This man needs help!

[3wheelin]

Thanks for all the advice. You guys are quick with responses...awesome. She did test drive a fuji finest 2.0. She said the drop bars weren't so intimidating as she thought they were gonna be, but it sounds like she wants bigger tires. She also likes that handlebars were a bit higher than the seat. A kinda bad thing happened at the test drive though......the bike had those toe clips on it. I had the salesman remove them, but apparently he left them 1/2 on (leather still hanging, but toe clips removed). My wife cruised the parking lot for about 10 minutes and when she came to turn by me, the leather dragged and down she went...Ouch! With a little knee blood and hurt pride, we left soon after. She shook it right off and seems ok, but i'm worried that she may shy from road bikes after that....guess we'll go slow and see...maybe the trek 7.6 next and maybe a cross bike. I'll let you all know what happens

[Zen]

Why doesn't your wife join the forum?

[Roadtrip]

Why doesn't your wife join the forum?

We don't bite.. much

[JennK13]

Thanks for all the advice. You guys are quick with responses...awesome. She did test drive a fuji finest 2.0. She said the drop bars weren't so intimidating as she thought they were gonna be, but it sounds like she wants bigger tires.

Hi 3-wheelin!
I also had a Trek Navigator 2.0 with fat 26 tires, and I went to a Fuji Cross Comp (pictured below in my signature). I love this bike and the stock tires it comes with are wider than road tires and knobbie, but not as wide as the tires on my Trek. It's a nice in-between. I easily rode with those tires on moderately paced group rides of 30+ miles, though people did comment that they couldn't believe I was riding hills and at the speed I was on cross tires

If I recall correctly from when my husband was shopping bikes, the Fuji Finest has an adjustable stem allowing to easily change the reach and angle of the handlebars - that might be something useful for your wife as she becomes more comfortable on the drops, she'll probably want to go into a more aggressive riding position - she may not think so now, but once she's been on it for a while, she will!!!

The other thing to think about is the gearing on 'cross bikes - they typically don't have as wide of a range (either high or low) as road bikes do as they aren't really made for long, steep climbs or descents. I live in the front range of Colorado and do a fair amount of climbing, and there are times when having at least a gear or two more on the low end would be nice (and I'd love a higher gear for speed!!). In fact, I have a two wheelsets now, one with my cross tires on it with stock gearing (12-25), and my second set has road tires on it with a slightly wider ranged cassette (11-28). Having that 28 on the rear has been helpful on some climbs for me. Up front I only have 36/46 - your road bike probably has a 50 as your largest on the front - I mention this because she'll hit top gear long before you will when it comes to speed. Just keep gearing in mind when looking at cross bikes.

If there are any hills in your area, and if she really does want to keep up with you, I would suggest getting her a road bike. She already has the other bike to ride on trails. If she's really worried about tire size, switch out her current tires with slightly smaller slick tires for her to get used to so making the switch to a road bike wont be as drastic a change. And once she gets a road bike, put the fatest tires the bike will allow on it for her to get used to - you won't be fitting knobbies on there, but you should be able to put a little something more on there. I'm speaking from experience here!!! I have 3 bikes, and there is some overlap in them - if I had to do it over again, I would have been smarter in my purchases and allowed room for growth in my skill. That's what is so great about this site, is there are people here who can speak from experience

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My own thoughts:

Your wife could get a much lighter weight hybrid bike with normal sized wheels and much lighter tires, and it doesn't have to cost a fortune. there are many great tires out there that are fairly thin (25mm) and have Kevlar inner belts that can take her safely over even the roughest gravel. Lighter/larger circumference wheels and lighter tires can make a big difference in total bike weight and being able to keep up with others.
The gearing on such a hybrid would likely be easier too for all types of hills than the heavy bike she has now.

Try weighing her bike, then bringing her bike with you to a good bike store and asking to see lighter weight hybrids with wider range gearing and normal sized wheels and tires. And they should be happy to put whatever tires you want on a bike you purchase- likely for free.
A typical hybrid with straight handlebars and handle grip shifters would be way easier and reassuring for her than trying to jump right into roadie drop bars.

P.S. I love love love my helmets mirrors, and I wear progressive tri-focal glasses and fit-over sunglasses too.

[Melalvai]

Maybe you could get a heavy slow bike. You could name it "The Equalizer".

Or a tandem!

[Kiwi Stoker]

Have you considered a road tandem? She would always be with you, you can experience the fun of being able to ride fast on flats and downhills, everyone loves seeing a tandem out and about, and she will find it's confidence boosting not having to worry about shifting. braking etc on drop bars.

Yes, it can be not for everyone but it's worth a try. Best wedding present we ever got (everyone chipped in money) and it's a great ice breaker. And hey we are not lean cycling machines either (see my picture) but who cares!

PS In my experience in my cycle club and former job, even a light weight hybrid will never keep up with a road bike if the road bike person is stronger. Yes a really fit person can riade a hybrid or MTB bike as fast as a road bike but I am talking about a really fit person. Put the fit person on a road bike and they will go even faster.

[cmafit]

I'm posting on various threads as I am a "newbie" in getting a bike. I bought a Catrike Expedition about 18 mos ago and did my first solo century in April on it and it was not fun - it weighs about 30 - 35 lbs and there was about 7,000 net of climbing! I've posted on my FB page a bit ago for advice from all my cycling friends (I worked the start and finish of Race Across America 2010) so I have a lot of them now and am hoping for some from you awesome ladies too! I rode a Cannondale Six (?) WSD a few weeks ago on a test ride but didn't like the saddle - easy enough to change, but I've had a lot of back surgeries these last 10 years, so it wasn't a great fit for me. The mfg reps suggested the Synapse (?) but noone seems to have my size in right now for me to test ride. I get Bicycle Magazine and have been reading all the reviews on bikes, but it's just more confusing to me I think. I was a stoker on a tandem for about 9 yrs (ex) and definitely liked riding it! HELP!!!

[malkin]

cmafit--you might get more replies if you started your own thread.