What bike to get the boyfriend?

**Becky** · 05-20-2009, 08:01 AM

What does he want? Has he ridden either style of bike yet?

I think I'd do some test rides just to see what his preferences are, and go on from there.

**Reesha** · 05-20-2009, 08:05 AM

Haha, yeah, I suppose surprise is out the window. We're going camping for a week at the end of may... Maybe I'll take him out a-test riding then. It would be really sweet to have a ride for him while we're camping though... Alas!

I really ought to be as serious about this bike purchase as I would for any bike I'd buy myself... I suppose that means getting him on the saddle and pedaling around to see what he likes the best.

**Trek420** · 05-20-2009, 08:10 AM

We had a pretty informative discussion of "cheap road bikes" here

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=15647

Maybe a flat-bar road bike is in order?

**Reesha** · 05-20-2009, 08:19 AM

I hooked my best friend up with a specialized "cafe bike" last year and she loves it. I still wonder if something semi-trail ready is a good idea though. There are a lot of great hard pack trails around here in the great "Missouri Wine Country" lol. I don't currently have a bike that can handle it the pebbles and gravel, but I'm hoping to get one before the end of the summer.

My other problem is that I keep impressing what I want onto my idea of what he wants!!! I really really really want a cross bike! So I keep telling myself "maybe Jim wants a cross bike..." and then subconsciously ... "he's not THAT much taller than I am!"

**indysteel** · 05-20-2009, 08:37 AM

I think it really intends on what kind of riding he wants to do with you and/or you want to do together.

I approached my own entry into cycling with the same assumptions, i.e., that I'd feel more comfortable on a hybrid and that a road bike was too intimidating. In retrospect, I wish I'd just gone straight to a road bike. The hybrid was a nice bike, but it really wasn't comfortable for anything longer than 25 miles. It also didn't help me deal very effectively with the constant wind in Indiana. I bought a road bike about 2 months after buying the hybrid and haven't used the hybrid sense.

If he has no intention of doing long rides with you, then a more upright bike would work. Otherwise, I'd steer him toward a road bike. IMO and IME, road bikes just seem more intimidating. In the end, you still have to get used to riding again, dealing with traffic, learning how to be safe, etc.Most road bikes these days don't have an overly aggressive position and are more comfortable than they appear.

Good luck!

**tulip** · 05-20-2009, 08:50 AM

Definitely have him test out a few and choose one. I bought a bike for my then-DH as a surprise, and it was neither the right bike nor the right size for him. We did not exchange it, which we should have done. When we split up several years later, he said that he never liked that bike and didn't know why I even bought it for him. Ho-hum, I tried. But I would do it differently now.

**Trek420** · 05-20-2009, 09:49 AM

Originally Posted by tulip

Ho-hum, I tried.

You're too good for him

**TxDoc** · 05-21-2009, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by tulip

Definitely have him test out a few and choose one.

+1. There is no substitute for test-riding when buying a bike.

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