Cycling beginner: After a Cyclocross Bike??

[TryingToJuggle]

My DH has got into cycling in the last year and has got 'all the gear' now! He has a Cyclocross Bike which is great for us living near the New Forest and doing a combinsation of gravel tracks, muddy tracks and roads.

I want to join him and so am looking to change up from my ancient heavy mountain bike to a Cyclocross too but I'm finding it hard to find a female one at a reasonable price. I am only 5'1" so it will need to be a small frame.

Any suggestions??

Islabike Luath 26!
There are others, but many a small woman has managed nicely on the Luath.
You'd want one with knobbies fitted, else you'll need to add in price of offroad tyres.

Looks like you can pick them up for < £300 on Ebay. Don't dawdle, though, price will go up between now & Christmas.

Hi, thank you. I hadn't thought abotu a child's bike! Will the gearing be OK for what I need do you think?

Yes, get a Luath 700. The gearing is perfect for what you want. Ds is 5'1 and just about to move off the 26 and will get the 700 large - he happily does MTB trails on it, and does a lot of road miles too.

A second set of wheels for the Luath is only £99 so ds has an offroad set of wheels and a road set, which might suit you if you'll have one bike for everything.

You can test ride their bikes at Ludlow

Check out Liv as well - it's the female line by Giant and they do some really nice bikes with female specific geometry, and in a xs size which might suit:
www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/invite.1/19222/77393/#overview

Thanks for all the advice. I went to Isla bikes in Ludlow at the weekend but the Luath were not the right fit/dimensions unfortunately

I've got the Liv Invite 2 and it's fab. I found one second hand on eBay that had hardly been used, so got it for half the retail price. I've done off road trails on it and also use it on road, have just done my first triathlon on it - so very versatile.