Author Topic: WANTED: Getting my wife her first touring bike!  (Read 6698 times)

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Offline tdelhagen

WANTED: Getting my wife her first touring bike!
« on: May 30, 2012, 03:06:46 pm »
Hello -

My wife is new to touring and we're planning a trip from San Fran to LA this summer.  She's 5'5'' and looking for a bike! Anyone have one out there for a decent price? 

cycle on,
Taylor
« Last Edit: May 30, 2012, 03:08:24 pm by tdelhagen »

Offline dkoloko

Re: WANTED: Getting my wife her first touring bike!
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2012, 09:47:28 am »
You have a wanted listing in Classifieds; I think that is the place.

Offline RangerTom

Re: WANTED: Getting my wife her first touring bike!
« Reply #2 on: June 01, 2012, 12:42:56 am »
Taylor,
A couple of years back, we picked up a new "first" touring bike for my wife. It was a bit of a challenge at 5'3" finding a small frame bike that fit her well, did'nt have a major front wheel/toe overlap problem etc.  She ended up with  a Jamis Aurora that she is really happy with and seemed to be a very good value.

The bike is set up with triple cranks with nice low gearing, has braze-ons for rear rack and front fork low-rider racks, two bottle cage setups, accomodates fenders (provided) and wide tires (came with Vittoria Touring tires). She's been just delighted with it, all the components work real well for her and the stock saddle even was a perfect "ride-it-many-hours" fit right off the bat.

We can't give a report on it for loading touring yet, matter of fact while typing this she jabbed me and said "tell them to try a tandem! (which we have been spending most of our time on) ,   however it seems I had recently seen a thread here somewhere in which someone had mentioned finishing their coast-to-coast trip on their Aurora with no problem.

The bike was somewhere around $1100 as we recall. Not the lightest rig out there but the fit, wide gearing, and smooth component operation with a frame made for touring really sold her.

Good luck with your search, and may the two of you have many happy touring miles and adventures in your future....

Tom,  (with regards from tandem mate Diane as well)

Offline bogiesan

Re: WANTED: Getting my wife her first touring bike!
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2012, 08:59:23 am »
What is your experience compared to hers? Are you touring together or are you going to just leave her in the dust to fend for herself or will you resent her like an anchor?

Do not rule out a tandem if you want to experience touring together.

And I always recommend people shopping for a touring platform look very seriously at a recumbent. Comfort is far more important to me than anything else.
I play go. I use Macintosh. Of course I ride a recumbent