male pig wants to buy enlightened wife a bike

[steelynorm]

Hello all you estrogen laden homo sapiens!!!
Yes i am man just looking for advice.
Here is my situation. My wife is training for a triatholon. Yeah!
She has a mtn bike. She has never been a cyclist and she has never been a runner. Question 1o i let her use her mtn bike for her 1st tri, to see if she is serious before I go out and buy her a nice bike for christmas? If I am going to purchase a new bike for her which bikes would give her/me best bang for the buck. Are used bikes a good option, if so where can i track one down in Nor Cal?

Any Help you can give is greatly appreciated.


Norm

[Veronica]

Is she seriously training? Or is she in the, "Gee I'd like to do a triathalon." stage How long is the distance? Do you think she wants to be competitive with others or is she doing it just for her? How much do you want to spend?

Veronica

[Wahine]

As a 12 year plus triathlete with coaching experience I have a few suggestions. If she seems serious, buy her a bike and don't be cheap. In my experience a person needs to have a decent bike that rides well to give them motivation to get out there. If she's slogging with a mtn bike she won't have fun and will be less likely to persist.

That being said. A used bike is an excellent option. THE BEST OPTION for a first time triathlete. The easiest thing to do is to contact a local triathlon club or coaching service and see if there might be someone selling that is about her size. The good news is that there are a lot of gear heads out there looking to upgrade every year so if you get hooked into the Tri community it's usually not too hard to find a very good used bike. You might want to start by asking about clubs at a local tri shop or bike shop that deals with triathlon gear.

If you're desparate and can't find a used bike, I'd have to suggest going with Giant or Specialized. They are good all around bikes and typically come with good component packages for the price. IE Bang for the buck.

Hope this helps. Good luck and Merry Christmas.

[KSH]

Both ladies have given excellent advice and pointed out some great items.

Wahine is correct in stating that you want a bike that is enjoyable and easy to ride. If you have to work really hard to ride it, it's not fun. The Trek 1000 is a good starter bike, but if she gets serious about cycling/tri's... it will be gone in a year.

The components on the bike are important... good components = easier shifting... and a more enjoyable ride. For her first bike Shimano 105's will be just fine.

Now... I would like to add... that she needs to be FIT to ANY bike you want to purchase for her. It's very important that the fit is correct, or she will be miserable riding the bike.

With that said, it's probably not a wise idea to just go pick out any bike and surprise her with it. It hasn't been fit to her.

You are so very sweet to want to surprise her... but she probably needs to be around when you buy the bike. Maybe you can get her a gift certficate to a bike shop... that way you set the spending limit... and she gets to pick out her bike.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I loved that my DH bought my wonderful bike for me. But I also loved that I was able to pick it out myself and not have someone else pick it out for me. I would have felt cheated out of all the excitement and planning and learning and bike shopping.
I was glad to have the excellent advice of both my DH and a very good bike expert too. But in the end I got to decide what bike I wanted, and that was an important factor for me in really loving my bike.

[beetle]

I can offer advise only from being in the same position as your wife not having had years of tri or cycling experience.

But I have just bought a new bike (well actually the insurance man did as my other one got stolen) but I actually got a chance to get the RIGHT bike this time. If you don't have the chance to go for a 2nd hand or just want to get your wife a new bike I highly recommend going into your Local Bike Store (LBS) and getting them to size your wife for a bike. Tell them what she wants it for too as that is pretty important. I'd suggest trying a couple of stores to a) find one where you feel like you are being helped rather than convinced to buy lots of stuff you don't need and b) different stores sell different brands so they will probably only look for bikes to fit your wife within the range they sell.

I have just got a SUBZero2 (Sarah Ulman Brand) bike that is a Womens Specific Design (WSD). It is a great fit for ME but other women often find mens bikes fine for their size. It is totally down to the individual. As has been said fit is the most important factor but the other things I like about a lot of the WSD bikes out there is that they do other thing that sometimes make the bike a better ride for a woman. This is the beginner rider in me speaking but I found the gearing arangement on my bike better than some of the male bikes in the same price range. I am training for a hills event but also know my power in the cycling department is pretty lacking so I wanted a bike with some gears in the lower range so that I can at least get up my training hills on my first ride before I even thing about improving my strength. I had a Giant OCR2 before and though it was a rubbish fit it had a triple chainring on it which was great for me.

Do i let her use her mtn bike for her 1st tri

Absolutely, I used a beat up old road bike that hadn't been serviced in years (not recommended) for my first one. When she has her shiny new road/tri bike it will (maybe) feel a tiny bit easier.

[light_sabe_r]

BEETLE!!!! We have the same bike!!! lol

steelynorm if you don't live in Australia, New Zealand or South africa it'll be bloody difficault to get your hands on a SUB bike. They're freaking fantastic!!!! The brands has been marketed well but it's the FIT that is what's selling it. I'm seeing more and more of them on the roads here every week.

A lot of the girls riding in the tri I competed in on the weekend road cannondales. There were loads of Giants, Treks (and a handful of cervelos, bianchis, SUBs etc) It comes down to her individual taste and what she wants to use it for.

Let her ride her mountain bike. Give it a service first though, Lube it up etc... I rode my 15kg hybrid in my first tri and it was great.

