Getting a bike for my wife

Quoted message said:

My wife has been showing an interest in coming cycling with me.

She is quite fit, has been doing a lot of bike work at the Gym, and is
interested in coming cycling with me rather than us going our separate
exercise ways.

She doesn't have a lot of cycling experience apart from when she was a
kid, so her skills in terms of bike handling, use of gears, general
riding are quite lacking.

We have been to centennial for a couple of rides with her hiring a
crappy MTB from the bike hire guys there, that went pretty well and
she is interested in moving to the next level.

I have a mid low/mid range road bike (Felt F80), I definitely want to
look at getting her either a road bike or a flatbar as we
realistically will only be doing road work.

If it was a roadbike, I would definitely want to get her something
with STI gear, as getting used to riding is and gears is hard enough
without having to take your hand off the bar and reach down to the
tube to change gears when you hit a hill. I am guessing a flatbar
might be easier and less threatening in terms of gears and handling to
start with.

Platform pedals definitely seem like the go to start off with,
clipless is too expensive/scary at the moment.

We had an ill fated and expensive experience with buying her some good
rollerblades for her to come skating with me, I don't want to make the
same error here and drop $1000+ on a bike for her only to put 100k on
it and decide its not for her.

So, essentially I am thinking of a budget of around $500 to get her
something decent that can be built on, but on the other hand won't
have been too big a cost if it doesn't work out.

Given that, it appears that second hand would be the go.

eBay appears to be the obvious choice - are there any other good
second hand cycling options I should consider?

If I go eBay, how do I estimate the frame size that she needs? She is
164cm. It is key that she can easily put her feet down when stopped,
as that gives her more confidence, but I expect that if the framesize
is right we can work that out to start out with seat height.

Suggestions anyone?

Let me very quickly tell what happened with my other half.

Shortly after returning from living in the UK, we laid down
around $700 for a steel framed Giant "ladies" bike. After a
few initial rides, it collected dust and cobwebs in the shed.
And this was before we had kids which gobble up any time you
might have thought was for recreation and relaxing.
The tires perished, chromed parts rusted and eventually, (after
about 6 or 7 years), we gave it to away.

I was getting into biking in a big way including some racing and
she was again getting interested. This time, I thought we should
get her a decent bike. Two reasons, a good bike is more pleasurable
to ride and if you've laid down some cash, she might feel more
obliged to ride it. We also got her some clip in shoes, fancy
cycling gear from Primal and a light helmet. She's now riding to
work on a regular basis (about 22km). We don't ride much together
(kids need someone to mind them) but she gets out quite a bit.
She's now lining up for a TT on Good Friday.

So, my view is that you shouldn't get a [censored] bike - it's a false
economy. We got an Avanti Blade - a flat bar road bike. It's
light, has index gears (27 of them), has reasonable quality
components that work. Wheels are a bit heavy and I can tell it's
not a $6,000 European thoroughbred but for around $1,000 (we paid
$800 as it was on special - last year's model) it's value for money.
She's now done rides of over 50km.

In short, don't buy a cheap and nasty bike because you're worried
about it not being used - it's a self defeating strategy.

Cheers,
DeF.

--
To reply, you'll need to remove your finger.

[email hidden said:

"] My wife has been showing an interest in coming cycling with me.

She is quite fit, has been doing a lot of bike work at the Gym, and is
interested in coming cycling with me rather than us going our separate
exercise ways.

<snip>

Suggestions anyone?

Take up golf. Most women find golf exceptionally boring and will never, ever want to play golf with you. When you get to golf, assemble the bike that you stowed in the back of the car, and then go riding. Best part - a round of golf can take hours - you'll be able to put in some very long training rides.

If she might actually like golf, pick something else uber-boring - like bird watching. That could get you hours of time in the dirt with the mtb.

cheers,
Monster(married too long)man 🙂

Quoted message said:

So, essentially I am thinking of a budget of around $500 to get her
something decent that can be built on, but on the other hand won't
have been too big a cost if it doesn't work out.

