Bike for my wife

nbuuifx

My wife has used her bike that she's had since she was a teenage ever since.

On a family bike ride tonight though the rear hub bearings collapsed. I'll have a look at it but she has been using it more and more now that my daughter can ride well and my son gets towed along on the trail-gater.

I've got both a road bike and a mountain bike, when we go out on family rides I always use my mountain bike (boardman comp).and lighter.

So I'm looking to see if I can find something second hand which will be suitable for my wife.

I would like to try to convince her to come out on longer rides without the kids (when we can get someone to look after them!) So would like to get something that would be suitable for a 25-50 mile trip. Her old bike was getting on and was quite heavy, so after something newer and lighter.

So really I'm after suggestions on what to go for (some suggestions of make and model would be great too!)

I want to avoid a BSO.

Budget is £150

Some advice on sizing would be appreciated too, she is 5'3"

Most of the riding would be with the kids, with an occasional longer ride.

I'm thinking of a hybrid but will listen to advice.

Thanks

nbuuifx

Seen a carrera vengeance for a reasonable price second hand. Would that be OK? Seems a little heavy.

nbuuifx

Seen a 6 year old Giant TCX Cyclo-cross which comes in under budget.

Looks in good condition and looks to have decent equipment. From the pictures I can see Ultegra rear mech, Bontranger cranks.

So 2 questions from this bike,

Would it be a good buy,

Do you think the cyclo-cross style would be OK for the intended purpose?

Coach53Seats

Honestly really you said it comes under budget,? so good price. 2 Of course it is intended for purpose.
So YES YES.?

thistle_

nbuuifx wrote:

Seen a 6 year old Giant TCX Cyclo-cross which comes in under budget.

I was going to suggest a flat bar cyclocross bike. You should be able to put wider tyres on if needed for comfort, or skinnier ones if you're just riding on smooth tarmac.
If you want to swap from drop bars to flat bars (or vice versa) factor in the cost of new shifters/brake levers.

Definitely get her to try it for size, there's no point buying a bike if you don't want to ride it because it's not comfortable. For 5'2" I would have thought a small or medium frame?

natrix

What about looking for a second hand Boardman hybrid??

nbuuifx

I missed out on the Giant.

A Boardman Hybrid would be ideal, however second hand ones seem to go for £250-£300 so too much above my budget unfortunately. I haven't seen any within a reasonable distance that are anywhere near £150.

Cyclocross bikes seem to be less sought after, so there look to be some bargains.

Having said that, a neighbour is selling a Planet X pro carbon for somewhere around £250-£300 which I'm tempted by, just from the fact that I know the owner, I know the history of the bike and I don't need to travel to collect it! But it is more than I wanted to pay. Also it is more road bike than I was really after for my wife.

nbuuifx

On the other end of the scale, I've seen for sale locally a GT Laguna, for well below my original budget. I realise that it is a bit of a low end bike, but would it be up to the job?

Does it fall somewhere between Appollo and Carrera (to compare with the Halfords Range?) It looks to be better than Appollo to me.

It is a mountain bike but thinking it might do the job especially with a change of tyre to something less knobbly?

nbuuifx

Went for the GT Laguna,

It was lower spec than most of the other bikes I'd looked at but it was local and it was in pristine condition. The seller said it had literally only been used a couple of times on the road outside their house.

It is lighter than my wifes old bike and shiney too!

For £80 it seemed to be a bit of a bargain. So quite pleased with it all round.

nbuuifx

Well she seems happy with the Bike!

We did a 25km bike ride today with the kids and she found it so much easier. Gear changes are smooth and easy and the fact that the bike is lighter helps too.

Weight wise it doesn't feel much different to my boardman (although that is a little bigger)

natrix

Glad to hear that you found something she likes