Originally Posted by
FlatTyre
Def interested in seeing how this turns out. This is the bike I want to grab for my wife as a starter. She hasn't road since she was a kid so I figured a more relaxed riding style would ease her into it and allow for more of a chance that she would like it and stick to it. How does she like the bike for what it is?
The only issue I can see you having is an awkward geometry after all is said and done. The shape of the clarity frame is def set up more for an upright riding position, with drop bars it might create a weird reach situation. Other than that, I can't see you running into any compatibility issues.
Well her other bike is a lot nicer than this one, which she has indeed noted ("this bike is so slow compared to mine!"). Her sister, who has been the rider of this thing 95% of the time before we changed out the back tire and installed it on the Road Machine said the bike was fine, but she would definitely rate as much more recreational than serious when it comes to riding. I think it's a fine bike for someone just getting into riding, but if the person gets more serious in short time, they will likely outgrow the bike's abilities quickly, so I'd say it really depends a lot on the person who ends up riding it.
I forgot to mention that the stem I chose has a higher degree of lift/tilt than the stock stem, so the bar will mount closer and higher towards the shoulders than the stock flat bar. I'm thinking the only real way to see how the geometry works out in the end is to simply move forward with the project. There are two spacers on the stock steerer and with the new stem I think I should be able to get the new setup hopefully close to useable for both of us. Of course, half the battle as-is would be finding a neutral setup that works for both, myself and my girlfriend when riding the indoor trainer. The bike came with a 350mm seatpost stock and I ordered a second, 300mm seatpost. I moved the stock saddle to the shorter seatpost and took the original saddle from my bike and mounted that to the original seatpost that came with this bike, and we took advantage of the included quick-release collar that came with the bike so that whenever my girlfriend or I feel like using the trainer, it's a very simple swap of the saddle/post combo (which we used metallic pens to mark off our height settings). Hopefully, having separate saddle position settings helps reduce the effective of having to have a, "shared/neutral," handlebar position between the two of us (we even chose the frame size that was in between what she would otherwise use and what I would otherwise use).
It's all one big compromise, in terms of geometry, so I think in the end the best we can do is find the least amount of compromise overall. Good thing this will not be serving as our normal road rigs!
-Ed