For $500, I'd try the LBS first. It isn't too much to "play" with to be
sure, then $1K+ for something better after a year.

Comparing roller skating to bicycling isn't the same ball park really.

Terryc said:

Quoted message said:

So, essentially I am thinking of a budget of around $500 to get her
something decent that can be built on, but on the other hand won't
have been too big a cost if it doesn't work out.

For $500, I'd try the LBS first. It isn't too much to "play" with to be
sure, then $1K+ for something better after a year.

Comparing roller skating to bicycling isn't the same ball park really.

How do you figure?

I don't know if you would find people who are hard core into skating
would agree with you there, and the fact that you call it "Roller
Skating" shows the level of information that you have on it.

When I was skating regularly I dropped $500 on a decent pair of
blades, and was doing 2-3 hour skates at least 3 times a week and it
was worth every cent.

Just because cycling costs a lot more and has more shiny gear doesn't
make it more legitimate as a hobby or form of exercise.

Quoted message said:

Shortly after returning from living in the UK, we laid down
around $700 for a steel framed Giant "ladies" bike. After a
few initial rides, it collected dust and cobwebs in the shed.
And this was before we had kids which gobble up any time you
might have thought was for recreation and relaxing.
The tires perished, chromed parts rusted and eventually, (after
about 6 or 7 years), we gave it to away.

I was getting into biking in a big way including some racing and
she was again getting interested. This time, I thought we should
get her a decent bike. Two reasons, a good bike is more pleasurable
to ride and if you've laid down some cash, she might feel more
obliged to ride it. We also got her some clip in shoes, fancy
cycling gear from Primal and a light helmet. She's now riding to
work on a regular basis (about 22km). We don't ride much together
(kids need someone to mind them) but she gets out quite a bit.
She's now lining up for a TT on Good Friday.

So, my view is that you shouldn't get a [censored] bike - it's a false
economy.
In short, don't buy a cheap and nasty bike because you're worried
about it not being used - it's a self defeating strategy.

So do you think it was the good bike that made the difference, or just
the right time the second time around?

If it were up to me, I would probably invest the $1000 for a bike and
another couple of good pedals/shoes/clothing, but she doesn't want to
spend that much at the moment, so it is a moot point.

So it is basically try and do something for a reasonable price, or do
nothing at all.

And I know that if I turned around and sold my Felt right now I would
probably only get $500-$700 for it - there have got to be plenty of
1-2 year old bikes out there is 105 or better groupo that got bought
and never get ridden by any number of people who buy a bike and then
let it sit, I figure I just need to work out how to tap that market!

And here was me thinking you were going to ask if this was a good
swap :-)

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

And here was me thinking you were going to ask if this was a good
swap :-)

Graeme

Must be getting late, took me around 30 seconds.

"take my wife.................. please"

Quoted message said:

My wife has been showing an interest in coming cycling with me.

She is quite fit, has been doing a lot of bike work at the Gym, and is
interested in coming cycling with me rather than us going our separate
exercise ways.

What is it about men buying bikes for their partners? Is it you who
wants her to ride for your company? Heck, find a group to ride with.
Or do you think she needs to tone up? There might be other ways to
achieve this, or perhaps she is cool with being tubby, in which case
you probably need to be cool with it too.

Less likely, she actually wants to ride. If so, get her to buy the
bike - give her the credit card and tell her which shops you trust.
Just check the final purchase to see she isn't being gypped, but let
her choose. Then you save yourself being responsible for her
complaining it isn't right (reasonably likely if you buy second hand),
or you don't have to feel like a [censored] for having bought that dusty
bike that sits in the garage.

Donga

Donga said:

Quoted message said:

My wife has been showing an interest in coming cycling with me.

Quoted message said:

She is quite fit, has been doing a lot of bike work at the Gym, and is
interested in coming cycling with me rather than us going our separate
exercise ways.

