Omg I might buy my wife a bike

[Tickdoc]

Always wanted to have her to ride, but she's afraid of the road. Our group ride has a slow gals group and with a little conditioning, I think she would ride with them. They are a no-drop and beer after group, so she may fit in fine.


So, I'm curious who here has had the reluctant wife/gf actually grab hold of the sport, and how many have a girl sized road bike that they bought then promptly disposed of/ stored?

It will be a tough find as she's only 5ft tall, so what is that, like a 48cm frame?

Her motivation? She got a peak at my kcal burned in just a couple of hours on the bike ;-)

I don't know if I can do this.

[thwart]

Lots of folks try this, and sell the bike 2 yrs later. Make sure your wife is completely on board.

My wife is a long-term bike commuter, but sees bikes strictly as appliances. I bought her a used Waterford road bike and eventually she grew to love it.

She's about your wife's height. She has a 48 cm Waterford 1200 (Reynolds 753 tubing, no less) with 650c wheels. When you get into the really small size frames, the 650c wheels allow less toe overlap, and some would say better handling. The downside is that there are few options for 650c wheels and tires.

[Jim9112]

I gave this a shot and now the bike collects dust. Still have the bike though and hoping once my son is a little older we can try getting out as a family on bike paths and such. My wife was afraid of the road and couldn't get over feeling like she was holding me back or I wasn't enjoying myself because we were going too slow. The toughest part was convincing her I just enjoy being on a bike and wanted to share that with her.


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[Tickdoc]

Easy way to try is just to buy a simple low end basic group al framework/105 bike that someone else doesn't ride and flip it if she doesn't garb hold.
They aren't hard to find and don't need to be perfect for her to get a taste of the sport.

Of course, being me, I want to get her the nicest campy equipped custom small frame I can find (at a bargain) so I can at least strip the parts from it when he experiment proves futile.

What a great hobby.

[Schmed]

I've been hinting, nudging, encouraging for years. My wife's sweet hard-tail mountain bike remained hanging in the garage for 355 days out of the year.

She runs a bit, and is very athletic, but hates running. I told her "ya know.... on a bike, you can COAST....." hoping she'd like biking more than running.

Anyway, the neighbor lady asked her to ride a few times, and she went with once. Lady-only mountain bike rides. Surprisingly, some of the women were a bit competitive, even though their mantra is "no woman left behind".

Since then, we've ridding a few times, and the last 3 weekends, did our local "hill climb" on the road (2000' of climbing, 20 miles). Her competitiveness comes out a bit, and she is starting to get to the point where the climbs are not to be dreaded, but 'almost' fun. Almost.

So, I'm thrilled, but holding back a bit.

You can lead a horse to water...... ;)

All you can do is try. Make it fun, easy, include a coffee run or something. Maybe she'll see how many women are out there riding, and that might be a good thing.

By the way, my wife hated her road bike. Not used to shifting brifters, brakes, etc. Sometimes, I think a flat-bar road or cross bike is the way to go for newbies. A bit more confidence inspiring, but efficient and light.

[buddybikes]

Or you may end up with a fit beast that will bury your ass in a season and you will need to stay with the pack to keep the wolves away.

Wife and I pulled up to a pack few years ago and man on back of pack politely asked her to sit in front of him...at age 57...

Personally I would ride with her alone, not a group ride to start. Ideally quiet back roads. Take it from there.

[downtube]

When I got back into cycling I wanted my wife to join me. She was not that excited but gave it a try to shut me up. In the last 6 years she has rode about 18,000 miles and loves it. She has a great bike (BMC RACE MACHINE sub 15lbs) which makes her smile every time we go for a ride. She picked up some cool kits that she likes to wear and they seem to give her a little attitude. She constantly enters us in charity bike events plans bike related trips for our vacations, usually we head to coastal towns in California. She also reads a lot and plans new fun routes , usually on some mountain roads we have never tried before, she like to call it let's go exploring! I can say she is a driving force in the family. I ride with her almost 100% of the time, and really enjoy each ride. Even when she had a minor mishap and broke her arm, she didn't stop riding, when she was in a cast we set her bike up on the trainer and she hired a coach to help improve her strength and cardio. All in I am glad we are riding together and I know she is also. FYI we are both in our 60's if that means anything.

[flydhest]

Got my wife a basic Giant hybrid when we first got together. She hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years. She liked it more and more after getting over the fear of riding in traffic. We live in the center of Washington, DC. She now commutes on it 60+ percent of the time.

As she grew to like riding, my slot in Curt Goodrich's queue came up, so I used it on her. She still doesn't ride a ton (neither do I right now as we have two small kids) but loves her road bike and goes for solo rides with gusto.

We are at the point where our last trip to CO to visit her mom, we got a late 90s Specialized from Craigslist for her to keep my Serotta company out there.

