I’m looking to help get my Girlfriend her first bike since she was about 12 and I’m not sure what sort of thing to get. Most of the time she’d use it for commuting or moving about the city, but she’s also keen to do a couple of easy bikepacking trips once shes got up a bit of confidence on two wheels again.

I’m either thinking a flatbar road bike/hybrid like the Vitus Mach 3, something with slightly chunkier wheels, but maybe a bit heavier like the Kona Dew or a cheap hardtail and maybe put slicks on it for city riding.

Anyone got any thoughts on what might be best??? Ideally looking for something relatively cheap <£700ish

I got a Genesis CDF frame for Mrs FH.
Put flat bars,a carbon fork,lightish wheels(had them already)and a set of WTB Riddlers on it.
She really likes it and has used it a lot over the last year.

Mrs_oab liked the moved from heavier FS to a second hand Giant / Liv Invite CX with a flat bar conversion.
It is rocking 38mm tyres, mudguards (which she laughed at at first, then hit the first puddle and smiled), bar bag etc.
It feels light and fast.
She was disappointed how slow her Liv Lust FS felt yesterday after a couple of months off a mountain bike.
Be honest – how much meaty bikepacking will she be doing? In which case lighter, faster rolling FTW with the occasional ‘slow down it is muddy’ through the year.

Fundamentally as well, it fits really really well and she likes the colours.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2jaZeML]Mudguard Fitting[/url] by Matt Robinson, on Flickr

Fair swap.

Photos?

Step one. Ask her what she wants.

Step two. Buy that.

Step three. Deal with a possible bike packing if it rises by either picking a route to suit the bike or buying another bike.

Step four. Remind yourself its a bike for what she wants to do not a bike for her to do what you want to do.

Edit. Thats come across a bit arsey, sorry. But genuinely especially if she is apprehensive just get her an easy to ride bike rather than make something fit what she wants it for. Step throughs are good around town ( for everyone not just the ladies) just pick up a cheap one and see how it pans out.

Fair swap.

only if the bike girlfriend is in good nic

How about one of the Boardman HYB models?

^^^^ Or the new Boardman URB 8.6 (3-speed Nexus) or URB 8.8 (7-speed Nexus and Gates drivetrain).

Surprisingly, the lowest model Boardman hybrid with a carbon fork seems to be the HYB 8.8, which partially explains why it’s the lightest at ~10.4Kg.

I’m a bit purplexed at why a lot of the Boardman hybrids not come with gastly 1-piece stem/bars, preventing some easy tweaking of the bike setup and meaning two items need to be bought to change things.

Probably quite leftfield, but I bought my other half a Lappiere edge am 827+ i. The sale. I was a little concerned about how easy it would be to pedal, but christ it’s nippy as, even on road/fireroads. Freewheeling side by side, she just leaves me for dead which considering she’s half my weight is impressive. Probably not the best for commuting, but for weekend rides and a bit of backpacking it’s great. Onlything we change was sticking a womans fabric scoop on it, otherwise all good.

A few years ago we got my wife a Specialised women’s hybrid with a suspension fork. She wanted the suspension to ease sore wrists from her old bike and the women’s frame was the best fitting. Specialized no longer seem to do the women’s frames so would no longer make that sale.
Definitely try if you can and try at least one female specific frame for size. Women usually have longer legs and shorter torso / arms in proportion to height so may (but not always) need a bike to suit this difference and it means my wife went from reluctant to happy cyclist.
I don’t know who makes women’s frames now save for Liv which is the ladies fit brand for Giant.
Don’t forget the saddle either. There is a good article somewhere on here by Hannah about getting that right (for everyone).
As above also the one that is liked. Some people love the racy look of a road bike, some the hardcore trail bike and some love a Pashley. All good bikes, just different.

What MOAB said:

Be honest – how much meaty bikepacking will she be doing? In which case lighter, faster rolling FTW with the occasional ‘slow down it is muddy’ through the year.

…with the added factor that if she finds it a bit of a slog riding an MTB around town the thought of riding one on a multiday trip packed with gear will really not appeal.

