Originally Posted by
BigBlueToe
I have a future son-in-law who isn't a bike rider. My daughter was brought up on bikes, but settled on a comfort bike as her bike-of-choice. I'd like to buy him a bike so they could ride together, but I worry that he wouldn't want a drop-bar bike initially. I thought a Sirrus would be a great bike for him! If he becomes a cyclist I could always help him get a "real" road bike later.
Flat bar road bikes like the Sirrus generally sell because people assume they will ride sorta like a mountain bike but go fast like a road bike. Also, people usually assume flat bars are more comfortable than a road bike with drops. However none of these assumptions is true.
When people walk into an LBS, their basic reference point for a road bike is usually an aggressively set-up race bike with bars that are positioned way below the saddle. This of course, scares them away from the drops. I believe a properly fitted road bike set up for leisure riding with the bars positioned level with the saddle and 32-35mm tires makes a hell of a lot more sense than a flat-bar road bike with skinny HP tires and uber tall gear ratios. And it will be more adaptable if he gets more serious.