Happy story. Key for us was going slowly into the endeavor and always having it be driven by her choices and interest, not mine.

[bcroslin]

I did this and like the others who have already written the bike got little to no use. My wife is a runner and fit but she never developed a love for cycling. I sold the bike on eBay and moved on. About 6 months ago I bought his and her townie bikes and she LOVES them. We ride downtown to dinner and do a casual loop through our neighborhood along the water. She's happy because she doesn't feel intimidated by a road bike and feels like she can easily keep up with me.

I guess bottom line is this - make sure she really wants a road bike. Give her some time to think on it before buying and when she says yes give her a little more time.

[etu]

Riskier to start with a road bike and an aggressive setup even if it's "comfort" geometry with taller HT.
Contact points will be very important, so if you're going to splurge, I'd make sure you find a good comfortable, wider saddle that is meant to support more weight/upright position. A flat, wide pedal - newer bmx style ones with pins.
If she is afraid of the road, stability and confidence is going to be very important. A flat bar or albatross (rivbike) set up is a better bet. Wide, but good quality tires that allow for speed and less effort will also help. Combine stability, comfort and supple ride quality and you might succeed. If she gets into it, upgrading is easy.

My personal experience:
Bianchi eros back in the 90's got about three rides and promptly sold.
Three years ago, built up a nice SOMA buena vista with the above considerations which we rode handful of times on family bike ride, but is still sits mostly in our garage due to other competing interests, but she likes the bike and doesn't want to get rid of it.

[George Ab]

For me, it has worked out. My significant other is now a cyclist. Our first date seven years ago yesterday (also her birthday) we went for a bike ride and then hiking in the mountains. I loaned her a bike as I always had a "girl friend" bike around. I kept her off the road and stuck to recreational trails so she did not have to deal with cars as she was definitely a novice. Somehow she clipped a metal post with her pedal and went down. The way she reacted and got up and continued riding was well impressive... keeper material. She is an athlete, but still not an avid cyclist, but has a nice road and mountain bike. She rides three or four times a month so she has continued in the sport and rides with an easy group. She hates challenging mountain biking, but will take the dog out for a run on the bike in the woods.

[54ny77]

my experience: has been a waste of time, effort and money getting my wife to ride. if she wants to do other things, even walking, do those with her and carve out "me" time to ride your bike.

and frankly, nowadays, i wouldn't want her riding on the road anyway, not with roads and drivers the way they are.

[josephr]

if she doesn't like it...get a new wife! :D

when I got back into cycling 5-6 years ago, my wife insisted I buy her a bike too b/c if I was getting a bike, she should too....so, I bought her a used Trek 1.1 for $300...she rode twice and now it sits in the basement for those 1 or 2 times a year when she'll actually ride.

I wouldn't suggest a high-dollar bike right away....start her out with a used base model...if she likes it and starts riding regularly, then maybe into some sort of upgrade.

the slower ladies' rides are great --- heard great stories about gals who've gotten their start riding that way.

[roguedog]

I say go for it... but as others said in a thoughtful, pragmatic way.

Go for a nice used bike. I agree with something like an Eros where it can be "fast" but also practical (I thin it had rack braze-ons). And maybe start with those cross brakes so it's a sorta flat bar.
Go for rides to places that she'd find interesting or fun and yes, try it on trails or on quiet roads. Or just go for errand rides at first.. along quiet roads.

Yeah, it's kinda a crap shoot but worst case you have to sell it or give it to the kids later. Best case, you get a new riding buddy.

[Louis]

Of course, being me, I want to get her the nicest campy equipped custom small frame I can find

As others have suggested, at this stage buying something she's more likely to ride and enjoy is way more important then getting something fancy that you like.

There's plenty of time later to get her a hi-zoot bike, if she decides that cycling is something she wants to do seriously.

[reggiebaseball]

I had success getting a women-specific 44cm cannondale bottom-end complete bike built up with 105 level components at the end of the season in 2011, it already had the tiny bars (38cm maybe) and stem (60-80cm)

It was perhaps a $1100 model that was on sale for half that.

All we added ourselves were pedals and a Terry saddle she chose.


The plan was that if she didnt like it, I would re-sell it at cost.


She ended up loving the bike, and we have subsequently put Di2 and nice wheels on it for her.

She is your spouses height and the 44cm frame is best for her.

[p nut]

Got my wife a Surly Trucker with upright Albatross bars. She loves it. Maybe one day, she'll get a dedicated road or mtn bike, but this works for now. With 26x2" tires, she's confident on the road and dirt paths.

