male pig wants to buy enlightened wife a bike

[bike4ever]

OCR1 is a great price point bike - $1100. There are definitely sizes to fit 5'2".

[Kimmyt]

You'll definitely want to get her involved in getting sized. For her first bike, it'll be hard to 'guesstimate' her size simply by height. I am 5'3" and ride a 47 due to my short torso, but my friend is also 5'3" and rides a 50. Because we both have differently shaped bodies. I was sized at a 50 via the whole inseam way of doing things, but after taking some test rides I went down a size and it felt so much better.

For me, the best present ever would be a nice gift card (or you can even write up your own version if you don't wanna tie yourself down to one shop) for the 'Bike of your choice'. Maybe include a couple hot cutouts of sexy bikes from some Tri magazines.

Rrrowr that'd get my blood up!



K.

Oh, FYI last year I had all my friends/family get me g.c.s to a specific bike shop. By the time I bought my bike I only ended up paying something like $400 for the whole shebang... it sure was fun going shopping knowing I had a certain amount of money to play with! It allowed me to get a much better bike than I would have if it had all been out of pocket!

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Norm
I dont do triathalons, but I am a big time trial fan, and TT bikes and Tri bikes tend to be quite similar.

My TT bike is a Giant TCR, a bit more aero than the OCR model.
The aero bars on it are the best I have used... quite short in comparison to some others - it also has short cranks so makes the pedaling a bit easier (many things on bikes are set up with men in mind and can be a bit on the big side for us gals).

If you do go new and have an option, ask the bike shop/dealer about short-reach levers on the handle bars... that makes a huge difference to comfort and enjoyment.

And like Sabe_r suggests... get her to join up here and have a chat (after you've done the present thing of course - this thread might just blow the surprise!)

[EBD]

When I started doing tri's I bought a Specialized Dolce, which has a women-specific frame. They come in pretty small sizes. It was about $700, which left me room for tune-ups and to upgrade the components later when I know how to ride. (remember the total price will creep up once you've purchased the extras - bottle cage, maybe a flat kit or wedge pack, possibly clip pedals and shoes . . . it adds up).

One thing I learned from buying my first road bike - I had never ridden with drop bars before and wasn't comfortable with them for a while, so I road more upright as if on a MTB or hybrid - long story short, now that I have "road bike posture" I find that the frame I bought feels too small. If I had it to do over again I'd buy one with more distance from seat to handlebars, so I could ride more horizontally. So this is just something to think about - spending some time on a road bike (more than just a circle around the parking lot) before buying one.