scarleton

Well, the time has finally come to get my wife a bike. At present she is riding a $450 mountain bike I purchased for her 15 years ago. The only upgrade it has is the tires, they are 2" slicks.

I am posting here because I am riding rando's now and she wants to join me on the 100K populaire and in time the 200K's. She might be willing to do a 300K someday, but I don't ever see her wanting to ride a 400K or longer ride.

My #1 concern is the hills. Hills are something she is scared of but wants to concur! My road bike is a 50/34T and 11 speed 11-32. I like that idea, but I am thinking that the 34/32 is still geared too high. I have seen the Grand Cru 50.4 BCD Crankset MK II which is a 46/30. So I am thinking that with a 11 speed 11-32 cassette would be a good combination to climb most hills.

My #2 concern is cost. I want to keep this bike to a 2000USD or less bike.

My big concern here is frame type. Aluminum is simply NOT an option, will not entertain that. I have a steal frame and am very happy with it, I am also willing to consider carbon fiber. I prefer steal, but it seems like nobody has a steal bike that comes stock with a 11-speed, they are all 10-speed and lower. While I am not a big fan of carbon fiber because they break too easy in a fall, I also think they are going to be outside my price point.

The alternative I have seen is going with a triple, 24/34/48, but from both personal experience and from what I have heard, double is just easier and more enjoyable then triple. The advantage I see to the triple is cost, I can go with a 10 speed cassette. Then I think there are a LOT of stock steal bikes in the 1200USD to 1600USD range that could be modified for the 24/34/48 triple. The thing is, I really, really want to keep with the double.

So... What do folks recommend?

unterhausen

I almost decided to get that grand cru crank for routes with really long, steep hills. I decided that instead I'm going with a compact 46/34 crank, and a 10 speed, 11-36 cassette. I think the 46 is going to make more of the gears on the cassette useful, so 10 speeds should be enough. SRAM 10 speed road levers and their exact actuation MTB rear derailleurs work together.

My randonneuring experience so far has usually been on 9 speed. I don't really think you need to go with 11 speed, especially since low gears are a bit harder that way.

ThermionicScott 

I have no comment on "steal" bikes except that I usually pay for mine.

As for the gearing, I'd opt for the triple. You can get the biggest gear range with them and the front shifting is better than wide-range doubles. In theory and my experience, they are even easier to use than doubles, because you can stay in that middle ring 95% of the time on brevets or other long rides, only shifting out of it for really tough long climbs or really fun downhills. With a 48/36/24 triple, you wouldn't even need a wide-range cassette like an 11-32 -- a 12-27 for instance would give much closer steps between gears and still have a better low than a 34/32.

Personally, I fret over unused gear combinations and enjoy a challenging low gear , but I think when setting up a bike for a loved one that you want to encourage, give 'em all the gears you can, and be willing to change things if their experience isn't positive. If at all possible, see if a similarly-sized road biking friend can loan her a bike for a while to try it out.