Quoted message said:

What is it about men buying bikes for their partners? Is it you who
wants her to ride for your company? Heck, find a group to ride with.

I have plenty of company to ride with - group rides and training
partners, I often go riding with them.

Quoted message said:

Or do you think she needs to tone up? There might be other ways to
achieve this, or perhaps she is cool with being tubby, in which case
you probably need to be cool with it too.

So you are going to just skip the bit where you read the post and go
straight for the insults?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

She is quite fit, has been doing a lot of bike work at the Gym

Quoted message said:

Less likely, she actually wants to ride. If so, get her to buy the
bike - give her the credit card and tell her which shops you trust.

That is great, unless she has actually expressed the desire to ride,
but wants the advice of someone who appears to know about bikes
because they ride one three or four times a week and spends too much
money on them.

Generally, in my experience, males are very dismissive of the concept
of involving your partner in your sport/hobby of choice.

See this post, the above joke about golf, pretty much any male that I
go sailing with - it is always the same gear - you have to fight for
your time, or trick your partner to get the time away, why would you
ever choose time with your partner over sailing/cycling/whatever you
do.

I have no problem getting time away to go cycling, but I actually like
my wife and enjoy spending as much time with her on the weekend as I
can - going for a three hour ride on a Sunday really cuts into that
unless I get up and do it at 5.00am and I am not that way inclined.

Maybe when I am as old as the people who share there views on these
things with me I will be as bitter as them. I hope not.

Quoted message said:

Suggestions anyone?

I just got a CRX4 flat bar roadie for commuting. For a budget of $600
that would fit well (it's less than that but I assume you'll need a few
extras). I've only had it a week but been very happy with the shifting,
position and feel. And for someone starting out, flatbar is probably
more likely to instil confidence than drops. If it wasn't for the saddle
(which has got to go) I would have taken it on my long ride yesterday
instead of the OCR.

DaveB

[email hidden said:

"]
How do you figure?

I don't know if you would find people who are hard core into skating
would agree with you there, and the fact that you call it "Roller
Skating" shows the level of information that you have on it.

When I was skating regularly I dropped $500 on a decent pair of
blades, and was doing 2-3 hour skates at least 3 times a week and it
was worth every cent.

Just because cycling costs a lot more and has more shiny gear doesn't
make it more legitimate as a hobby or form of exercise.

Q - What's the hardest thing about roller blading?

A - Having to tell your parents you're ghey

(not that there is anything wrong with that).

Written and authorised by Mr Homer Fobic, president of the "free speech for all" party. Note that the content of this post certainly does not reflect the views of the author. All you whingers please note that sometimes, like life, comedy is just like that. And people please remember - stay in school; say no to drugs

Quoted message said:

We have been to centennial for a couple of rides with her hiring a
crappy MTB from the bike hire guys there, that went pretty well and
she is interested in moving to the next level.

Quoted message said:

Suggestions anyone?

She should spend the $500 on moving to Adelaide :-)

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

Quoted message said:

My wife has been showing an interest in coming cycling with me.

....

I have no idea why but as soon as I read your message header the
immediate idea that popped into my head was... "sounds like a fair swap".

--
Bean "waiting for a slap"

Remove "yourfinger" before replying

Donga has a point.

So does everyone else. Except MM.

Dude, buy your bike a womens specific bike. Advise her, but at the end of the day, let HER choose the bike.

After years of riding a mens bike, I've just bought a Trek 1500 WSD and it is the best thing I ever did. It comes with loads of things specific to women - narrower bars (40mm narrower than my last set), smaller drops (that I can - and do - actually use quite comfortably), slightly different geometry and without doubt THE best ladies seat in the world (my neither regions are in fine shape after 85km yesterday and a quick 25km recovery ride this morning, where I'd normally be quite sensitive - sorry if that was too much info). If you buy her a male specific bike, don't expect her to enjoy riding very much, if at all. Oh, and the womens specific bikes come in way cooler colours than the blokey ones.

