Originally Posted by
avaserfi
That sounds pretty interesting. Any specific recommendations?
Unfortunately, most new IGH-equipped bikes are well above your $500 budget. There are a few exceptions, but most of those are 3- or 5-speed bikes, and for the type of riding that you encounter you probably want more gear range than those can provide. Not to say that it can't be done - many posters here tackle all sorts of topography and headwinds on single-speed bikes! I just purchased a bike with an 8-speed Shimano Alfine hub and you would probably need to spend at least $700 for a decent bike with that hub. Someone mentioned aerobars for a flat bar bike. Two other choices for getting into a more aerodynamic riding position are drop bar ends, and my personal favourite, trekking bars. Finding a drop-bar bike with an IGH is an even greater challenge (although they do exist).
IGH "performance hybrid", MSRP 1200!
Budget IGH hybrid.
Drop bar IGH road bike. Less than $500, but only 5 speeds.
Drop Bar Ends.
Trekking Bars.
Originally Posted by
avaserfi
The new bike selection will be great in the bigger cities locally the options are Trek, Specialized, Giant and Jamis, but the used market (at least person to person) seems to move to fast for our ability to make it to the larger cities. If we get lucky we might find the right bike on Craigslist, but locally that isn't happening, the CL here is very slow.
Since you have a Jamis dealer in your area I second the earlier poster's suggestion of the Coda. Jamis has a good reputation and the Coda is steel-framed, which often translates into smoother rides on rough city streets than their aluminum-framed counterparts. That is unless you add a carbon fork, but then you're getting into the big bucks again. The Coda even comes in a
woman-specific model.