[roydyates]

I've been riding with my wife for about 5 years now. Gradually, we have built up to about 3K miles/year that we ride together. She also goes to the gym or spin class a few times per week, but mostly she is not a very ambitious athlete. Here are some lessons I've learned:

1. Find a group that rides her speed. If there are no groups, try to start a couples ride with some of a riding buddy who also has a spouse at home.
The social commitment to a group is the best way to get a regular riding routine established.

2. Don't be too ambitious. Don't push her into rides that approach her physical limits (unless she finds she likes that.)

3. Plan the route in advance and tell her in advance how far the ride will go. Don't ballpark or underestimate the mileage and avoid deviating from the route.

4. On the road, just follow her, i.e. you draft her. Yes it's slow and inefficient but she sets the pace and she doesn't feel any stress to catch up to you. Since you are the stronger rider, you can ride close to her back wheel, which makes conversation easy. After a few thousand miles, she may be ready to try drafting you.

5. Find places to go, cafes to check out, and sights to see. Basically try to make it fun.

6. She probably won't care about the bike. however, if she does get into it, keep buying her bikes to try. She will find she likes some bikes more than others. You can sell the bikes she doesn't love.

Finally, since your wife is 5 ft tall, try the very small (43 and 47cm) Specialized women's bikes. Jamis also has a tiny Endura frame that fits surprisingly fat tires. My 4'11" daughter in law has both a 43cm Specialized and a 43 cm Jamis and she likes both them a lot. Another 5'1" woman on our couples ride has a 47cm Specialized and also likes it a lot. They have 700c wheels and we might think the handling is awkward (if we could fit on it and ride it) but these women got very comfortable with these bikes very quickly.

[ptourkin]

We're currently having the opposite problem. Got my marathon-running girlfriend a female-geometry carbon Focus all-Ultegra roadie. She loves it but now we want more of a townie to lock up when we ride for beer but she expects everything to climb and feel like the first bike.

We started this last venture by getting her a decent fitting and we were able to email my fitter with bikes we were looking at and he was able to tell us what would work, so she wasn't frustrated by a bike that didn't feel great when we finally decided on the Focus. We also found that bikes that were created as women's geometry were more likely to please the fitter. The 50ish mens bikes weren't the same. Also, what the various major brands call a 49,50,51 were vastly different.

[Tickdoc]

And thanks for taking the time to input.

She's asked me twice if I've found her a bike yet, so things are looking up :beer:

I'm hesitant getting anything nice.

We have a great trail system here with a few cafes in the middle so that will be an easy way to get her familiar with riding.

So, does a mixte with drop bars sound silly to try things out or should I buy her something that will blend in with the rest of the pink riders if and when she tries a group ride?

Time to get serious about looking.

[R3awak3n]

Its awesome when our significant others take interest in our hobbies.

My put together a bike for my wife. I wanted to spend less than $500 but ended up spending a bit more, probably like $800. Got her a Handsome shedevil, built her some wheels even put a brooks cambium on it. She really likes it. However... She has ridden it 2 times since I built it (back in early may). Also these 2 times I was with her and we rode maybe for 20-30 minutes.

Its hard to get her to be like, hey lets go ride and I dont think she feels safe ridding without me for now. Its understandable but I am pretty sure she will not use that bike much.

We do live in NYC and I know it can be scary to ride around here, we are thinking about moving upstate so maybe she will be more comfortable up there.


Edit: you mentioned a mixte. My wife wanted a mixte, I tried to convince her to get a "normal" bike but she was not having it. Either was a mixte or she didnt want anything. I also got some townie VO bars which she seems to like.

[smead]

Same boat here 5 years ago, my wife had never ridden a single, only stoked on our tandem. I spent the winter finding a neat 47cm frame, and built it with DA bits and a nice wheelset, 16 lb rocket. She road it for a couple of years on timid 10-15 mile rides around our house, now it hangs in my garage.

But, I had fun building it, she loves it even though she doesn't ride it ..., all good. So I'd suggest you have fun building your sweetheart a cool ride because you can't go wrong either way :beer:

[54ny77]

Hah, I bought a freakin' custom TANDEM thinking we'd be doing nice fun laps in central park occasionally in the evenings after work when we lived in city. And a leisurely spin to Piermont for lunch on weekends. Wanna guess how well that worked out? :crap:


We do live in NYC and I know it can be scary to ride around here, we are thinking about moving upstate so maybe she will be more comfortable up there.

[Tickdoc]

Hah, I bought a freakin' custom TANDEM thinking we'd be doing nice fun laps in central park occasionally in the evenings after work when we lived in city. And a leisurely spin to Piermont for lunch on weekends. Wanna guess how well that worked out? :crap:

Oh no tandems, please. I love her, but not enough to drag her ass around.

[moobikes]

My experience is:

1) Get a good bike. Doesn't have to be costly or new, but nice colors and a good light frame. A high end bike can be very cheap on ebay. Definitely good wheels and components, nothing too ····ty. Let her feel good about the bike and set it up well.

