First, my friend bought a Specialized Vita. She said "I'll never get clipless pedals."
Then my friend wanted her feet to stay on the pedals when climbing. She bought some Power Grips, but said, "I'll never get the clipless pedals."

She really liked the Power Grips. When I told her the motion for the pedals is the same, she bought the clipless pedals. She bought some nice Specialized bike shoes, too.

My friend has had a lot of trouble with the front derailleur on her bike. It's been in the shop on and off for the 2.5 years she's had it. She insisted though, "I will never get a road bike. My back will hurt too much." I explained that there are lots of different road bike geometries, and that there would definitely be one that wouldn't hurt her back.

On Wednesday, my friend bought a Specialized Ruby Elite Apex. DH and I tutored her through all the bs she had with LBS, (Cycle Loft), but they really weren't too bad. She ended up getting the SRAM compact double with an 11-32 rear, so she feels pretty confident she'll be able to get up the hills around here. She did test a 105 compact, but she knew, that around where we live, she couldn't do it. The guy was giving her a real bunch of crap about getting a triple; honestly, why do they do this? Not everyone cares about the weight, and frankly, I've never had one bit of trouble with my Ultegra derailleur. But, she found a good compromise. The bike will be here in about a week. I guess there's only about 8 of these left in the US.

I am so happy for her. She recently bought a house on Cape Cod and is planning to ride 3 days a week to her volunteer job at the Audubon Sanctuary this summer. While she is a "slow and steady" rider, she has become a real cyclist, in a very short time. I feel like my job is done!