Recreational & Family - Wife is getting a bike -- hooray!

I got to take my wife out bike shopping yesterday. She hadn't ridden since she was a kid and she is in her low 30s now. We went to REI and their selection yesterday was pretty poor. Apparently the shops are transitioning from the 2005 models to the 2006. The 2005's are sold out of popular sizes and the 2006's are just starting to come in. Anyway, she test rode a 2006 Marin San Raphael and she loved it! She had the best time. That bike is a bit pricey and probably too much for what she wants to do, so we went to our LBS to check some out. She seems really interested in the somewhat controversial Electra Townie (some snobs think it isn't a real bike) and the Trek Navigator 200. They didn't have any in that she could test but are expecting a big shipment today! They're also having a big sale this weekend. I've gotten her excited about biking and that's the important thing. The only problem is that now she will probably have a nicer bike than me! :eek:

Now I just need to teach the kids to ride two wheelers and we'll be all set.

Jimmuter -- congrats on the new convert. My commuting this year lured my wife into biking and we have done several fairly long family rides. She started out on a heavy comfort bike, but after a few rides started pondering a new bike. She now has a used Bianchi Boardwalk that has both sped up and improved her riding dramatically. She definitely has a better bike than me and for about half of what I paid for mine! Anyway the new found family rides have been great fun -- good luck on converting the whole family.

Well, she ended up getting a Trek Calypso after testing several out. It was the one that felt best to her and it was on sale. It looks pretty crazy, but I'm just happy she's joined the club. She's thrilled.

Jim (?),

That sounds great! The Calypso has the look of an old style cruiser, but modern running gear (up to 7 of them, in fact!!!). Truth is, that is what my wife really wanted, but I kind of pushed her into getting a more conventional looking hybrid/comfort, the Rosario from K2. While a womens frame, it is not nearly as open ("step thru") as the cruiser.

The story ended badly when she fell the first week with less than 9 miles on the bike. She had a minor altercation with a curb, fell, and reinjured an old knee injury. I cannot help but feel that with a more open frame she might have been able to better control the fall, or maybe even avoid it altogether. She now watches me ride off with the kids, her bike in the basement for the last 2+ years. You did a good thing. Enjoy!!

Steve

Well, she ended up getting a Trek Calypso after testing several out. It was the one that felt best to her and it was on sale. It looks pretty crazy, but I'm just happy she's joined the club. She's thrilled. --- It won't look crazy after the Peak Oil crisis hits:
www.peakoil.com/sample/index.html
www.socsci.mcmaster.ca/polisci/gcpr/oilprod.cfm
http://willyoujoinus.com/vision/

My wife and I have been married for almost seven months now. About three months ago, she started to get jealous when I decided to return to cycling and came home with a shiny new Cannondale Cyclocross. I decided on a 'cross bike to feed my long dormant cyclocross fetish, but also felt that I would enjoy riding it at slower speeds should my wife want to take up riding. At this point, she had become a rabid Tour de France fan alongside me ("not now honey...they're in the last ten kilometers and it looks like it's gonna be a sprint finish. Do you think Robbie Mcgewan is gonna take it over Tom Bonnen for the green jersey?).

Anyway, her bike at the time was a beat up 30-year old department-store model with a broken shift lever and less-than-reliable brakes. I insisted that she at least get her a helmet if she was to ride with me. So I take her to the bike shop, buy her a pretty Giro helmet, and then we see "the bike". "Ohhh..." was her response to a simple Trek MultiTrack 7000. Inexpensive, simple, a pretty bike she could ride in sandles and feel the wind in her hair through the vents in her helmet.

Now we ride all of the time. She is, of course, much slower than me but still a rather strong and enthusiastic rider. I compensate by riding the flats in my low gears to spin high cadence and jam into my highest gears on climbs for power training (I've developed a whole new climbing style just by riding with my wife). Best of all, the time we spend on the bike is quality time, and she's the best domestique, lead-out rider, and teamate I've ever had.