Hey bicycle folks

Looking for a bike for my wife. She wants:

• Very comfortable and easy to ride.
• Lightweight, so she can get it off the storage hooks in the garage
• 'cute'
• well-made. She wants it to "just work"
• no women's frames

She won't be taking it off-road, so I'm thinking a city/hybrid type thing is best. I don't want it to cost an arm and a leg. She's a recreational rider, not a serious rider.

Here in KC, there don't seem to be a whole lot of bike stores to choose from.

Based on all that, I'm eyeballing a Trek 7.2 FX. Thoughts?

Single speed or geared? Single speed means there is less stuff to break / adjust. More likely to "just work".

Since we live in Kansas, a crapload of gears aren't very important. We have to look for hills. On the other hand, I haven't seen much in off-the-shelf single-speed that's not an insanely heavy cruiser.

Honestly, if I found an updated lightweight version of the classic 3-speed, she'd probably be completely happy. Especially if had a little flower basket hanging from the handle bars.

The 7.2 FX certainly looks like it would do all that, and it's going to be lighter than a lot of hybrids that have suspension forks on them.

The most important this is the fit and handling of the bike. This is important even for the casual, recreational rider because if it's not comfortable you will find other things to do besides ride it. Have her test ride a few differnt models in her size and tell her to just focus on the way the bike responds. Does it feel natural when you corner? Does it feel stable when you accelerate or stand up? These things are subtle and may take more than just one afternoon of trying stuff out.

Once she has found a make that's comfortable it's real easy to narrow down the model that fist your budget.

Yeah, I'm kinda stuck on the whole test ride thing, since it's a birthday present--a surprise.

I do have a pretty good idea of what she's looking for in a bike, though. I know she likes my 15" Bianchi, for example, both for size and handling, and hates her 17" Diamond Back.

I looked at some other hybrids, particularly Giants, with the suspension forks and stuff. Just seemed like extra weight and gimmickry to me. The Trek is very light, which is a big plus.

I bought my wife a Giant with solid forks and a hard tail... big seat with springs. It is a 21 speed with very nice derailers and shifters so its easy to use. She generally leaves it on the middle sprocket up front and adjusts the rear to suit the terrain. IIRC it was less than $200 new even with the upgraded shift parts. It works well in dirt, on the street and whatever - for piddling around when camping. Its light enough for my 10yr old to ride and since he likes the gears over his BMX - he is now the primary user.

Electra townie: http://www.electrabike.com/

Very very comfortable. 21 speeds. Not an arm and a leg. available in mens and womens style frames (womens pictured). Kinda cool "chopper"ish looking

may be hard to source in a brick and mortar. The shop I used to work at carries them, and I like them a lot. Great for recreation. Not to good for much else

Yup, an Electra. Maybe a cruiser. They do fail on the "lightweight" aspect though. My wife loves hers.

Kim has the older version of this: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/lifestyle/1279/29347/

and a Trek roadie that she does tris with.

I just use an older version of this: http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/bike_path/navigator/navigator30/

I've ridden them all, and I love the Trek Navigator. Very comfy to ride and you can still put some serious distance in (20 miles for me is a long way)

Per

The Electra Amsterdam Sport seems like a good possibility. They look heavy, though. There is a dealer in town, though, so maybe I'll make the drive over there.

Per, the Trek folks kinda steered me away from the Navigator. Not quite sure why... maybe 'cause I said she wants skinnier-than-MTB tires.

The Navigator is a comfort mountain bike. If she's not going off road she doesn't need to lug those heavy tires around.

Yeah, she's strictly a pavement gal. I'm the one who can't pass a trail without wanting to know where it goes... even on my skinny tires.

My wife has a Specialized hybrid that has a rigid fork, but a sprung seat post. Not quite suspension, but she says it does make for a more comfortable ride.

You have four Giant Bike Dealers in your area. I think you should check out this.

Bit out of my price range, but does look more appealing than the Cypress the Giant dealer I stopped at was showing me. They didn't have any of the Transends.

My bad, you posted the Trek 7.2 and it was in the $600 range. Check out the DX or the base model links on that page. We have the base starting at $380 and the DX at $480. Both are nice, the DX comes with the fender, rack and nicer components.

Yeah, I'm shooting for the 400 range. The 7.2 I'm looking at is 489, which is a stretch, but doable. I'll put the DX on the list, too (from another Giant dealer)

What about a Redline 925? When I worked a bike shop last year they sold them for $500. Fixie or gears, fenders, toe clips, tires skinnier than a MTB.....

Or if you want her to go for the win............

KHS Urban XI picked up one of these for my wife. It's a pretty comfy cruiser, and utilitarian as well. Too bad she's only ridden it twice in 2-years...

when your wife sees all the "cute" colors that a townie can come in, she'll be sold. My wife wants one with flowers on it...

What's just as important as the bike is the shop. If you have three or four shops near you I guarantee you at least one will suck and maybe one will be good. I would cater to the shop with the best rep. Get Mojo to open a shop in your neighborhood.

Aw, shucks I've thought about opening a shop with Chuck. I've never really considered Kansas, but Tim's there so it must be a cool place.

EastCoastMojo wrote: Once she has found a make that's comfortable it's real easy to narrow down the model that fist your budget.

i know new bikes are 'spensive, but do they really "fist your budget"?

LOL. Most models don't.

Tim Baxter wrote: Yeah, she's strictly a pavement gal. I'm the one who can't pass a trail without wanting to know where it goes... even on my skinny tires.

While you're there you should check out this: