LAE

What about an indoor trainer? she can get used to her new bike on the trainer and loose some weight until she feels confident enough to venture outside.

skilsaw

The answer in two words: Recumbent Trike.

But if she is holding back now, she won't ride it if you do buy a bike.
Save your money and energy. Put the money for two bikes into one nicer bike for you and enjoy cycling alone. When you get your diet and exercise in line and are loosing weight, she might want to try it. But if she never does, go it alone.

I took my wife camping, fishing, skiing, canoeing, cycling and hiking. What a wasted effort. Now we're divorced. I do all those things with my boys, and really love our time together.

longhaultrucker

There is a story much like tomstormcrows on the Internet where the guy is 500 pounds and going to die made his mind up and got on a bike. It took him 3 HOURS to ride his first 1.9 MILES. It also talks about the kids making fun of him but the article is right yea they might talk a little at first but after you loose a hundred pounds or so they won't even remember what they said. Get the bike push one pedal down and then repeat on the other side and keep doing this and you will end up being the inspiritation to the jesters in the end.

goldfinch

I see that no one has answered your question yet. I went on the Raleigh site, looked at a picture of the Venture, counted the spokes and came up with 36. They are 26 inch rims so that adds to the strength. Looks like a nice sturdy bike for your wife.

alfredomarron3

Thank you so much I really appreciate that.

dlester

I got my wife the bike she wanted, three years ago. She rode it a couple of times, then it sat in the garage collecting dust, until a few months ago. Now she rides it almost every day. She has lost almost 100 pounds since the beginning of the year. The bike riding started around four months ago.

alfredomarron3

Thats great! Congratulations to her. That might help inspire my wife.

We started to walk in the mornings now, until we get our bikes. Her back has started hurting more but, she's pushing through it and doing pretty good. She takes a few Advil after our walks. The other thing is she's not a morning person. So it's hard to get her up sometimes but the last few days she did good.

magohn

What bike did YOU get?

alfredomarron3

I got myself a Giant Sedona

Rhodabike

Look into lightweight hybrids such as the Specialized Vita or Cannondale Quick. Once she rides a little, she'll realize that the bike isn't going to disintegrate, and the bike will be much more responsive and fun than a heavy clunker.

goldfinch

Interestingly, I recent took my sister bike shopping. She had not ridden a bike for years. I really tried to sell her on the Vita or the Quick. She didn't even want to try them. She wanted a bike that had more of a step through frame, which helped with her confidence. She ended up with a bike that is kind of a cross between a heavy comfort bike and a lighter hybrid, a Bianchi Corina Dama. This might be a possibility for Alfred's wife too. https://www.bianchiusa.com/bikes/stra.../cortina-dama/

alfredomarron3

Well, I've gotten her comfortable with the idea of test riding. We are going to the bike shop this Friday to pick out a bike for her. I made a couple scouting visits this last week and asked one of the guys there when would be a good time to be there , when it's slowest. He told me around opening is slowest. Plus I think a lot of people are out of town this weekend. We'll see. I found three there in our budget. A giant sadona, raghleigh venture, and a really cool sun trik, I think I'll like the trik more than her. Also a trek navigator or 7.1 that's just over our budget. I'm so excited.

alfredomarron3

We got it!

Just purchased a Raleigh Venture for my wife. Had the bike shop attach a basket. Actually got it for free, and they took $25 off. So only paid $299 for the bike. Saved enough on the bike that I got her some gloves and a helmet.

So happy with the bike. We took two rides today. One 4.88 mile ride in the morning and a shorter ride right before sundown, only about 50 minutes at a very slow pace.

I'm so excited she seems to be happy. She did complain about some knee pain and a little numbness in her hands.

Doohickie

Awesome!

My wife started out like that, and frankly she had the bike over a year before she started to really get into it. This spring, though, she's really riding a lot more. She's still pretty slow, and that's fine, as long as she's riding. We did a breakfast ride this morning, about 19 miles round trip. We're doing another one tomorrow; we lead the "cruiser" group with a bike club.

TrojanHorse

Do not ignore the knee pain - it may be an indication that your saddle height is set incorrectly. The easy rule of thumb is pain in front, saddle too low. Pain in back, saddle too high. Most new riders like their saddle lower than it should be, perhaps the shop can help you get the right spot.

Other than that, congrats and enjoy riding!

dlester

It is the Trek Navigator. Just a simple comfort/beach cruiser. We have a 10 mile loop trail down by the river here in town. At first she could barely do a couple of miles. Now she does the whole loop and it still isn't enough to burn the calories she wants to see on her heart rate monitor so she rides around a bit more until she reaches her goal for the day.

