pinsonp2 

I really love my 2011 Madone 5.2 WSD in H3 geometry (only one offered in WSD). Did my first century on it last week and I love the ride. Well worth looking at. Shopping for bikes is a fun, exciting time. Hope your wife enjoys the experience and loves the new bike.

P2

Bikey Mikey

Just make sure it matches her purse and shoes.

mrardo

At 65 get your dream bike as it may be your last bike. Research and get the bike that thrills you. Buy the best and only cry once

TheHen

I like this idea best, perhaps because that is exactly what I did. For those who haven't seen such a thing, tandems can indeed be built for a smaller captain/larger stoker. It's a great way to ride: both people can see, the drag brake and shifting can be given over to the stoker so he has something to do besides provide power, and a couple who's speeds are mismatched can ride together all day long.

RavingManiac

Well if he is in fact in Pa. there is little chance he's ever even seen a perfect surface. In Pa. when they pave a road they put the smooth side down.

FreeFloat

I've seen customs like that, but it must be a lot of upper body work for the captain.
My wife and I share the same inseam length, but I am 3" taller and 40 lbs of muscle heavier.
I can ride w/ her stoking pretty easily, but when she captains it's a lot of work for her.
Do you just get used to it?

TheHen

If the stoker is a good rider, then there isn't any real upper body burden on the captain. The stoker should be able to easily ride rollers and be willing to spend some time with his hands towards the center of the bars (to reduce leverage). Sadly, far too many folks seem content to ride like squirrels these days. A squirrelly stoker would indeed make life difficult for a small captain.

Oh, and our tandems are indeed custom builds. Custom designed tandems can be had for amazingly low prices, like under $5000.

FreeFloat

I've never ridden rollers, only wind or mag trainers. I spent over a decade captaining a tandem and triplet, and my "spin" (push...push..better describes it) suffered as a result. I'm sure when we swapped I was a lousy stoker, and being heavier than her did'nt help a bit.
Now she is a stronger rider than I, doing centuries and riding almost daily.
Time to give it another shot!

Road Fan

I agree about a higher-end bike, but go with a thin-wall steel frame like a custom Terraferma or semicustom Boulder All-Rounder (650b, the Boulder Randonneur is the same bike in 700c). Most of the designs are based on high-end randonneuses such as vintage Rene Herse or Alex Singer. Such frames have a cushy and resilient ride due to thin-wall standard diameter tubing. Opting for the 650b option such as a Gran Bois Hetre (42 mm width) gets a cushy ride, stable over smooth and less-than smooth roads. There are a lot of other builders and products in this genre now: Rawland Nordavinden, Mitch Pryor Project Bike, Boxdog Pelican, Ocean Air Rambler, and quite a few other custom or small manufacturing products. Price for frame/fork ranges for perhaps $1500 past $3000. In full-custom, Terraferma is (IMO) a good value. At or past the top are the Peter Weigle, Alex Singer (still made in France), and the Rene Herse (made by Boulder Bikes). Just saying, these three can be over $10k as finished bikes. The Boulder should come in around $3.5k to $4.5k when finished. I can't say I have a good estimate of the build kit prices.

A bike like one of these will help protect our older bones and joints, due to fit and due to smoothing the ride. And with proper bearing care and tune-ups should last another 20 years, at least. Get her something she can be happy and comfy on from now on. With a Terraferma she can pick the color. With a Boulder she can't.

I have a Terraferma bike based on on a Terraferma frame I bought used and some parts bought for the bike and some parts on hand. I put Mrs Road Fan on it (we take nearly the same size) and she loved it - we're now working on speccing out a Terraferma for her. Birthday was in the summer - I gave her a coupon for a bike! Terraferma uses TrueTemper OX Plat tubing in standard diameters with resilient Kasei fork blades, pretty much state of the art for steel.

Some will suggest the V-O Rando and Porteur. My opinion is that neither of them are of the quality of these frames, nor will fit as well. And the Porteur is a different beast with an extra-long top tube, intended for an upright bar like a North Road. The Rando is designed for drip bars, but is discontinued. Remnants are being slowly blown out by VO, but the range of sizes is not there.

cehowardGS

Props to your young 65 year old wife. Being 72, and knowing that when I was at 65 years old, I wanted more gusto in everything! So, it is only natural for free-spirited people to want more at 65 and beyond.

You make sure you get her a real rocket too.

Smogsteve

Wow. Thanks for all the advice. After trying 6 bikes and riding 2 for a day each she is getting a Trek Domane 5.2. The WSD will not even be in production until October. The Trek district salesman says the frame is the same we will just have to change out the stem handelbar, and seat to make a great fit. It's great to know the corporate people and get to try out stuff before it is avaliabe to the public. Ordered the bike today and should have it this week. Leslie is excited but apprehensive about using drop bars and standard brake levers. I say practice will make her more at ease.Photos to come.

Smogsteve

Brought the new bike home last night and got Leslie's first fit done in the front room. We went out this morning for a short ride and this bike seems to ride soo nice. Broken pavement, potholes are just eaten up by the frame. You can watch the seatpost flex as she rides over rough patches. Yes. it does seem easier to ride than the fitness bike. It looks good too. Now, to get ride of those ugly green downhill pedals that she likes.

10 Wheels

Lookin Good..

qcpmsame 

Looks sweet, glad she found a bike she likes, y'all need to post in the N+1 for 2012 thread now. A full first ride report and Pie synopsis area also required.

Bill