Originally Posted by
zacster
And as an end to the story, we went to a shop and she chose the Specialized Vita after trying the Trek FX and the Cannondale Quick. Nice to have a store that had all 3, and they carry Giant also, but didn't have one in her size. The shop mostly only had the low end models in stock, and in the end that was the best choice for the amount of riding she is likely to do.
She is very upright on the bike, it is much lighter than my MTB, and the shifting is quick and precise. She's never had a bike like that so now she's interested in riding, even taking a weekend cycling trip.
Glad to see she found something she can enjoy riding. I've done lots of conversions of older road bikes to upright rides, and it generally works fine. The biggest issue is the steeper frame angles which can be somewhat offset with a set back seat post.