If she's just starting out tell her to JOIN US HERE and give an ENTICER a go. The distances are shorter than the ELITEST distances and many people ride their mountain bikes for it.

All in all I agree with what everyone else has said here. GET HER TO CHOOSE IT. Don't make the mistake my MOTHER did last month and buy a bike without test riding it or it being set up to fit her. The results are REALLY painful to watch.

[steelynorm]

She is very serious I am very proud that she has set a goal and is going for it.
she is 5'2" and has i would say shorter legs.

I am looking to spend hopefully around a thousand.

I agree, fit and sizing are very important, honestly she is not much of a gear *****.(non gender specific term mind you dont be offended) she would not know shimano from SRAM and is just learning how to use her gears on her MTB. That being said i agree 105 is a good starting point.

Can you ladies recommend specific models in that price range with that level of components?

About what size frame do you think she would need? i am thinking about 50cm?


Thanks again for your input.

Norm

[DirtDiva]

Probably a little smaller that that. 46/47/48ish? Manufacturers don't all measure their bikes the same way though and ultimately it depends what feels right to her. It's great that you want to encourage her like this.

[bike4ever]

OCR1 is a great price point bike - $1100. There are definitely sizes to fit 5'2".

[Kimmyt]

You'll definitely want to get her involved in getting sized. For her first bike, it'll be hard to 'guesstimate' her size simply by height. I am 5'3" and ride a 47 due to my short torso, but my friend is also 5'3" and rides a 50. Because we both have differently shaped bodies. I was sized at a 50 via the whole inseam way of doing things, but after taking some test rides I went down a size and it felt so much better.

For me, the best present ever would be a nice gift card (or you can even write up your own version if you don't wanna tie yourself down to one shop) for the 'Bike of your choice'. Maybe include a couple hot cutouts of sexy bikes from some Tri magazines.

Rrrowr that'd get my blood up!



K.

Oh, FYI last year I had all my friends/family get me g.c.s to a specific bike shop. By the time I bought my bike I only ended up paying something like $400 for the whole shebang... it sure was fun going shopping knowing I had a certain amount of money to play with! It allowed me to get a much better bike than I would have if it had all been out of pocket!

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Norm
I dont do triathalons, but I am a big time trial fan, and TT bikes and Tri bikes tend to be quite similar.

My TT bike is a Giant TCR, a bit more aero than the OCR model.
The aero bars on it are the best I have used... quite short in comparison to some others - it also has short cranks so makes the pedaling a bit easier (many things on bikes are set up with men in mind and can be a bit on the big side for us gals).

If you do go new and have an option, ask the bike shop/dealer about short-reach levers on the handle bars... that makes a huge difference to comfort and enjoyment.

And like Sabe_r suggests... get her to join up here and have a chat (after you've done the present thing of course - this thread might just blow the surprise!)

[EBD]

When I started doing tri's I bought a Specialized Dolce, which has a women-specific frame. They come in pretty small sizes. It was about $700, which left me room for tune-ups and to upgrade the components later when I know how to ride. (remember the total price will creep up once you've purchased the extras - bottle cage, maybe a flat kit or wedge pack, possibly clip pedals and shoes . . . it adds up).

One thing I learned from buying my first road bike - I had never ridden with drop bars before and wasn't comfortable with them for a while, so I road more upright as if on a MTB or hybrid - long story short, now that I have "road bike posture" I find that the frame I bought feels too small. If I had it to do over again I'd buy one with more distance from seat to handlebars, so I could ride more horizontally. So this is just something to think about - spending some time on a road bike (more than just a circle around the parking lot) before buying one.

[SadieKate]

I agree, fit and sizing are very important, honestly she is not much of a gear *****.(non gender specific term mind you dont be offended) she would not know shimano from SRAM and is just learning how to use her gears on her MTB. That being said i agree 105 is a good starting point.

While she may not be as much of a gear whatever at this time, she could be. It is just ignorance at this point. A lot of us with small hands don't like Shimano hoods. We like Campy. She needs to go ride a few bikes equipped both ways before she chooses, even if the bike isn't in her size. She needs to think about the components separately from the frame. This is an awfully expensive present to buy that can cause a lot of pain and unhappiness if it doesn't fit, both the frame and the hoods.

I know a bunch of people who have ridden the short distance tri's on mtbikes with slicks. They knew they weren't going to be fast but they wanted to try a tri. And she won't be the only one out there on a mtbike at the short distances.

BTW, where in NorCal are you? That's a rather generic description of location to ask about shopping. We might be able to help more if you narrow it down a bit.

[steelynorm]

I live in the Sacramento area, but travel around the valley and San jose quite frequently for work. So driving to a shop a hundred miles away from Sac is not a huge issue hence the generalization of Nor Cal.

I do not think that i am going to buy new right now... I am leaning toward a used bike or just getting her some slicks, a tune up, mp3 and jewelry.

Where in SAc Area, Davis, East Bay can i look at a good selection of used bikes?

Or do i just have to let my fingers do the walking?


FYI, to all the beautiful women who have helped me thank you very much and have a wonderful xmas.


THANK YOU VERY MUCH