A bike for my wife... Suggestions?
 

Hi Forum,

I am looking for a bike for my wife and was hoping this group might be able to help.

We are looking to keep a budget of close to $500. My wife hasn't been on a bike for 20 years and is looking to get one so that we can ride around together. She is looking for an easy ride (not comfort bike, definitely hybrid) as most of our rides would be road and some trails. She is petite (5' and slim) and so we would like a bike that isn't too heavy. She is not looking for long distance rides, but rather a bike that she can enjoy when we go cycling together or as a family around our neighbourhood with our two young children.

So far we have narrowed it down to 2. The Norco VFR4 ($475) and the Specialized Vita ($625). What are your thoughts? Are there any other bikes we should consider?

Thanks!

If you like your Specialized Sirrus Elite, the Vita would be very similar to your bike. If you want to widen your choices look at other brands that your shop sells or visit another shop to see other brands.
Almost any brand that a good bike shop sells will be reliable.

Thanks Ron. Do you think the extra $150 for the Specialized is worth it?

Have you looked at the Giant Cypress... $385.00 in the US...iT'S PRETTY NICE...Should be at ot below $500 CDN.

No not yet. We are hoping to look at Giants tomorrow. We will take a look at that one for sure. Thanks!

I was really surprized at the prices of Giant...for the components they had... it looked really good...There are 3 grades of the Cypress, the regular, the LW and the DW i think... all with a little more on each...the Regular is the one that is $385.00

rent a few and do some rides and spend a few hours / days with bikes in general before buying. this will put her in tune with what she personally likes and doesn't like.

See if you can find an older model Bianchi Milano with the internal hub. I bought one for my wife a few years back and it rides like a dream and looks cool. Nothing on the market touches it.

Don't forget that your wife is not you with shorter legs. Most bikes are ugly and make things dirty. A good looking bike with an internal hub that shifts even when stopped and a nice looking chain guard makes things better. My wife NEVER biked until the Milano, and she was so thrilled to get it because it was beautiful. I bought her a nice road bike years later which she never touches, even though we have done significant bike trips overseas.

Make your wife look good.

Another one to consider is Public Bikes - this one is on sale for $449. No internal hub - have to pay a bit more for that, but insanely popular with women:

http://publicbikes.com/p/PUBLIC-V7-2013

After trying out several bikes she ended up getting the NORCO VFR4. She really loves it and it looks like we could be on our way to biking together which is the ultimate goal :)

Funny, I bought a used Milano last year and though it was a pretty bike, my wife and I just didn't love it. And, addressing OP, it is fairly heavy, around 30 lbs. Made it a slug on climbs. Anyhow, I sold it.

She did find that being petite some of the bikes where too heavy or just "didn't role smoothly". She really liked the way the NORCO fit her, she ended up getting the XSmall size and our LBS did a great job of fitting her and explaining how the bike works. The most priceless part of the whole process was how excited our two kids were that mommy can ride with them. Anyway, the game changer so to speak was how good our LBS was.

I just bought my wife a Fuji Absolute LE from Performance Bike. She absolutely loves it! :D

I added the rack. She used to have that on her Giant Yukon.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=332982

That is a nice entry level bike...She will get some good use out if it..

She absolutely loves it (couldn't resist). :D

rak73.. Another narrow it down, have a favorite Bike Shop ?, what brands do they carry ??

everything is not available everywhere ..


5 foot, .. Lose the need for bigger wheels .. Bike Friday Is a world tour bike with 20" wheels

and is available in many sizes Fast 451 and rugged 406 wheels ..

That is a nice bike...i was actually responding to RAK but that Fooojy is really nice... It looks like a nicely made bike... I wish my wife would want to bike more but alas....

Letting her pick was KEY. I found this out last year when my wife wanted a bike. She had a very specific list of requierments. We found her the exact bike she wanted but kept shopping (looking for a shop closer to home). Low and behold she fell in love with a bike that was NOT A SINGLE THING like what she had described at the outset of our search other than it had two wheels!

You are soooo right!! She tried a few different bikes, and I really wanted her to pick the slightly more expensive one (better components) but in the end she chose the one that felt right to her (of course that is the correct answer!). Considering this is her first time on a bike, other than as a kid learning to ride, we have been on a few rides together and are now signed up for a non-competitive local 30km ride! She is enjoying riding and wants to go out often and I am happy because we are doing the ride together...win/win!