Oh, and spend at least $1,000. At $500 I think you'd be wasting your money. Keep in mind that small bikes - WSD in particular - hold their value very, very well.

Don't let any bike shop convince you to buy her a bike and throw a short stem on it. If the bike she is getting needs anything shorter than a 90mm stem, it's wrong for her and you should slap the bike shop knob.

I'm awfully biased (now have two Trek WSD bikes - a mtb and a road bike), but I think any bike shop that lets a woman walk out with a men's bike, without having ridden a womens specific bike, should be frowned upon.

Recently, when visiting a Brisbane bike shop, and asking if they had any aluminium, ultegra equipped WSD bikes, the guy walked over to the men's bikes to have a look. When I told him I wanted a WSD bike, he told me "There's not much difference". He was very, very lucky I didn't slap him. I'm also very tempted to tell his boss of her employee's incompetence.

I'm rambling now. In short, get her a bike, but at least let her try a WSD bike. Everyone's doing them now - Giant, Avanti (Sub Zero bikes), Trek, Specialized, Le Mond etc. and there are various price ranges.

Good luck!
Lotte

LotteBum said:

Donga has a point.

So does everyone else. Except MM.

Dude, buy your bike a womens specific bike. Advise her, but at the end of the day, let HER choose the bike.

What Lotte said. Let your wife make her decision, support what she wants to do and importantly, whatever you do, don't make an assumption on her behalf. Wrong. Bad. World of Pain awaits. i.e: we Ladies don't like that. Although I'll admit I'm in a very small female subset (but growing) who prefers to build up their own bikes, think it's almost a decade since I purchased an "entire" bicycle.

Whatever you & your lovely wife choose to do, have fun. Bikes are fun. 😉

LotteBum said:

Donga has a point.

So does everyone else. Except MM.

<snip>

Good luck!
Lotte

I do so have a point. I do so. I do. I ... ... ....

cfsmtb said:

What Lotte said. Let your wife make her decision, support what she wants to do and importantly, whatever you do, don't make an assumption on her behalf. Wrong. Bad. World of Pain awaits. i.e: we Ladies don't like that. Although I'll admit I'm in a very small female subset (but growing) who prefers to build up their own bikes, think it's almost a decade since I purchased an "entire" bicycle.

Whatever you & your lovely wife choose to do, have fun. Bikes are fun. 😉

My last two bikes - before the latest addition to my Trek stable - were built up bikes (only way to do it, in the past). I found it to be too expensive, hence I'm ecstatic with the range available for women these days. It's about fr!gging time too!

I'm not what you would consider a small person (especially not in terms of width/circumference etc), rather I am average height (about 163cm). I have quite a short torso and long legs, and my bike is 51cm. The WSD bikes do go up a fair way, recognising that women who are taller are still have female specific anatomy etc.

Lotte

On Mar 26, 8:34 am, monsterman <monsterman.2o0...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

Q - What's the hardest thing about roller blading?

A - Having to tell your parents you're ghey

(not that there is anything wrong with that).

Speaking of which, I saw the weirdest thing on Ann St (city) today. I
was walking along and heard a ghetto blaster coming from behind,
playing funk. Here goes a ghuy/ghal on roller skates, wearing a
shortie pink zootsuit, with the ghetto blaster on his shoulder. It was
right out of the 70s - sensational! It was hilarious to see jaws
dropping and smiles spreading as he went along.

Donga

Quoted message said:

On Mar 26, 7:18 am, "Donga" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

So you are going to just skip the bit where you read the post and go
straight for the insults?

I'm sorry you took it that way - it wasn't intended to insult, but I'm
an insensitive bugger. It's just that I didn't see in what you wrote
that she asked you to buy her a bike. From there I assumed, quite
reasonably. Don't take it personally.

Donga