Recreational & Family - Hybrid bike advice for my wife

I am trying to get some bike advice for my wife. She's a member of this forum, but kind of shy right now.

Anyhow, she's noticed that when I'm on my older road bike, that I can ride alot faster than she can on her MTB with less effort. I explained that skinny high-pressure tires have less rolling resistance than wide low pressure tires. So, she's interested in looking at hybrid bikes. She doesn't need another MTB, but doesn't want a hard-core, drop bars road bike. She saw a Schwinn Trailways the other day and liked it, but the frame was too big for her. It's tires aren't road bike skinny, but are much thinner than MTB tires.

She said that even on a short ride to the pool or somewhere like that, she feels like she's wearing herself out. I've kept the bike in tune and the tire pressures are right, so she must be fighting against the wide tires.

She's Athena size, and the frame on her MTB is 16", I think. It's a GT Outpost Trail that came from an LBS eight or nine years ago.

There's one LBS open on Sunday around here, and they seem to have a pretty good inventory. Most of their bikes look like Giant, though they go up into Ellsworth range as well. The other nearby bike shop could get her a Schwinn or another GT, though he'd probably have to order it.

Money's a bit tight, but if we're going to do this, we want to do it right.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill

I am trying to get some bike advice for my wife. She's a member of this forum, but kind of shy right now.

Anyhow, she's noticed that when I'm on my older road bike, that I can ride alot faster than she can on her MTB with less effort. I explained that skinny high-pressure tires have less rolling resistance than wide low pressure tires. So, she's interested in looking at hybrid bikes. She doesn't need another MTB, but doesn't want a hard-core, drop bars road bike. She saw a Schwinn Trailways the other day and liked it, but the frame was too big for her. It's tires aren't road bike skinny, but are much thinner than MTB tires.

She said that even on a short ride to the pool or somewhere like that, she feels like she's wearing herself out. I've kept the bike in tune and the tire pressures are right, so she must be fighting against the wide tires.

She's Athena size, and the frame on her MTB is 16", I think. It's a GT Outpost Trail that came from an LBS eight or nine years ago.

There's one LBS open on Sunday around here, and they seem to have a pretty good inventory. Most of their bikes look like Giant, though they go up into Ellsworth range as well. The other nearby bike shop could get her a Schwinn or another GT, though he'd probably have to order it.

Money's a bit tight, but if we're going to do this, we want to do it right.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you,
-Bill

Hi Bill,

Why not get your wife to try a test ride on a flatbar road bike? They're great. I ride a Specialized Sirrus, but Giant, Fuji, lots of makers have them. I think it will be just what she wants.

She now has a Fuji Absolute DX and seems quite happy with it.

Nice bike...congrats. Without the suspension, she should go a lot faster with less effort. Could have tried to get her on a road bike. Most people ride their road bikes with their hands on top anyways and she would have more hand positions. Kind of limited with the flat bar and it can get tiring on longer rides. But as long as she is happy, that's all that matters. My sister is on the short side so she's glad Fuji makes smaller frame bikes that fit her.

Nice bike...congrats. Without the suspension, she should go a lot faster with less effort. Could have tried to get her on a road bike. Most people ride their road bikes with their hands on top anyways and she would have more hand positions. Kind of limited with the flat bar and it can get tiring on longer rides. But as long as she is happy, that's all that matters. My sister is on the short side so she's glad Fuji makes smaller frame bikes that fit her.

The salesman showed us the Fuji first, then moved up, showing us four bikes in all, and the most expensive one was somewhere in the 8 or 900 dollar range. The higher level bikes all had drop bars, and a couple had brifters, but she wasn't interested in that kind of thing. One of the nicer ones was a Giant OCR, which was tempting. But she liked the ride of the Fuji, and since it was last year's model, it was at a reduced price.

They had one to fit me, also last year's model. It would have been neat to have matching his and hers bikes, and it had a very nice ride. But if I get a new bike any time soon, it should be an MTB cause I seem to have outgrown mine. But that's neither here nor there.

My wife is/has been in the same boat. One thing I have contemplated about the situation is that for women, especially smaller women, the lighter the bike the better -- which leads to a road bike. There are some inherent advantags to the road bike which include less rolling resistance, varied positions for hand placement, and more weight on arms and legs vs seat (a major problem for "comfort" bikes). These advantages are often not evident until past the energy barrier of getting used to this type bike. Seating comfort and pain in the butt is one especially misunderstood area. Also my wife looks at clipless pedals like something from the moon and is not going to buy special shoes just to ride a bike -- but it is not crazy to just put platform pedals on a road bike design.

Just some thoughts.

I'm looking for a bike for my wife as well. However, she's 5'10. We went and she test-rode a Fuji Crosswinds 2.0 and she liked it. We're looking for something that can go on the road as well as maybe some really easy dirt trails for under/around $350. We'll also be pulling a trailer (probably a Burley d'Lite), but I'll proably be pulling that on my Trek 6000. I think we're going to head to a bike shop that carries Trek and Giant so she can ride those as well. Any suggestions?

I own a Giant Cypress DX, its a very relaxed upright geometry, good for casual rides, I ride it when I'm with my wife and kids, and save my road, for when I'm going greater distances at higher speeds.

The Cypress comes in several versions, the least expensive is around $250 or so and the most expensive, I think is around $600 or $700 for that, you get better components and lighter weight.

Two other bikes I have heard good things about is the Jamis Coda and the Fuji Crosstown and Monterey.

Good Luck

Steve

I bought my wife the Trek Navigator 2.0 and she loves it you can adjust the handlebars to suit anyones needs.