Added another little one to the stable last night.
 

Fiance got her new bike last night, and will be joining the ranks of bicycle commuters before long. This is her first bike shes ever bought. Up until now shes been riding an 1972 Motobecane that I got for her birthday a few years ago. Took us a good 6 months to find a bike that fits her size 5'2" and had the right quality, fit and looks. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Makes me want to get a new bike too!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=285979http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=285980

Soma Beuna Vista 50cm
Shimano Nexus 8spd IGH with jtek shifter
36 spoke 650b wheels with Panaracer Col de la Vie tires

Sweet bike. I sure would love to get a IGH bike for my wife one of these days.

That is a sweet bike!

That bike is indeed a looker! The brake placement is interesting. I'm sure your fiance will get a lot of comments on it.

Nice mixte for the lady!

Needs moar dynamo tho.

Sweet cycle and nice cork grips.

Nice bike!
It is worth fitting her on it to fine tune things like handlebar angle, etc. With those bars being level, her wrists may be a bit unnatural - perhaps a slight turn back would make a more natural position.

I love those Soma mixtes. Very nice looking bike.

Thanks!
Yeah, we thought about it, but this was already pushing her budget, the dynamo would have put it over the edge. Maybe someday.

Thanks for the advice. We've only ridden it home and short down the street rides so far. Now its supposed to rain the rest of the week, but we'll have a longer ride Sunday and try to sort those issues out.

You're most welcome! That bike should be an easy one for her to fall in love with.

The other thing I noticed is that the rear wheel seems to be mounted pretty far forward in the dropouts - it is worth checking to see how close the tabs of the anti-turn washers are to the opening of the dropouts. If they are really close to the opening, the easy option is to simply re-mount the anti-turn washers 180 degrees with the tabs towards the back of the dropout (if they aren't already), or to lengthen the chain by a link.

You're in SoCal, so rain isn't a super common thing, but hammered fenders would really look amazing on that bike while providing all-weather functionality.

Happy day for your soon to be wifey!

My wife loves her Univega Mixte that I built up about 3 or 4 years ago. Very stable ride with the extra bars in the rear triangle.

Thanks.
Can't move the wheel back any further due to brake reach with the 650b wheels, but the anti-turn washer is turned with the tabs towards the back of the dropout.

I'm thinking the same thing about the fenders. Best part about her getting this bike is I have all her birthday/christmas gifts already picked out in bike accessories.