Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - SS bike for my wife

Hi everyone, I'm shopping for a single speed urban commuter baike for my wife and is looking for soem advice. We shopped around in my local bike shops and try out a few bikes but she was only interested in 2 of them

1:Giant Women's Via 3 (2012)
http://www.metrobicyclestores.com/product/giant-womens-via-3-131307-1.htm

2: Giant Women's Via 3 W (2011)
http://www.metrobicyclestores.com/product/giant-womens-via-3-w-72426-1.htm

However she found both bikes to be a bit on the heavy side. So i was wondering if anyone might have some advice of what other options are out there for her within the same price range of under $500.

if you went to several bike shops and that is the only one she likes, then thats the bike she should get.

just to clarify, you're basically looking at cruiser/townie style bikes. the specific one you showed looks very similar to an omifiet ("dutch bikes") just not as robust. those bikes have a upright position and are not going to be particularly fast, so worrying about how much it weighs is really pointless.

good luck

Agreed - Dutch bikes are heavy. Like the actual Dutch bike is super freaking heavy. But that's why they're so darn comfy! As was said, the keyword to guide your search is townie. Specifically, run this search:

townie bicycle -"kilo tt"

That should get you good results because of the (edit) flame filter.

However she found both bikes to be a bit on the heavy side.

Will she be riding the bike or carrying it around?

As others have touched upon, that style bike is rarely light. Have her go for the most comfortable/one she likes best.