I'm elated to say Mrs Shake has said she'd like a mountain bike (she likes knitting, crochet, vegan food, gardening, music...fairly risk-less past times).
Budget about £200-250; so second hand.
So I've just upgraded my wheels so have a set of disc wheels. I was thinking to build from there. But, some bikes are going for cheap as a a whole so I'm not sure. Found a frame on here I like, but it's more of a hardcore hardtail frame. But then again I think she'd like the low standover.
So many good parts on here go for a song due to shiny shiny syndrome that I think a pretty good 1st mtb could be built for the budget. That being said, I've helped friends get hold of really good, slightly older bikes for about £250ish (like an upgraded Commencal XC race ht).
What to do?
Depends what your spares box is like. I built the mrs a bike pretty much out of parts I already had. If you need to buy too many parts then the costs wil spiral. Also don't build her a bike that you want (Single speed, 29er, hardcore, whatever) build something for her. Possibly comfortable saddle, good brakes, forgiving suspension, etc.
I tend to sell a lot of my spares, but yes your right. I don't want to get her a bowling ball with my name engraved on it (Simpsons)!
What I think would suit is a comfy, lightweight XC setup with a good fork. I figure a little cash can be saved on getting slightly older derailleurs (assuming good condition), as kit depreciates so quickly on here.
She still isn't fully comfortable with lots of seatpost out/high toptubes as it makes her feel vulnerable to injury so I figured the lower TT frame should fix that, but I also don't want to build her a tank!
I knocked up a very cheap hack bike for mrs xiphon to use while I was gathering parts for her 'proper' bike (Patriot).
Found some absolute bargains, including the Patriot frame (plus shock!) for £120 posted, forks for £30, and Merlin had a deal on a full Deore disc groupset (excluding hubs) for £180.
I think it cost about £400-500 for everything (including paint job) to create this beauty ->
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/5287747/
I can realistically see her riding it for 10yrs, as it fits/rides so well.
Second not building her a bike you want. I built my GF a bike but in the back of my head I thought she wouldn't ride it so I made sure I would.
What she needed/wanted was a light, small framed XC bike that she could pootle about on. What she got was a little hardnut hardtail frame with big brakes and wide bars that I can play in the woods on. She has ridden it once, I have ridden it loads.
Xiphon-that bike's loud and proud. Cracking bargains! I like the idea of getting a laster rather than a learner bike for her hence feeling more pro build than complete.
Lunge-lol. Does she have a XC bike now?
I might build a bike on my budget and just be economical about how much has gone into it. I can't see her 'getting' why it needs to be more like £300-400. But then again maybe it doesn't. I've noticed women's frames to be pretty rare on here.
Herman Shake
Loud is nothing compared to it's bigger brother...
http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/6068130/
My wife is selling her womens specific full suss stumpjumper in medium for £425 if you are interested.
whatever you do go as light as you can, my missus biggest gripe was that her old bike was too heavy
went for an 09 commencal normal which was excellent as it can be had in small size and was nice n light
recently got her som floats for it off classifieds for 75 quid
I bought a Merlin Malt frame for a bargain price in a sale (I think it was £60) and built it with spare parts. It's significantly lighter than my bikes and she seems to like it although as with others, it's probably been to the shops with me more than she's ridden it.