I really couldn't be more pleased. She has almost lost 100 pounds, and just a few days ago her doctor took her off the last of her blood pressure medication. Cycling changed my life several years ago, and now it has changed her life as well.

RobertL

Great!

And riding a few miles at a comfortable pace is the way to start riding. Once she becomes comfortable at that distance, bump it up about 10% and repeat. Soon she'll be riding more miles then she ever thought possible.

alfredomarron3

me and my wife with our new rides

ainkor

Awesome! Glad to hear you guys got something that should work for both of you.

DTSCDS

Thanks for the pictures.
You were getting dangerously close to violating the "no pictures = it didn't happen" rule.

Does not matter how long or how far--the fact that you are out moving is ALL that matters.
As has been said before, check on her seat height. The bike store should have set it for you but you can do it easily yourself.
Here is a YouTube video that does a good job of explaining how to do it yourself. This will get you in an average/ballpark position and then you can fine tune it as needed.

You might want to think about setting a goal for yourselves to keep the motivation up. I find that organized charity rides are a great thing. Many have routes as short as 10 miles. If you live anywhere near a big city you can find them. Signing up gives you a specific mileage goal to work toward by a specific date. (For something to be an actual goal it needs to be 1) specific, 2) measurable, 3) something you can reasonably attain and 4) have a specific time period.) We have found these rides to be great fun. You are generally supporting a good cause plus you get free snacks and a T-Shirt. (Well, not FREE since you paid a registration fee.)

Enjoy yourselves out there.

DTSCDS

One more quick thought on seat height--don't worry about it if her feet will not reach the ground when she is on the seat. That is very common. The critical distance is from the seat to the cranks--not from the seat to the ground. If her seat is adjusted properly for her leg length, and her bike is not a "Townie" type cruiser bike, the will have to get off the seat to put her feet on the ground at stops. (Or she can do like my wife does and try to stop against a curb so she can use the curb height and she doesn't have to get off her seat.)

ETilton

My father has Parkinson's but wanted to ride a bike again. His balance is fine, but he has lost almost all motor function in his left hand (not arm, though). We went to a bike shop one day and they were ultra-rude about it saying there was just no way and he should take up walking or buy a stationary. Several other LBS's were equally unhelpful (albeit less rude). We eventually went to REI or EMS (I can't remember) and the salesperson was exceedingly helpful and empathetic to his situation. He found my father a bike that was comfortable and then switched the gearing out from a ten speed to a seven speed (so he could shift with only his right hand) and found a neat-o break level that worked both brakes and adjusted it to give the right amount of tension to each caliper so he got the right amount of braking on each wheel. He also put a seim-sticky silicon grip that goes on whitewater kayak paddles onto the left grip so that when he wears a pair of biking gloves, there is more than enough friction between bar and hand to turn the bike evenly with both hands.

tl/dr: it's all about finding a salesperson that is understanding and willing to work. We tried almost every bike shop in town and found the most acommodating to be a big box retailer because they have a more rec-oriented clientele so the salespeople are less performance-oriented.

alfredomarron3

Thanks for the advice. The bike shop did adjust the seat for my wife when she bought it. This is her first bike that was fitted properly. She's use to bikes that are either to small or just a bit too large. I adjusted it up very slightly and now she's fine. I think its going to take a bit of time to get used to. Just like the saddle.

She bought some padded bike shorts, so we'll see how that works.other than that she's very excited, even showed off her bike to a friend. She wants her to get a bike so they can ride together. Not even a week and I'm getting replaced as her bike buddy.

vesteroid

I am sincerely glad you found a shop to work with you. There is a flip side, that is real non the less in our current society. I think in general, there are many more people who WANT to help in "different" situation but are afraid to, due to potential consequences.

For instance, pretend the above circumstances happened to someone we dont know. Pretend a LBS met them, did all those modifications, and said person went on their way with the bike. Then lets say said person had a wreck and paralyzed themselves by breaking their back. Now they cant walk, work, support themselves in any fashion, and suddenly up pops an attorney who tells them the LBS is at fault, since they modified their bike, but never took into account the suitably for the purpose. Therefor the LBS is grossly liable.

The person wins the lawsuit for 2 million, the LBS insurance policy is for 1 million, the LBS is out of business.

While this sounds over the top, Its much more real than you think.

alfredomarron3

My wife had a bit of a fall on our ride this morning. She lost her balance and went into a fence by the trail. Scraped her leg and twisted her ankle a bit. It was hot this morning and she didn't drink enough water so she got dehydrated and threw up also. Not a great day for her today.