Specialized no longer seem to do the women’s frames

Specialized don’t do “gender specific” any more but their frames go down very small.

Pinnacle Lithium is worth a look, too. I got one for my wife and it’s nice and light, good fun to ride on and off road. With the right tyres it’ll do anything you’d want to do on a rigid mountain bike.

Mrs Rock was the lucky recipient of a Cannondale Treadwell at Chrimbo. I’ve put some slightly treaded tyres on it but THE HANDLEBARS……

Another vote for the Pinnacle Lithium, my girlfriend loves hers, quick enough on the road, fit some MTB tyres and it’s a great bike for light off road duties.
Nice frame with rack and mudguard mounting points.
She always mentions how light and nimble it feels compared to her Spectral.

Specialized don’t do “gender specific” any more but their frames go down very small.

I do think that this will be to Specialized loss. My wife has a large women’s fit frame. Most medium men’s frames were too long and needed the seatpost at the top limit and the handlebars raising 10 cm at least. Dependant on body dimensions the shorter frame with higher stack can be needed to get a good cycling position. Getting this right can only help get more women cycling as they are often under represented in cycling. The attitude of the bike shop of ‘a tall woman is better on a men’s frame’ was totally wrong for her and they were quite patronising when she asked if she could try that women’s fit bike in the corner which turned out to be perfect for her. Spec was more or less the same as the men’s version and it wasn’t pink.
This is something that bike shops and manufacturer’s still seem to be behind on and am sorry to find that Specialized have stopped women’s sizing and hope that Liv / Giant and others keep making bikes with different dimensions rather than limited sizing based on ‘standard’ men.
In contrast I am of the opposite body type with short legs and long body. Maybe our kids will end up ‘standard’ size.

Edit: all the bikes people have examples of above look great. Shows the range of types and fits for different people.

I do think that this will be to Specialized loss.

Specialized reckon there’s just as much difference between different men as there are in men and women and say the fit can be customized by bar width, stem length, and saddles.

As lightweight and comfortable as you can afford.

Specialized reckon there’s just as much difference between different men as there are in men and women

They do and even if you look at their frames when they were gender specific (e.g. Mrs. Slow’s 2018 Diverge) the men’s and women’s geometries for a given size were identical.

Indeed I too have a “nominally ladies” Diverge as it I got a cheap deal. The only difference between it and a mens was the saddle which got swapped anyway. Oh and the paint job, but it’s not pink so all OK.

I didn’t think bikes are gender specific, other than saddles, maybe.

Unless you a wanting a step-through frame with a wicker basket on the front.

mmm… Cannondale Treadwell, what’s that…? ARGHHH MY EYES!!!!!!!

@rockhopper70 … please tell me you got one in a mad colour-scheme…?

@voodoo-rich….bit cheeky 😉

We didn’t get the EQ version with the rack and the colour scheme isn’t “that” lairy, boring old purple to pink fade. However, Mrs Rock absolutely, and I mean it absolutely loves it. Horses for courses isn’t it, she doesn’t want to go schralping, she has no desire to go “off-road” more than canal tow-paths, so this completely ticked the boxes.

Those handlebars though…..

Tredz have one described as “Rainbow Trout”… just sayin’ 😉

But I 100% agree with the principle of buying the bike they want to ride, not the bike you think they should have. Otherwise it’ll just gather dust.

I’m selling my wife’s never used. Paylmilnes cx bike 50 frame. Vbrakes, flat bars. 1×10 shimano, one of them womens saddles. Very light. Will take 35mm tyres. Manchester

further to yesterday’s post, I was wrong, wife has a Pinnacle Chromium. It’s even got cage mounts on the forks to support your bikepacking ambitions

https://www.cyclinguk.org/cycle/bike-test-pinnacle-chromium-2-mixte-%C2%A3700

Awesome, thanks for all the advice. I think most of you are probably right that I should get something she’ll find nippy about town before getting too caught up in her bikepacking plans, Pinnacle lithium/chomium look promising

@mattknight94 – does it have to be new? My wife is selling her Boardman women Hybrid (size M), based in W Yorks if you’re interested.

Thanks, I’m down in the South west, so don’t think I could make it up to York