Quote Originally Posted by emily_in_nc View Post
That Lenz Sport is a lovely bike, but way above my price range, and being a 29er, even the Small is way too tall for me with a 29" standover. Actually, that's a good thing, so I won't be lusting over it!

Since the bike I'm thinking of would essentially be a beach bike much of the time (I live on a sandy island), I would not want to spend over $1000. I now understand that full-suspension is probably not going to work, and it increases the price a lot.

I did look at urban/city bikes, but I would need to be able to run wide, MTB or beach cruiser tires (2"+), so that option probably won't work either.

So I am back to SS hardtail MTBs and will keep looking. It's a fun thing to do on a rainy day. Unfortunately, being in Belize, building it myself would be far too difficult (parts availability is just about nil, and import duties high), so I will keep looking for something ready-made.
What I might get if I rode on sand and rutted roads a lot is a Salsa Mukluk. I am smaller than you and the smallest size fit me. I loved trying out that bike. The price may be just out of your budget though. But maybe you could get the frame and have it built up as a single speed for a reasonable price.

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/mukluk_3/