EPO bike toughie...

daddy0

So I'm going to get her indoors a bike for Xmas. And I'm a bit stuck.

I know she'd really like a pretty one with a basket, such as the Dawes Duchess:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dawes/duchess-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035297
I looked at one in the LBS today. Its not too bad, not *too* heavy or expensive, decentish quality...

However, she also says she wants to "get into cycling" and to go for longer rides on weekends in order to get fit and maybe even commute one day (12 miles each way).

So I'm guessing that the Dutchess and its kind are going to hinder her from really "getting into it"? But if I get her something that she doesn't like the look of I risk her never wanting to ride it. Do I get her the pretty bike or insist on a lighter road bike/hybrid with lots of gears and decent brakes that wont hold her back? Shes just coming to the end of her maternity leave so we are a bit strapped at the moment and would rather avoid the N+1 scenario...

What to do?! What do you ladies think? Any guys been in this situation?

rjsterry

Second hand/reconditioned?

veronese68

I was buying my wife a cheap station hack. I found an old mixte framed Raleigh on Ebay and paid a mere £36 for it. Picked it up to find it had never been ridden! I told her it would be much lighter than a dutch bike and I would change the drop bars to flat bars for her. She hated it, said that even with flat bars it would be no good as the frame tubes were still too high if she was wearing a dress.
Si, i gave it to a friends daughter and bought her a really heavy old bike that she liked the look of. She's more than happy with it.
Moral is buy what she thinks she wants now, then she'll be happy. Good quality used makes sense. Then if she does enjoy it sell her the benefits of something lighter and upgrade. Having bought used you shouldn't lose anything.

herb71

My mother (in her 60s) bought a Pendleton Dalby from Halfords. I have not looked in depth at it, but they seem to review well. The Dalby is more hybrid then classic step through, but my mum has stuck a wicker basket on the front to pretty it up.

Might be worth a look, and they do a more classic model as well. My mum seems to get on with the gears ok, I thought she might struggle as her last bike was a Sturmey Archer 3 speed. Until the weather changed she was doing rides of up to 30 miles. Not too shabby for a pensioner, but Portsdown hill proved a bit much.

CiB

We - she - found one of those £1000 Evans vouchers in the margarine and ended up buying this:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-two-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035868

It's well built, looks nice, has proper gears and good brakes that suit a girls hands but most of all she really likes it so uses it instead of having to be coerced into riding it, and that's ultimately what matters. It's only 4 miles to where she works and we haven't done any longer rides yet so I couldn't say what 12 miles would be like. Nice bike though. I like it.

MrSweary

My wife has a buttermilk Metropole with white walls - the prettiest bike I've ever seen. Wherever we go it gets admiring comments and glances.

However, it isn't much use for anything other than summer pootling due to the 3 speed Sturmey Archer. We're thinking about getting her a second hand hybrid for some longer days out

daddy0

rjsterry wrote:

Second hand/reconditioned?

I've been looking on and off. It seems most girls bikes are never ridden, so when they're sold second hand they're still a bit pricey. Also, I bought a second hand bike this year which I ended up spending the difference of a new bike on to get it working OK. But also also, I think a nice *shiny* new bike, whatever sort it is, will make her want to ride it more. Shes a girl and therefore a bit fickle like that.

Veronese68 wrote:

She hated it, said that even with flat bars it would be no good as the frame tubes were still too high if she was wearing a dress.

Ah see, you made the mistake of letting her see it before you'd prettified it. You've got to attach the basket before she sees it, or she'll forever remember what it was like before-basket.

Herb71 wrote:

My mother (in her 60s) bought a Pendleton Dalby from Halfords.

Looks more like a real bike. Disguising it as a proper girls bike with a wicker basket is cunning sir. Cheers for the idea.

CiB wrote:

We - she - found one of those £1000 Evans vouchers in the margarine and ended up buying this:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-two-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035868

That looks more like what I think she should get, proper gears and pretty light. I think with a basket on the front we might have a winner.

MrSweary wrote:

My wife has a buttermilk Metropole with white walls - the prettiest bike I've ever seen. Wherever we go it gets admiring comments and glances.

It is very pretty, the EPO would love one of those!

MrSweary wrote:

However, it isn't much use for anything other than summer pootling due to the 3 speed Sturmey Archer. We're thinking about getting her a second hand hybrid for some longer days out

Yeah, this is the issue that I want to avoid... ;-)

Thanks for all your help guys. Anyone else want to add their 2p?

MrSweary

Daddy0 wrote:

Yeah, this is the issue that I want to avoid... ;-)

Yeah, total vanity purchase although it has done a few longer rides albeit very very slowly including quite a bit of towpath style stuff which it handles ok.

Wife is still totally in love with it though... and now it is covered with plastic flowers left over from the bike parade on Southbank last year. The only accessory that has come off is the basket - too much wind resistance!

Buy her the pretty one and hope she likes it enough to want to get a more practical bike next Xmas!

il_principe

I bought my missus a Specialized ladies hybrid. At the time I tried and tried to convince her that drops etc were the way to go. Anyway, she has now admitted that actually a proper road bike would have been preferable...

Double edged sword though.

rick_chasey

http://uk.batavus.com/collection/City+b ... Dutch.aspx

rick_chasey

http://www.amsterdammers.co.uk/ladies.htm

EKE_38BPM

Mrs EKE had a BSO MTB that she rode to work on occasionally and then got a BSO hybrid through work. We've done a few rides together with her riding the hybrid, the longest being a ride back to London from Brighton and she now sees the point of a higher quality, lighter bike and drop handle bars.
I don't think she would want drops for riding to work on or a basket on her bike for longer rides, so she now wants a weekend bike and a daily commuter.

