You're right, Crankin. Those big heavy fat bike tires are harder to pedal. I'm so used to pedaling them, that I hardly notice, anymore, unless I take one out for a 30 mile ride or something. My friend's visit and attempt to ride any form of trail bike, including the fat bikes, was a reminder that there are lot of people out there riding bicycles that really aren't comfortable with MTBs or even drop bar road bikes. Her other complaint about the fat bike was that it didn't allow her to sit upright. She felt very uncomfortable with her weight down on the handlebars.

Anyway, we had a great visit. Nothing like catching up with an old friend and just talking and sharing stories. Her visit meant a lot to me, what with me being so far away, up here in the woods.

We did solve her bike riding problem, by the way. After a try with the MTBs out on the road (no way was she ready to try trail riding) and her disappointment, I remembered I had recently bought a Specialized Roll Low Entry comfort bike as my indoor training bike while I recovering from my accident. Took the Specialized off the trainer and got it adjusted for he and then out on the road we went. She loved it! Remember, now, she hasn't been on a bike in over a year and even then, she's never been much for riding. She struggled on our neighborhood hills a bit, but she really enjoyed the riding, enough so that she wanted to do, more. In fact, she loved the Specialized so much, she decided to buy one for herself. I offered her mine, but she did not like the matte black color and can't say I blamed her.

We took her to one of my shops and they set her up with the slightly more advanced model with disc brakes, a triple crankset, and, most importantly, a nice color. And they made her a great price, to boot. She will be riding this around her neighborhood and town and using it to visit friends. She couldn't wait to drive back home and start riding.


I am so pleased that the bike industry has recently been addressing the need for people like my friend. It's long overdue, in my opinion. I've been trying to find her the right bike for years and trying to get her to get out and ride more, but with little success. I think we've finally found the right bike for her, though. I just loved seeing the smile on her face while she was riding her new bike.