Originally Posted by
catonec
buy her a bicycle based on color alone. (I never thought I would give this advice)
then replace the drivetrain with that deore listed above,
or over the course of the next months/years/ birthdays and holidays you can upgrade each component one at a time and get multiple "thank you awards".
If she doesnt like the color of a bike, even if its superior, it may quietly bug her on the inside and become a reason to not ride or covet something else.
Exactly what I did. My wife was set on Pink. She's oblivious to anything technical about a bike. Just Pink. We found a nice entry level Masi that she liked the color and I bought it for her. Low end components etc etc, but she loves it. Over the next year I'm going to be upgrading all the components and she'll never know the difference. She will notice it rides and responds better but she will not care that her Sora crankset has been upgraded to a 105 crankset. All she knows is that she has a pink bike and she's happy.