Oh dear, EPO n+1

OP, buy your EPO two bikes.

Blandiblub

I'm usually pretty good with the acronyms but someone help me out with EPO please?!

EKE_38BPM

Blandiblub wrote:

I'm usually pretty good with the acronyms but someone help me out with EPO please?!

European Patent Office
or
Erythropoietin
or
English Poker Open
or
Entertainment Prevention Officer
or
Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra
or
Evening Primrose Oil
or
European Payment Order

Take your pick.

rubertoe

Entertainment Prevention Officer

Kieran_Burns

Blandiblub wrote:

I'm usually pretty good with the acronyms but someone help me out with EPO please?!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=E.P.O.

Enjoyment Prevention Officer. Usually used to describe a woman that guilts, nags or otherwise prevents her boyfriend/husband from having a good time with his friends.

daddy0

Rick Chasey wrote:

http://www.amsterdammers.co.uk/ladies.htm

If I show her this website then its all over...

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Oh dear, EPO n+1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaLxFIVX1s

Blandiblub wrote:

I'm usually pretty good with the acronyms but someone help me out with EPO please?!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=E.P.O.

EKE_38BPM

You've all killed my game. Edit your posts to get rid of the answer!

Kieran_Burns

I swear it's my hidden super power - the ability to JUST get the answer in before someone else.

Kieran_Burns

bugger.

Or not!

rubertoe

Winning.

Kieran_Burns

rubertoe wrote:

Winning.

Nope Eke cheated.

veronese68

Entertainment rather than enjoyment in the context of EPO. Just seems more English.

wgwarburton

Hi,
How about a classic 531-framed mixte? Along these lines:

http://recyclebikes.co.uk/refurbished-b ... n-lady-531

You could add a basket, if that would make it "prettier".

You might want to swap in a multi-speed hub gear (7 or 8 speed, maybe?), or even go the whole hog and put on fancy modern shifters, though that seems excessive to me. With a decent lightweight steel frame it'll look good and ride well, if she does get into cycling you could put drops on it, provided you can mount a hub-control somewhere...

Cheers,
W.

daddy0

WGWarburton wrote:

Hi,
How about a classic 531-framed mixte? Along these lines:

http://recyclebikes.co.uk/refurbished-b ... n-lady-531

You could add a basket, if that would make it "prettier".

You might want to swap in a multi-speed hub gear (7 or 8 speed, maybe?), or even go the whole hog and put on fancy modern shifters, though that seems excessive to me. With a decent lightweight steel frame it'll look good and ride well, if she does get into cycling you could put drops on it, provided you can mount a hub-control somewhere...

Cheers,
W.

Thats awesome. Yeah I think she'd like this, good compromise between retro and functional. I'd leave the gears alone.

Only issue is the size. Shes not too small, about 5'6", but her legs aren't very long, not sure of measurements. So I'd be concerned that a 21" frame might be too big? Yorkshire is a bit too far to go, we're in Saaaaaf London you see. Still its given me something to think about. Cheers!

Blandiblub

Ha ha! Thanks to the more helpful posters..!! Know about urban dictionary but assumed it was one for just on here, rather than a well known acronym.

Cheers! Must try that one out...

itboffin

Rick Chasey wrote:

http://uk.batavus.com/collection/City+bikes/Old+Dutch/Old+Dutch.aspx

I think a bit of sick just came up :?

daddy0

CiB wrote:

We - she - found one of those £1000 Evans vouchers in the margarine and ended up buying this:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-two-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035868

It's well built, looks nice, has proper gears and good brakes that suit a girls hands but most of all she really likes it so uses it instead of having to be coerced into riding it, and that's ultimately what matters. It's only 4 miles to where she works and we haven't done any longer rides yet so I couldn't say what 12 miles would be like. Nice bike though. I like it.

I ordered one of these today. Showed EPO a picture and she said it was pretty. It's the first proper bike that she said that about so I pulled the trigger! Cheers CiB!

Next problem - do I put a basket on it before I give it to her? ;-)

EKE_38BPM

Daddy0 wrote:

CiB wrote:

We - she - found one of those £1000 Evans vouchers in the margarine and ended up buying this:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/neon-two-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-ec035868

It's well built, looks nice, has proper gears and good brakes that suit a girls hands but most of all she really likes it so uses it instead of having to be coerced into riding it, and that's ultimately what matters. It's only 4 miles to where she works and we haven't done any longer rides yet so I couldn't say what 12 miles would be like. Nice bike though. I like it.

I ordered one of these today. Showed EPO a picture and she said it was pretty. It's the first proper bike that she said that about so I pulled the trigger! Cheers CiB!

Next problem - do I put a basket on it before I give it to her? ;-)

Foreplay is strange in your house.

daddy0

EKE_38BPM wrote:

Foreplay is strange in your house.

We had our first child this year, things got weird...

mroli

I got the wife one of these and she loved riding it.

http://www.boutiquecycles.com/bikes/comments/orange_hammerhead/exotic/

I then got her one of these:

http://www.condorcycles.com/Audax-Commute-Touring/9457-Condor-Fratello-2011/flypage.tpl.html and I have to fight for weekend time to ride MY bike as she loves it so much. First time she went out riding it she came back with a massive smile and said "it feels like flying"....