Getting Grandma a Townie?

[Trek420]

Knotts Mom is thinking townie. I saw pictures of the Amsterdam, cool bike

[KnottedYet]

Yup. My mom is thinking Townie 7D ($340) or Townie 21 ($390). She has foot and balance issues. A coaster brake would be a disaster for her, because of the feet. And the Townie 7 with the internal gearing was just too darn expensive.

Hopefully she and I will go shopping soon!

[Crankin]

I hope that I am still looking for a bike to ride in 20 years....
A few weeks ago, I went on a ride led by an 86 year old man . It was inspiring to say the least. And, he was talking about doing the ride next year. This guy is older than my father!

[TsPoet]

Yup. My mom is thinking Townie 7D ($340) or Townie 21 ($390). She has foot and balance issues. A coaster brake would be a disaster for her, because of the feet. And the Townie 7 with the internal gearing was just too darn expensive.

Hopefully she and I will go shopping soon!

Knotted,
I don't want to be an annoying bent pundit - but consider this
http://www.greenspeed.com.au/anura_main.html
or one of the many bent tadpole trikes out there. Yes, they are a little geeky, a little low to the ground, and different, but with balance issues, the trike will make a huge difference.
The anura above is a new product - a delta instead of a tadpole design. It is higher than other bent trikes, still more stable than a bike and, I think, not quite so geeky looking as a traditional adult trike.
My mom has a tadpole trike and got hers with bars to help her get up - she has no trouble with it.
Then again, I think my mom's biggest balance issue with her Townie was in her head, she was so sure she was unstable that she made herself unstable.

[KnottedYet]

My mom's big issue is with $$. I had a recumbent, and gently pushed her in that direction, but no-go.

I figure with the Townie, I'm at least getting her into *bikes*.