I won't say it was stolen as she left it pretty much abandoned and unlocked at her office for over a year, but regardless she is now without a bike and wanting to get back into it. Being the good boyfriend I occasionally manage to be, I told her I would help set her up with a new one. So I have a few questions for our female (or otherwise knowledgable) members:
1) Is there any merit to the WSD bikes? Are there any real, tangible differences between a two geometrically close to identical bikes, if one has WSD and the other does not?
2) I have the better part of a low mileage Ultegra 8sp group on hand for a tri-bike project that has yet to find the right frame. Would going the used route and either having bar-end or downtube shifters be an option for someone relatively inexperienced on a bike? Alternatively, are there 8sp STI shifters out there that I'm unaware of (aside from Sora)?
3) I'm not sure she'll stick with it, if I don't go used are there any budget-ish frames that won't make either of us feel too guilty if she decides she doesn't like it and goes back to running?
4) If I give her a bike how long does she have to stay with me?
