Recreational & Family - New bike for wife - opinions on Giant Sedona & Raleigh Venture 3.0

I'm shopping for a new bike for my wife, who has never rode a bike before in her life. As a first time rider, my wife is looking for a comfortable ride in which she can feel "safe" in..that is have her feet touch the ground..at least while learning. She is about 5'2"-5'3", so a small bike is necessary. The bike will be mostly used for riding on paths in the park and around the neighborhood.

We went to 2 different LBS this weekend and looked at the Raleigh Venture 3.0 and Giant Sedona. The Venture 3.0 is the 2006 equivalent of the 2005 model year SC30.
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=6&itemid=306&va=0

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?model=11050

My wife tried the Venture 16" step-through model but it was a little high. The LBS salesman suggested swapping out the suspension seatpost for a regular seatpost. With the regular seatpost, it seemed my wife was able to touch the ground with her feet.
At another LBS, which also sells Raleigh, the salesperson suggested the Giant Sedona since it comes in a 14" frame. The salesman also is willing to switch out the webspring seat on the Giant for the wider Avenir Deluxe Comfort seat which my wife prefers that is on the Raleigh
Both of these bikes are offered at the same price, so which do you think is better? My wife is undecided at this point. My initial research led me to the Raleigh, but I think the components on the Giant Sedona might be slightly better and the fact that it has a smaller frame size is a plus.

I put over 400 miles of dirt road riding on my Sedona in July, I like it. The only thing I don't like about it is the cheap front fork.

Our friends have a Sedona, and they like it. I would not say it gets lots of use but they get out most weekends.

The forks on the lower end Giants (like my Upland) are not the most pliable. They are better than nothing, and given a little care end up being very durable and can last longer than the more expensive forks. If you are not doing performance riding it will work fine.

I have never seen a Raleigh Venture so I can't comment on that.

Thanks for your replies. Given that the Giant Sedona comes in a 14" frame, I think that is the one my wife feels fits her best. One of the LBS near me quoted us a price for the Sedona DX that was decent, so we may end up getting that if he hasn't sold it yet.

I ride a 2003 Giant Sedona DX and have about 1900 miles on it.

I plan to put on thousands more, even though I will be moving to a road bike next season. I will kep it as a bike for rough roads and leisurely rides.

My wheels have stayed true, I have had it tuned up once, shifting is OK. No problems with the bike at all.

For the price, I would still suggest it for anyone looking for this type of bike.

However, if your wife is not planning to ride anything rougher than a gravel road, I would actually suggest looking at one of the bikes in Giant's Cypress line in order to get the more road oriented wheels and tires.

We considered the Cypress line, but the smallest frame on the Cypress is 15 inches and the 700c tires add another inch on top of that. Due to the suspension seat post on these bikes, even with the lowest seat height adjustment on the 14" sedona, she barely got both feet on the ground. As she as never ever rode a bike before, this is what she felt most comfortable with. We can always raise the seatpost later. Thanks for your suggestion anyway.

We picked up the Giant Sedona DX for my wife yesterday from the LBS. Sweet bike for a beginner. We didn't take it out for a spin yet because it was 98 degrees out yesterday here in NYC with the heat index way over 100.
Specs in the catalog and website said front derailer was Shimano C102 and rear deralier of Shimano Acera, but the bike that was at the store had Shimano C101 for the front and Shimano Alivio for the rear deraileur. I think the C101 and C102 are pretty much the same - not sure, but the Alivio is definitely a step up from the Acera.
Service was great at the LBS too - Peak Mountain Bike Pro Shop, with free lifetime adjustments.