Taylor_LV

My wife's birthday is this month and we are looking for a new cruiser framed bike for her to do a bike/bus commute with. She wants something with 7+ speeds with a cruiser frame, and the budget is 400$ or so. She has a schwinn cheapie cruiser, a "Jaguar" she bought at target years ago for 100$. It's a bit busted up now, and I think having it repaired would cost more than the bike is worth. I will probably fix it later, but I'd like for her to have something new in the meantime. I want her to have something more reliable than that, but not "steal me now" expensive. She has been looking mostly at REI, but I think we should consider other bike shops/brands too. Does anyone have any models or brands they recommend? Are the Electras worth the difference in price from the Novaras or k2s? We have one of those 20% off coupons, but I still want to look at most of the local options.

JeffS

I like the K2 T:Nine Tailwind

I actually like the Transfer better, but it's outside of the budget.

Kimmitt 

I have an Electra Townie 3 and I'm still deeply in love after 6 months. YMMV, but man them are fun bikes.

NotReady4Purple

I have the Electra Townie 8 - bought last year at REI with the 20% off sale. It was still higher than your budget though.

The crank-forward option gives the ability to put both feet down. That was critical in getting me back on a bike as I felt very unsafe on more standard configurations.

A warning though - as I've gotten better, I've been eyeing other bikes. That seems to be a disease often reported on BF.

HardyWeinberg

d'oh! budget...

keisatsu

Bike Lust... it's inevitable...

toddvc

You will find several choices on my 2008 commuting bikes page. There are prices, pictures, links to manufacturers and descriptions on there.

I don't know whether there's a Biria dealership near you, but if I were your wife I would take a hard look at the Biria EB Easy 7, list price is $380. It's on the page.

Geonz

One that fits. One that feels good.

Torrilin

Take her to a shop with a decent selection of bikes in her size range. Let her try stuff. Then get the most comfortable one. If there are no comfortable ones, try another shop.

If the only discomfort is the saddle, that's fixable (especially if she likes her old one).

Fred Smedley

Not a cruiser , but I found a Bridgestone 400 at sally,s that had the original nubs on the tires for a $20 spot. Two tone paint, lugged frame, a beautiful bike . I installed upright handlebars, mountain bike thumb shifters and a cush seat. 27 inch wheels are a great compromise wheel for those wanting low rolling resistance and a comfortable ride. This is a REAL nice ride and classy enough to pass my wife's perfectionist view of what is acceptable .

Taylor_LV

Well, our bike shopping turned out to be a real fiasco. We went to 3 places, McGhies, Bike World on Flamingo and Eastern and REI. We probably should have just gotten a white Electra townie 21 at bike world, but we decided to shop around. McGhies sucked, they had like 3-4 comfort bikes in the whole store, and the attitude we got was that if we weren't buying a couple grand worth of road or mountain bike we could leave. We went to REI and it was stupidly busy. The bike sales guy was great, but he had to serve half a dozen people at a time. My wife really liked the K2 T-Nine Breeze, but they tried fitting a bike rack to it and it didn't work. By that time, Bike World was about to close and my wife really wanted a bike that day. The bike service guys dragged a powder blue Electra Townie 21 out of the back and had it put together, then they went and got a bike rack off a townie 8 and put it on. We ended up spending 650$, including all the accessories which was about 100$ more than planned, but my wife really loves the bike. We didn't use the discount on anything, so i may go pick up a Novara metro or something like that later this month. The whole thing took all day but I guess that's what I get for having a picky wife.

K6-III

A Bianchi Milano would be a nice fit.

Buglady

Oh, man. You HAD to put all those beautiful bikes in one place. And me with not a penny to my name...

(Although, I still love my old Raleigh. I just wish for better stopping power, a dynamo headlamp, etc.)