has a tourer which is on 26" (and flat bars). I am fairly certain that the owner of the Berthoud (26x1.25 wheels; he had wanted it to take 1.5 tyres but not enough clearance with the guards) also has a racer on 650c wheels. He also has a tandem on 700c but I can't remember how the frame works out! These bikes don't fit the requirements of the OP but they do show how smaller wheels can be used to reduce frame size.







Another small clubmate also has a 650c road bike, a Decathlon which I think went out of the catalogue a while ago. He isn't quite as small as the owners of these bikes but he finds it a better balanced option for him than 700c.

[DuncanM]

Looking through this I am left with the conclusion that 50cm frame height is about the limit for 700c tyres (judging by the range of frame sizes on offer from various builders. The Mercian upstream falls into this category).

I think that depends on the style of the bike. There are kids bikes (for ages 7 and up) that run 700c wheels because they have advantages in cyclocross. Eg: https://kidsracing.co.uk/blogs/bikes-components/scatto-jc28-700c-cyclocross-road-triathlon-mtb-race-bikes
They certainly don't look like a Mercian, and maybe they have other disadvantages, but...

[Kim]

There are kids bikes (for ages 7 and up) that run 700c wheels because they have advantages in cyclocross.

Is that a workaround for a limit on gear ratios specified in teeth?

[yorkie]

There are kids bikes (for ages 7 and up) that run 700c wheels because they have advantages in cyclocross.

Is that a workaround for a limit on gear ratios specified in teeth?

700C wheels will roll better off road, especially with the ankle/knee/waist** deep mud found on most CX courses.

Gear ratios for anything under British Cycling/UCI rules are specified in metres of development and checked by rolling the bike along a straight line (backwards, obviously!) in its highest available gear.

** Delete as applicable, depending on rider height.