2) You want your wife to feel safe, so good brakes that are easy to use and good wide tires are important. The bike itself has to handle well for a rookie. Nothing too twitchy or too slow/ heavy.

3) Practice all relevant safety "moves". How to brake in a emergency, how to mount and dismount safely, how to turn her head to look at traffic without swerving, hand signals to communicate with you or other riders, etc

4) Good shifters and drivetrain. Shimano 105 level and up. The reliability/ precision will be a definite plus. Nothing worse than a bad shift, pedals flailing, wife looking down wondering what the eff is wrong with the ····ty bike.

5) Handlebars and saddle must be set up to her comfort and to increase confidence. If she doesn't like drop bars, use straight or city bars. A good supportive saddle will be a good incentive to ride more.

[moobikes]

In addition:

Practice with her bike handling skills. How to draft safely, grabbing the bottle and putting it back, how to hit a pothole without falling off, how to get on and off a curb, what never to do eg, striking a pedal, too much front brake.

Do you do mtbking? A lot of the skills are relevant on the road, and important to learn. Weight shifts, keeping balance, going over obstacles, turning on slippery surfaces.

[T.J.]

I guess I will consider myself lucky because ....

A) I met my wife in a training ride. Like me she is a Cat2 so she is very competitive and doesn't complained if dropped on a ride. She gets it.

On the flip side I am unlucky because......

A) my wife rides a 58cm, same size as me. Funny how my bikes suddenly disappear

[rrudoff]

My wife is 5'2" and went through several stages in her riding to get where she is today. She rode mountain bikes with me for years, on a casual basis, but is pretty coordinated and a decent bike handler. She is now in her late 40s

She started going on short rides on her town type bike, even bringing the dog along in a mesh pannier. After a year or two with this, she felt limited on the climbs and wanted to do longer rides. This was all in Oahu, where she lives most the time. I tried to talk her into a normal road bike, but she wanted flat bars, she was certain drop bars would be uncomfortable. I tried to convince her otherwise, but she is stubborn. So i bought her a nice hybrid, a Spec Sirrus with Carbon rear stays and fork. She began to stretch her rides out, instead of 5-10 miles, more like 10-20. She would ride on her own or with me. When with me, as another poster suggested, she almost always leads. She rides slower than me, and is not comfortable staying on my wheel, so this avoids a lot of tension. Early on she was also scared to descend at any speed at all;

Naturally after about a year and also starting to ride with a group of serious older ladies, she decided, yes she really needed a real road bike. After some test rides, we got her a 48 cm Spec Ruby. This would not have been my choice, but she worries about comfort and bought into the marketing thing. Originally it was full 105 and not too costly, but she has Carpal tunnel and I upgraded her drivetrain to Ultegra Di2, so now her bike is nicer than my bikes in some way. I must say the Di2 is very nice, and as she is not very attentive of cross chaining etc. also lets her get away with sloppy shifting.

We also live in Italy part time (actually last two years she has been there), and we take her bike back and forth. She has become a much better rider there, extending rides to 40 miles with serious climbing and getting quite a bit faster. I would say the issue now is that she descends too fast for her skill sometimes, and I am waiting for the crash with fingers crossed.

Converting to clipless pedals as she got the better bikes has a bit of a learning curve and a couple slow speed falls, but now she is very comfortable with that. She also now loves watching racing, and it is nice to have a sport we both like.

As most people advise, I would start with a decent bike with decent components that fit right, it does not need to be super high end, but if it is junk she will not have fun. She needs to be fit properly, and needs a saddle she is comfortable with and clothing that she likes and is comfortable in. She went through a big evolution in clothes as her cycling evolved, from girly to team type outfits. We also went through a lot of saddles.

[roguedog]

Oh no tandems, please. I love her, but not enough to drag her ass around.

This was awesome! :banana::hello:

[Cameron]

Got her a Handsome shedevil...

Bumping a couple day old thread, but am hoping for some input on the SheDevil?

How's the quality? Thinking of picking up a shedevil frameset to build for my mother in law so she can go on rides with my son. She doesn't need anything fancy, but I also don't want to start with a boat anchor...

[p nut]

How's the quality? Thinking of picking up a shedevil frameset to build for my mother in law so she can go on rides with my son. She doesn't need anything fancy, but I also don't want to start with a boat anchor...

Not to get too far off topic, but for your mother in law, I would opt for a town/city bike, such as:

http://www.breezerbikes.com/bikes/details/uptown-fleet-ls

I believe Giant, Trek and others make similar bikes. I just like the IGH so they can shift at a stop, up a hill, etc. Same price as a SheDevil frameset, which I think would be overkill.

If you have a city bike program in your city, have her ride one. Pretty much the same thing.