Carbon or Alu for Wife?

[Chicken Little]

Fit her in aluminum, and start checking Craigslist. If nothing come up that fits, go entry level aluminum, you can sell at a small loss in the spring, if you want to keep your $$ reasonable.

I ride steel, period. But I didn't start that way, and prefer to financially ease into things...

[Crankin]

I love my Shimano Ultegra short reach brifters. My hands are not that small (size medium glove), but overall, I am a small person. I have never been able to ride in the drops until I found the perfect combo of the short reach brifters and a short and shallow dropped bar. I never want to change... learning a new shifting pattern would mess up my brain.
The aluminum Orbea I had on my bike tour last May reminded me how much I like my carbon (and steel) bikes. Although the bike had the exact same geometry as my road bike, I felt jumbled every time I road over a teeny crack. And I was back to not being able to reach the brakes from the drops.

[kacie tri-ing]

Often, when my husband wants to buy me gear, he will give me a picture of what I am going to get, and then we go to the store together and I pick out what I want.

Bikes are awesome. She will LOVE being on a bike. Personally, I love my carbon, and I am glad that I did a big upgrade after my aluminum hybrid. Granted, it always gets love and time, and it wasn't a waste. If you KNOW she is going to really enjoy riding, I am on the "buy the nicest thing you can manage and fits her," camp. She can "grow into" a nicer bike, and will appreciate being able to do that. Otherwise, you will end up buying more than one bike, and the cheap one will sit in the corner.

That's my opinion though....

[GLC1968]

Bikes are awesome. She will LOVE being on a bike. Personally, I love my carbon, and I am glad that I did a big upgrade after my aluminum hybrid. Granted, it always gets love and time, and it wasn't a waste. If you KNOW she is going to really enjoy riding, I am on the "buy the nicest thing you can manage and fits her," camp. She can "grow into" a nicer bike, and will appreciate being able to do that. Otherwise, you will end up buying more than one bike, and the cheap one will sit in the corner.

That's my opinion though....

I agree 100%.

If she wanted to buy the first road bike on the spot - then she's likely going to love this sport. I fell in love in one short ride and I do wish I'd gone with better (and better fitting) bike the first time around instead of 'upgrading' twice in the first two years (all three were road bikes, so it's not like I couldn't have bought my last bike the first time around!). This is particularly important for people who might be a hard fit (like me) because bike shopping can be very frustrating. I say, go with the best fit on the best bike you can afford. She'll thank you for it!

[zoom-zoom]

I agree 100%.

If she wanted to buy the first road bike on the spot - then she's likely going to love this sport. I fell in love in one short ride and I do wish I'd gone with better (and better fitting) bike the first time around instead of 'upgrading' twice in the first two years (all three were road bikes, so it's not like I couldn't have bought my last bike the first time around!). This is particularly important for people who might be a hard fit (like me) because bike shopping can be very frustrating. I say, go with the best fit on the best bike you can afford. She'll thank you for it!

Ditto. And if she even has 1% of her brain that thinks racing might be fun, then definitely don't rule out a more performance/aggressive geometry frame. I ended up on a women's "comfort" bike, instead of the men's/unisex performance frame that I realized after only a few months would have been a more ideal fit with my body type and interest. Only a year after receiving my first road bike I am ready for an upgrade. This time to carbon (from aluminum...which really sucks on our rough, chip-sealed rural roads) and this time with better components (from Shimano 105 to SRAM Rival and lighter wheels and better brakes).

[Pip]

Just adding my two cents. I started out with a heavy aluminium-framed road bike, upgraded two years later to a 2kg lighter aluminium bike, then two years later upgraded to carbon (losing another 2kg again). if your wife's a confident cyclist then she may be fine going straight from a mountain bike to carbon. I personally would have found it too much of an adjustment. My carbon bike rides completely differently to my last two, and it's taken me more than I'd realised to get used to it. I love it though, don't get me wrong!

[purdyd]

I say, go with the best fit on the best bike you can afford. She'll thank you for it!

Thanks for all the advice everyone. There is a Ruby Elite Apex on order with expected deliver in December

[warneral]

Nice bike!

[LColonelsrollin]

A couple of the women in our Tuesday evening ride group have purchased those this summer, and they seemed to love them! I HAD the Specialized Sequoia. I say HAD, because upon getting fit for a custom-made bike I'm going to have built, our LBS owner noticed a crack in the frame
Thankfully, it was under warranty, and he and Specialized took good care of me with a 2011 upgrade - same frame, basically - but this one is the 'Sectuer'. About 500 miles on it so far, and it's nice! Definitely quicker on the downhills!

[malkin]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. There is a Ruby Elite Apex on order with expected deliver in December

Make sure she's got the right kit to wear for whatever your December weather brings!


Have fun!

[Zen]

Make sure she's got the right kit to wear for whatever your December weather brings!


Have fun!

Why cant' she decide what "kit " to wear or what bike to buy?
I haven't been frequenting TE lately and this is partially why.