My wife wants an upright-style bike that she can use for leisurely rides around the neighborhood and errands. She hates drop bars and even finds mountain bikes too “low”. I am totally out of my element in terms of what bikes would be suitable for her. Anyone here have any advice?
I am guessing we want gears (i.e. no single speeds), no dutch bikes - too heavy, no beach cruisers - they seem pretty slow, and something with tires narrower than a mountain bike and fenders and basket or pannier racks.
I was thinking the Trek Allant WSD was in the ballpark, but would appreciate suggestions.
Velo. City. Quick is a fast and nimble flat bar bike, packed with features like **SAVE **vibration damping and carbon bladed forks. Whether cruising through Central Park or completing that epic charity ride, Quickgets it done with style and finesse.
If mountain bikes are too low, you might want to try looking at some of the “crank-forward” bikes. They are not recumbents, but sort of a baby step in that direction.
Trust me, her desires when it comes to a bike offend my aero sensibilities to no end. I thought about finding her some ape hangers and seeing if that works for her, but hey, to each her own.
I have a 3 speed Electra cruiser. I put big baskets on the front and back. I call it “The Flatbed”. It’s used for pretty much all if my errands and grocery shopping, going out to dinner, etc.
It’s as upright as you can get, the pedals are “forward” a bit. Big ol’ spring seat.
3 gears help for little hills. If you carry a bunch of stuff the gears help for that, too.
I know you said no Dutch bikes or cruisers but I’m telling you, this thing is the bees knees. I have three other bikes and the cruiser is my go to errand runner.
My brother has an old ‘PK Ripper’ with CW bars and Skyway mags in the basement – maybe she can give that a whirl – those CW bars bring the hands up nice and high and she may surprise you with a rad tabletop or cherrypicker when you are least expecting it
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