Entry level ladies bike

[wicksey]

Hi girls,

My partner is wanting to come out and have a ride with me very occasionally, and is very much tight with here money.

Im trying to find a decent entry level bike for a few hundred dollars that will do mainly footpath work, but maybe some fireroads too. The frame only needs to be about 14.5". (shes about 160cm.)

Suggestions would be appreciated.

cheers

 

[Techno Destructo]

I would check out Giant's range. Giant is like the Toyota of bikes. Extremely large company, extremely large production runs, many, many models of bikes and probably the best bang for the buck.

A Giant Rincon would do the trick. But really, go to a bike shop and talk to them. They'll be able to help you out best. A larger bike shop will obviously have more options to show you.

Other best-bang-for-the-buck brands are Kona, Trek, Norco, maybe GT.

Failing that... a brand with very good value (and pretty low prices) as well is CELL bikes. You won't win any style points riding one of those, but they're better than anything you can get at a department store.

 

[jdc5r]

the most important thing is taking a girl in to the bike shop and testing all those bikes.

All that x.9 x.0 x.7 mumbo jumbo doesnt really mean much to "most" girls. If she likes a particular feature of a bike it will often be unexplainable or unthought of by most males.

So yeah, dont leave it to chance take her in and let her try the bikes around her price range and see which ones she likes. Most bike shops stock more of the budget bikes anyways so it should not be hard to find bikes anywhere u go.

 

[Lizardskin]

Hi girls,

My partner is wanting to come out and have a ride with me very occasionally, and is very much tight with here money.

Im trying to find a decent entry level bike for a few hundred dollars that will do mainly footpath work, but maybe some fireroads too. The frame only needs to be about 14.5". (shes about 160cm.)

Suggestions would be appreciated.

cheers

Hey, its best to get her to look around and sit on a few bikes. Im 163cm and ride a 17inch (medium). It all depends on how long her arms/legs/torso is, not neccessarily how tall overall she is. (if that makes sense...)

I agree with Techno, most those brands would have ok cheap bikes. She might not want a 'girly' looking bike, so dont just limit the ones you look at to girlly ones.

 

[bkpr]

My girlfriend also wanted to get into riding (footpaths + fireroads etc). We (I) did extensive research online and we narrowed it down to two bikes. She was in love with one in particular, but when we tested it out it just didn't work/fit/feel right.

The guy at Goldcross Cycles (big chain) in Geelong Vic was really good and spent a good 1 1/2 hours with us to find something that fit well first, then found something that my GF was happy with the look/price of. He explained pros/cons with her as we went along.

She's been riding it for a couple months and is very happy with it. It was a giant bike, but I can't remember the model.

Bottom line - put aside a morning or afternoon to go to one of the bigger shops with more choice. Once you have a bike picked out, you can either purchase on the spot, or find a cheaper price online.

 

[fallboy]

I bought my girlfriend a Kona Lisa. $900 odd bucks. Does the job gives no trouble at all and has a spec that will last hed for years.

 

[forgetfulfungus]

Giant is a great starter...

i recently helped my sister buy her first 'mountain' bike and giant seem to have a great range for entry levels. we ended up getting her a 'comfort mountain bike' which handles fire trails and is a bit upright to sit on, not much my style but she finds it really comfy (kind of like one of those dutch style townies)
I would highly recommend giant for their range and the bang for buck

 

[tmc_2]

I bought my partner a Giant Yukon FX 08 dual suspension as her first biek was a hand me down hard tail. I have since upgraded the Giant with hydrolic discs, marzocchi mx pro eta forks, new wheel set and a shorter stem.
She loves the bike and its made her riding much better.

Best of all the bike initially only cost 900 and you can get it at the erina bike shop for under 700!

 

[holdenutes_93]

You will be pushing to find a decent non-department store bike for $200, but GT sell their Aggressor at an approximate retail price of $369 and comes with all the features such as suspension and a 21spd Shimano drive train for occasional fire trails and bike paths although I would not use this on a regular basis as a proper mountain bike. Giant also have on offer the Giant Upland SE which from memory retails at a similar price to the GT and comes with same or close to same features again. Although both bikes are classed as mountain bikes you would not want to be hitting the trails too often with these bikes as various problems will begin arising but as for bike path use both are highly recommended. Although investing $300 more on a bike will bring you to something like the Giant Boulder Disc which is a great entry level mountain, while you won't see many serious riders riding one it is still a great 'bang for your buck" bike at only $625 at most bike shops, this bike will have a 24spd Shimano drive train, mechanical disc brakes as well as adjustable suspension. Overall a great bike to begin exploring and riding out on the bike paths, mountain bike tracks, fire trails and etc. Personally in my opinion I would purchase the Giant Boulder Disc, because in this case $300 goes a long way as for $300 you would not be able to upgrade the GT Aggressor or Giant Upland SE to a similar spec list that the Giant Boulder Disc has.