Forum menu
I'm trying to decide which bike to get my wife and can't decide between either:
1. Marin Juniper Trail - £850
2. Cube ACCESS WLS PRO - £800
Both seem to have similar specs and come in 15".
Anyone got these or have recommendations for alternatives. My misses doesn't do too much offroading but I want something that's ok as she's riding the South Downs in the summer for charity.
Another one to consider might be the Specialized Myka series.
My fiancee liked the extra stand over height due to frame design, it gives her much more confidence.
Which is her preferred colour?
Seriously.
Unless she's test ridden any?
She needs to test ride them. Also needs a decent saddle plus padded shorts.
the new felt and orange ones look good?
http://www.orangebikes.co.uk/bikes/2010/diva/
http://www.feltbicycles.com/United-Kingdom/2010-Product-Catalog/Mountain/QW-Series.aspx
dont know the price, but they look pretty!
The ex had a Scott quite light compared to some others, this is listed at 27lb, Women don't tend to like heavy bikes!
It's got a Tora up front too which is better than the forks on the two bikes you mentioned.
[url] http://www.evanscycles.com/products/scott/contessa-10-2009-mountain-bike-ec016272 [/url]
Give £850 to charity?
My other half has got a 2009 Spesh Myka Sport & is well pleased with it.
I've ridden it a couple of times here & there and it seems pretty nice. I must have, erm womanly geometry as it seemed to fit quite well!
Get her to try a few failing that get the one she likes the colour of 🙂
Got a marin for my better half she loves it to bits. Its pink.
The cheapest.
She'll only ride it a dozen times before she'll decide its all too hard and go and watch the telly soaps.
After much whingeing from me (she had initially planned on getting something 'nice and cheap' from Halfords), my wife got a Cannondale f5 last summer (Evans were doing pretty good reductions on tham at the time) - she loves it to bits, and has even started to upgrade bits here and there.
I blink and so many replies
She likes her old Marin - hence it was on the list.
The challenge was that I was thinking of this as a surprise birthday present - though she does really need to try it!
Hide it under the bed, that's what I did!
She never spotted it!
Drag her out to get some spare tubes then get to the bike shopand they have a couple of bikes for her to test 🙂
I second the don't spend too much as more likely than not she won't appreciate the difference between a £400 and a £800 bike, especially if she won't be doing any proper offroading.
I bought a 2nd hand Spesh Myka Pro in a 15" off here and spent a bit making it lighter and nicer. It has cost around £500 to date and now weighs just under 25lbs with pedals. Got some nice Reba's (again 2nd hand off here) new light tyres, new FSA chainset (OnOne sale) and put on some of my old spare wheels.
The result is a very nice little bike which only ever moves when i shift it around in the garage or my 11yr old nephew comes up to stay. She never touches it (may change in the summer) so i'd get her a decent entry level one which can be upgraded in the future should she show an interest in cycling.
Having said that, i've quite enjoyed tinkering with the bike and getting it light without spending a fortune.
What bike for your wife? I don't know, send a pic and we'll work out what a fair swap is. 😉
My SO buys her own bikes, and would let me know in no uncertain terms quite how patronised she felt if I presumed to buy a bike for "the missus". Actually, she's told several unwitting bike shop employees/ owners quite how patronising they are when they've tried the "would you like this shit pink flowery bike" approach.
Lol @ aP.
Myka here
Lol @ ap +1
Too right and good for her!
Lol @ aP.
I agree! I have had to have a bit of a giggle to myself when leaving a couple of bike shops who have been rather patronising, either presuming I don't know what I am looking for or that I was just looking to buy clothing/ shoes for going to a "spin class" 😆
Oh and I think the Myka's are great bikes for the money...
Mrs IdleJon says:
Have a look at the Cannondale f5.
I bought one last year on the c2w scheme and have ridden it a handful of times, even been on some easy off road.
I like the colour!!!Plus it's not too expensive so you will even have some money left over to buy her some lovely co-ordinating kit to go with it!
I've done some time in a bike shop too ..
guaranteed >80% of the females that came in; colour was one of the top 2 criteria.
and with that the preference was 50/50 split on the pink/stealth
If you don't know which your missus would prefer then you're only half a husband.
The other is price.
Otherwise as long as it works better than a typical Bike Shaped Object they're not fussed.
But then there was always the odd rare, female bike geek.
Buy her a more expensive one than yours, that way she'll be fine when you buy your next one.
Or if you think she'll never ride it again, buy one that has the forks you want or... you get the idea.
There's a 14" Inbred in green on the Classifieds.
Another LOL at aP 8)
At the risk of repeating myself, go the second-hand route and get a reasonably lightweight frame and half-decent forks. Us girlies don't want a 30lb monster to ride. Try and get some light-ish wheels too.
And you wonder why girlies don't want to ride bikes 🙄
C_G
(bike tart)
Edit: you will find most girlies are happy for other girlies to try out their bikes for size. Always worth asking.
I've got a medium womens FSR (full suspension) frame and fork that I haven't got round to putting on the classifieds yet.
Let me know if you're interested.
smurf
tempted with the 2nd hand route - though given I am lining up to replace my bike this year I thought the new route would be good.
Not convinced she wants something pink and fluffy. got her a road bike last year and she went for a black / white mens one. So something neutral is ok.
Now off to look at Cannondales....