Home Forums Bike Forum Stealth upgrades to the missus bike, how far to go?

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  • Stealth upgrades to the missus bike, how far to go?
  • cookeaa
    Full Member

    Debating a slew of spares bin upgrades to the missus bike, most of it comes out essentially “free” but a new fork is the main need IMO.

    Ideally, given her general use of the bike, a nice rigid fork with a chunky front tyre would make logical sense, but I know she won’t view it that way, next option therefore is something older and airsprung, first thought is a Marz MX or perhaps stretch to an older Reba?

    But is this all wasted effort?
    The main goal is to get her back out riding more with me and the kids by making it less tiring and uncomfortable. But I am perhaps approaching it from the perspective of sorting the stuff I would want to change, rather than what will work for her…

    What would you do STW? (short of a new wife)…

    treklee
    Free Member

    Ask her?

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    A motor.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Ask her?

    Dickyboy
    Full Member

    Ask her?

    oh how absolutely modern of you

    OP – half decent set of air forks with adjustable damping have done wonders for my gf 🙂

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    half decent set of air forks with adjustable damping have done wonders for my gf

    So many gags, so little time….

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Does the frame fit? My opinion is that forks and wheels make a huge difference, additionally a good range of gears helps and just cos you ruffty tuffty blokes all run 1×10, it doesn’t mean it’s right for everyone. I’ve triples on all mine.

    Use the Classifieds rather than your old tat! 😉

    groundskeeperwilly
    Free Member

    What frame is it? Straight or tapered head tube?

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    The Frame fits it’s a Carrerra women’s specific jobbie, the frame is pretty good IMO, she rode it much more before the kids, who are now getting towards family ride age, so she needs to be back on the bike too…

    Headtube is 44mm so it could take tapered forks with a new lower headset, but investing in a newer model fork would be OTT really…

    She’s getting my old crossland wheels (much lighter) and some UST tyres, the 3×8 SRAM drivetrain needs to be condemned IMO, she’s never bent her mind round front mech operation and tends to stick to the middle ring, so I am tempted to fit a shiny new 30t N/W and 11-36, 1×10 drivetrain gives her more spinney gears than previously but enough bottom end for chopping along, and recommissioning a front mech if needed wouldn’t be hard, but I take the point CG…she’s going to be getting some new Easton bars and a new stem, deore brakes already fitted a while back might get a bleed.

    I Just dunno about forks, she’s not going to be attacking trails or doing drops so some lovely light rigids would be great… In my opinion, but I simply know that she’s going to want to keep bouncey forks on for the perceived comfort, hence I’m looking at older Marz MX to keep with the 1-1/8″ headset and QR front wheel, and save a bit of weight…

    zero-cool
    Free Member

    No matter what you do, she’ll notice it and complain that you’ve messed it up. Lol

    rickon
    Free Member

    No matter what you do, she’ll notice it and complain that you’ve messed it up. Lol

    I doubt she’ll notice or even appreciate anything you do to it.

    My missus rides well enough, Enduro trails, DH uplifts, Alps trips…. Had her forks and shock Push tuned with a new Push damper in the fork, proper night and day compared to the CTD….. Didn’t notice a thing.

    New Hope stem… Didn’t notice.

    Purple stickers on her Crests, thought they were amazeballs.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    I do sometimes think that cos I actually wanted to ride a bike and having nobody to force me into riding something totally inappropriate for my needs guide me, it’s been a steep learning curve. It’s involved much research, observation, many mistakes made along the way but eventually ending up with what suits my needs.

    Have you tried involving her or suggesting she goes out on her own (or other ladies if she knows any who ride) to have a play around with chainrings and gears? It can be quite intimidating being told what to do by someone who’s been riding before they could walk. 😉

    Oh yes, there’s some Fox forks in the Classifieds – they’d be good. 🙂

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Have you tried involving her or suggesting she goes out on her own (or other ladies if she knows any who ride) to have a play around with chainrings and gears? It can be quite intimidating being told what to do by someone who’s been riding before they could walk.

    I have had limited success getting her using the full range, but any acquired understanding is lost by the next ride. honestly it’s not really an issue our rides are on the flat, she’s not interested in gnar, she just enjoys being out riding and looking at the countryside she’s managed with what is essentially 32×11-28 so 30×11-36 should be an improvement which accommodates her better…

    As for riding with other women, we have a good friend round the corner who’s quite
    enthusiastic, keeps trying to get her to ride to work with with her, organises women’s group rides on local sustrans routes (the same ones I take her on), my missus just doesn’t seem to want to join in, reckons group rides are too “serious” thinks she’ll get mown down if she goes out on the roads.

