One for the ladies on here (sorry again)

I have a question for the girls on here. The SO want to come and ride with
me. So far I don't have any problem with that (I see it as social time with
her rather than proper bike ride/training). However I have a bit more
problem with here bike.
It's a real piece of junk and I can understand she has trouble with it.
So i was thinking of building something else for her. I would indeed like to
keep the cost low (after all it's only being 4 months and I am due to live
the country soon) and will use spares from the 'in case' box and the STW
classified.

I was wondering about going SS as it is very unlikely we will ride something
that needs more than a 32/18. But I was wondering if it's really for her.
Save Sacha and Mrs Hopkins I don't know any female SSer.
Do you think it will be a good idea or not?

I shall point she is quite the beginner too so not sure she'll get hook on proper biking too.

Thanks for your help

If you don't really like her build her an SS – she'll soon get the message…

I would put gears on it myself. You can never underestimate how easy non-cyclists expect things to be when they first start riding.

i'd put gears on…

I think that you will find quite a lot of ladies on here ride SS including myself.
Putting her on SS on her first ride with you may not be a good idea and she may hate it.
If it a social ride you want to take her on why don't you lend her your geared bike and you ride the SS.

london_lady
My geared bike is only a couple of KG lighter then here pièce of crap.

Plus when we rode together she had trouble with the gears. SS would help to keep the cost down indeed.

Maybe going 1×9…

I ride ss (well i did until I got pregnant) and I love it! That being said I had well and truely got the riding bug already. But I did enjoy it more than riding a geared bike for a good few months (although being fit and light helped!)

Main pros for ss I reckon would be:

Its cheaper so you should be able to buy her a cheaper and lighter bike for the same cost.

Its simple, so less faff and fewer things to break or get annoyed with!

Less likely to get in a muddle with gears and stuff if its all a bit new.

Attacking techy bits might really boost her confidence and improve her riding

Main cons:

Could get frustrated with not getting up hills…

Rather than attacking things in the ss gear (where you could perhaps spin over it in a lighter gear) she might chicken out more

Not sure if that helps, but those are things that spring to mind. I found riding ss massively improved my riding, teaching me to attack stuff and generally be a bit more aggressive. Also taught me to maintain more of a flow and stay off the brakes a bit more. But it is a bit of risk if she isn't into riding already… perhaps a 1×9 set up might be a good compromise?

Whatever you do though, I'd definitely get the bike as light as possible. For us 'weaker' riders, weight can make a massive difference. If at all possible get a nice light wheelset (shouldn't need to be that strong) and a light fork too (again, doesn't have to be the best – just light enough that she can loft it over roots and rocks). These make the biggest difference imo.

I definitely think its worth spending a bit of money on making the bike as good and light as possible within budget, as sometimes the effort of dragging a heavy bike up a hill is all that stands between someone loving and hating riding! (I speak from experience!)

Plus, if you get it all secondhand you'll probably be able to get your moneyback in a few months time if it doesn't work out. Well worth trying im my opinion.

(I feel so strongly about giving her a chance in fact, I'm tempted to lend you a decent pair of forks for a few months!)

Anyway, I hope that helps!

I'd definitely get the bike as light as possible. For us 'weaker' riders, weight can make a massive difference.

surely this is only psychological ? Unless you have to carry it the weight of the bike is almost negligable compared to the weight of the person…

Not when the rider is very light simon.
Mountain Monkey thanks for your post. And even more thanks for your offer, but I am in France so it might get tricky.
All the pros is what I had in mind.

MrsDummy's mountainbike (such as it is) is 1×9. She has never got her head around two mechs, it just upsets her. She ended up with a shimano trigger, but a thumbie or gripshift would have been preferable. I know they're rubbish, but she can't/won't learn how to operate trigger shifters and it's always a stress.

No probs.

If she's reasonably cycle fit / or you're planning on riding on relatively flat stuff I reckon the ss is worth a shot.

Where abouts in France are you? My father in law lives in Normandy…

I took my wife on a SS to Swinley and she liked it a lot. Uphills were a struggle but the lack of maintenance outweighs it. Go for it!

Moutain monkey I think I live as far as possible to your dad 😉
Around Cannes/Nice.

I can see an ss only working if she is riding totally flat stuff. The moment any hills are involved that imo. it's going to put her off.

MountainMonkey is correct weight does matter.
You need to ask yourself some questions too : Is she fit? Has she got the type of personality to give mtbing a go? Also is she sporty?

I suppose any bike would be better than the one you describe she already owns. You could always build the ss up and if it really causes a problem ( which I believe it will), try and stick some gears on.

How fit is she? If she's likely to struggle in any way (and don't forget because women are less powerful than men, SS is typically harder comparitively) then I'd avoid as you're not trying to put her off…

Even 1×9 or a very cheap but functional setup would be better I reckon for a beginner.

How fit is she?

Double entendre 😉
Well she is trying to go the the gym/swimming pool as much as she can (during her lunch break) and can manage probably around several time a week.
A forthnight ago we left mine at the same time. I went for a bike ride and she went for a 40 minute run.
She doesn't like to spinlegs too that is why I though about SS.
I'll see how it goes to get it done SS and then try to get some gears on if she doesn't like it.

If you want her to get hooked on biking then making the biking easy for her will make her enjoy biking more. So I would go for gears. She doesn't sound that experienced and so throwing her in at the deep end doing proper mountain biking and on one gear may be too much for her.

Perhaps upgrading her current bike or buying a second hand geared bike may be more of an option and as you say you really only want to spend a little on it.

Perhaps upgrading her current bike

That is out of order as I would class it as a halfraud special 18 kg Lump of steel.
I was indeed going to buy 2nd hand. It's more because I don't stand to see someone I know with a shity bike more than because she's my "GF".

I'm not surprised – I know where I'd choose to live given the choice between the two! Nevermind, thought it was just worth checking.

I do agree with Bunnyhop in terms of the questions to ask, but also think that if you're reasonably fit it is surprisingly what you can get up if your attitude is right (I used to ride mine at Whites Level and enjoy the up much more than I did with gears). But yeah, if you're not feeling up to it, it will be hard.

Clubber is probably right about the 1×9 set up though, it certainly is a lot simpler than a standard set up… although I'm not sure about ss being comparatively harder… I certainly seemed to get on with it a lot better than some of the guys I've ridden with (who are much more powerful than me), but I am (was!) very light… Don't know…

Still, as clubber says a 1×9 could be a good solution, but I'd still be tempted to try a nice easy ratio ss set up first.

Just remember to keep that bike nice and light!

When you say that she had problems with the gears last time do you mean she had problems getting used to the gears or that the components on her bike are rubbish? If the latter it might be worth upgrading the current bike a bit. Either way I would still say put gears on her bike.

is hiring a bike or taking one for a test ride an option? if she likes it after that then build one together? then she will be able to be part of the trade off decisions

Unless she's already "bike fit" avoid SS. My wife hugs the granny ring a lot… She's ridden for quite a while now and technically is quite good, but her riding is so sporadic that the fitness and strength to stay on top of the middle ring simply isn't there…

Well i'll try SS and then maybe 1×9.
In terms of upgrading her bike as i said not an option as it's basically something like an apollo (here so it will be a waste of money.

Then I don't want to ask her too much because 5 day before Xmas it's going to be 6 month so I could try to surprise her.
But I will gear up the SS and see if she wants to try it.