need to buy my wife a bike

[steelynorm]

Too all those (sensible) women out there who posted constructive information thank you very very much. My wife and I appreciate it.

Firstly, I will not lay down any money until she does a test ride. Unfortunately, my first post did not explain that well enough(sorry).

The reason for the original posting was to gather information on the types of bikes that members of this forum have had luck with. Bikes spec'd out with Shimano 105 components or better, should put my potential anniversary gift in a price range of 1500-2500 dollars.

Whether it be Giant, Trek, Specialized, Felt, Orbea, Kestrel etc etc. I was looking for some information to go to my LBS looking for models recommended via the forum. Hoping however unlikely that there could be a consensus on a few models.

If you have any specific models you have ridden and have any additional feedback whether positive or negative would still be greatly appreciated.

... [edit by moderator] ...

I work very hard so that my wife can stay home to raise our children, because we believe that we can offer better care to our children than some stranger at an institution who collects a monthly stipend from us.

My wife gave up her career, because she loves children and we are trying what seems like in vain at times to raise children with both strong morals and character.

My wife works part time from home, manages to keep the house clean while our children try constantly to undermine her efforts.

I encouraged her over a year and half ago to do the Wildflower, because I believe that she needed something that was hers, not mine or our kids but was something that she owned. I do not want her to become lost as a person and have a midlife crisis. I believe that if she is a triathlete, not just a mom and a wife she can be a better/happier mom and wife.

We do not have a lot of money and my wife did not even know how to switch gears, so I bought her a used bike for Xmas 2006. The Cannondale(R500?), it was both too long and too short and stretched her out too much, but it was better than the alternative mtb for the olympic distance at Wildflower.

Fast Forward to the present: I love my wife, she does not care about the specifics, she doesn't know ultegra from dura ace. She does not know carbon fiber from titanium. She does however like to ride bicycles now, and i want to buy her a bicycle, she would never want me to buy her a bicycle of this level even if it is for our anniversary.

If I offended you, lighten up.

I know that there are some people out there who have malicious intentions or massive insecurities and get a rise out of screwing with innocent people on forums like this. I am not one of them. I came to this forum looking for advice from what i thought was a friendly community to help me make an informed decision on a bike purchase for my wife.

I was just using the internet as it was originally intended, to share ideas and information freely amongst people from all over our world.

Thanks,

Norm