fitting bike for athena - wheels, tires, spokes etc.?
 

I am getting a new bike and want to give my old bike to my daughter who has expressed interest in bike riding with me on some local bike trails. She hasn't rode since she was a kid and is in her 20's now. I currently have a giant cypress and she says the only way she would ride if she knew she would not break the tires. I have the original tires on now which are 700 38 - I think she would do better on narrower tires like a 32 as the cypress also has front suspension - and I would want new rims with extra spokes for her. Can anyone suggest tires, rims, # of spokes for me to put on the bike. She is 325 lbs - I want to encourage her exercise and don't want her to have a bad experience. Also, I still have the original comfort seat - Is it best that I leave it for her? The bike trail we will use is approx. 7.5 miles round trip.

For the front-
You could just relace the wheel, using a good quality 14/15 double butted spoke.
The front only carries about 40% of the weight and isn't subject to the pedaling forces trying to "unwind" 1/2 the spokes.
Or even just have the spokes tensioned and it should be good.

For the rear, I'd build a new 36 spoke wheel.
Cheap Shimano hub. Adjust bearings and add more grease.
Get a FREE HUB- Much stronger-
See here why-
http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

If you want to keep the cost down, I'd suggest a Sun Rims CR-18 in 36 holes. It's a good, solid "meat & potatoes" rim.
Peter White uses them for tandems!
Spokes-
NDS 14/15 double butted.
DS either 14 ga. straight of 14/15 DB.

The most important thing is the build quality. have someone build them that will keep the tension at the right amount and EVEN.

Another opinion; assuming you do not build your own wheels - because you are asking.

http://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Master-S...8&keywords=40h

tires: http://www.amazon.com/Kenda-700X35-K...I3K0T6JZZA6ZDT
we have these tires on our tandem - very pleased with them.

Also get Stop Flats 2 gold (color coded by size) tire liners and thorn resistant tubes.

"Comfort" seat - painful due to chaffing of the inner thigh.

counted the spokes - appears to be 40 so must be strong. Is this the average cost for something like this? Tires look nice and smoother than I have now so maybe better for street use? thanks for the suggestions

If you keep the tires inflated properly (check before every ride) and she's only riding on paved trails or streets, the stock wheels would probably do just fine for her. I have been her weight or higher since I started riding as an adult, and the only time I ever had a problem was when I was over 400. Even then it wasn't a sudden catastrophic failure of the wheels, but a broken axle that I rode on for a few weeks before I noticed that was what was making the little wobble I could feel. Your daughter is probably worried that she is going to get on the bike and the wheels are going to just suddenly fold up, popping spokes all over the place. That's not going to happen. It would be better if she would try riding the bike and see if it's comfortable for her size, then you can consider upgrading the wheels. Do make sure the brakes are good, because it's harder to stop a larger person.

About the seat, everybody is shaped differently, let her try it and see how it feels.