    I got her to do adult bikeability a couple of years ago, she was all keen to get back to riding and then?.. Didn’t touch the bike for several months… Thing is after about ten minutes riding she’s dead happy, planning all sorts of future riding trips. Just bloody useless at following through and I am probably not pushy enough. But now the kids are going to be wanting to get out on their bikes, she needs to join in, not just sit in front of the telly while I take them out…

    So her bike is getting a spruce up and she’s not allowed to keep making up excuses… She has agreed to this now.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    Mmmm, tricky one. Perhaps seeing how much your kids enjoy their bikes may just encourage her. Could just the fellow lady cyclist and your wife go out, just the two of them with an agreed plan to get to x point and then turn round? It’s a shame that she does enjoy the countryside but doesn’t want to see more of it and more often.

    I do think that women can be put off by worrying if a mechanical or flat tyre happens, the perceived risk of a lone woman cycling, sexist comments etc etc. Well done for encouraging her to attend bikeability though.

    It’s so easy to not do things, to make excuses and perhaps it’s a self confidence thing too. Try not to force it, be optimistic that she could change.

    The only reason I got into cycling was seeing how much fun my kids had. My adult son got into it a couple of years ago, he’s become an obsessed roadie!

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Just discussed bike rides with her, apparently we have a rare, child free weekend next week in typical fashion she’s planning way more stuff in than feasible, but wants to do a bike ride so I said we keep a whole day clear for it and just crack on and do it…

    I just discovered she’s got a gym membership that’s not been used at all for six months, while she’s also been paying every week for slimming world to weigh and belittle her or whatever they do…

    I will have time to do the wheels and tyres for next week so I will see if that makes it more enjoyable for her to ride…

    asbrooks
    Full Member

    I doubt she’ll notice or even appreciate anything you do to it.

    That’s how I manage to upgrade my bike. As long as the colour doesn’t change, I can get away with it. Although I think even she’ll notice a change from a HT to a FS 😮

    jonnytheleyther
    Free Member

    My missus was struggling riding, as eager as she was on my work bike it was uncomfy for her bum and too big and heavy.

    I let her choose a new, female frame and invested in a saddle, let her choose all the finishing kit and now shes right into it. Nothing dramatic, but good for exercise amd doing things together.

    As for suspension, she’ll need it, made a huge difference her not getting bounced around and her arms jarring on rigids. Also used quite nobbly tyres to give her confidence too.

    CHB
    Full Member

    In my experience…light bike and comfy woman specific saddle and some kind of front suspension are the main things that Mrs HB cares about.
    For the kids it’s ease of changing gears and good brakes…oh and again a light bike.

    FOG
    Full Member

    Totally fatal! There isnt anything but the frame left of my wife’s bike due to me upgrading it. My reward for this is to get a load of grief when I buy a new bike on the ‘I have had the same bike for ages so why do you need another one?’ lines.When I pointed out all the upgrades all she said was, ‘ Yes so it is the same bike’. I dont touch it now.

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    For folk that don’t ride as much as most of us do the most obvious things are weight, gear then suspension. If the bike is really heavy and a bit of pig, it’ll feel sluggish and they don’t enjoy it as much. The same with the gears, you’ve already said that the front mech doesn’t get used, but she’ll probably really appreciate a nice crisp gear change and a nice light action on the shifter.

    mattbee
    Full Member

    Just put new Hope cranks & XTR 11 speed on my wife’s bike.
    She likes the shifter action of the XTR, appreciates the smaller jumps between gears but apparently her SLX cranks looked much nicer than the Hope ones, even with all the scuffs and scrapes…
    She just likes riding, isn’t too bothered by the fiddly little details like us blokes are. I suppose as long as she’s happy riding it doesn’t really matter too much.

    JoeG
    Free Member

    So her bike is getting a spruce up and she’s not allowed to keep making up excuses… She has agreed to this now.

    zero-cool
    Free Member

    My better half notices if I do anything to her bike. That’s not a bad thing, she’s the first to let me know if something needs sorting out. But then she rides 3-4 times a week. Long gone are the days of sneakily upgrading my bike by just getting new components in the same colour

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