Test rides: I'd love to give her the chance to try out everything from recumbent trikes to long-tail cargo bikes to carbon fiber roadies, but there isn't much of a selection around here, let alone in her size, never mind shops who offer test rides. So while I get the message, there's not much I can do. However, I will post on the local riders' message board asking who might be willing to let her ride whatever they have. Maybe we should make a trip to New Orleans over the Thanksgiving weekend instead of driving to Tennessee and back!

The used Terry sounds like an excellent idea if we are fortunate enough to find one small enough. Any idea where they might best be found (is there something akin to the Rivendell owners group for Terry?)

I'm not going to stick her with a singlespeed unless that's what she decides she wants, but I have to disagree with the idea that even three speeds is better than one! Three speeds only works on a slow, cushy cruiser while a singlespeed road frame can be a very fast and capable ride. Seeing as I use one gear on my 1x9 mtb almost exclusively and am building two different fixed gear bikes I might be a little biased, but I don't know of any three speed bicycles of that would be faster than the Bianchi San Jose (more of a singlespeed CX bike than a track bike) I recently sold. A better grocery getter maybe, but not appropriate when the two top priorities on my wife's list are speed and light weight. (Ok, getting down off my soapbox now... )

With feedback from here and elsewhere, here is my list as it currently stands:

Bikes that look like they might fit stock:
Soma Smoothie
Trek 7.5FX
Felt ZW30
IRO Heidi

Used: Terry Isis/Madeleine/Symmetry

Bikes that appear to be a stretch (maybe w/ 650B wheels?)
Bianchi Volpe/Axis
Surly Long Haul Trucker/Cross-Check
Jamis Aurora, Quest/Satellite/Coda
Soma Double Cross
Salsa Casseroll Triple
Giant FCR 1 W

Dahon is still a distant possibility, but I have two negative impressions from my reading: they are heavy (an understandable compromise for the convenience of folding, but folding isn't a big advantage in our case) and they seem to have lower quality components/build than most of the other bikes I am considering.

The Jamis Quest/Satellite/Coda are available as women's specific geometry frames... but on the website they are only shown with the lowest level of components from the respective men's line. Anyone know off hand if you can order say, a Coda Elite in a 'Femme Model?'