My wife is getting into cycling, but has gone more towards road riding, so her Orange Gringo hardtail isn’t really ideal. She has back problems so doesn’t want drop bars – what is out there for women around 5’4″ that is fast, with decent kit and not too expensive (under £800). Or what should I look for secondhand?

My mum’s got a Specialized Vita, seems pretty good. It is fairly lightweight and fast. I think you could get the Vita Elite for about £600.

Take a look at the boardman Hybrids, before getting a ‘proper’ road bike I road one of these for a few years (even did London-Paris on it), was a great bike and couldn’t fault it.

My mate has a giant rapid i would prefer to ride his than my drop bar road bike is very comfortable to ride so i would recommend it.