BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

You may want to try searching some older threads. http://localhost/mb/topic/beginner-buying-a-bike/ http://localhost/mb/topic/advice-on-buying-a-bike/ http://localhost/mb/topic/new-bike-purchase-advice/ You're looking for something to ride in parks and the woods? So, hybrids/flat-bar style? I'm guessing that you aren't interested in road-bikes? What sort of off-road riding do you do? There are lots of good shops, whereabouts in Pgh do you live?

Each brand/style of bike will fit and be sized slightly differently. You might want to take her to someplace like Golden Triangle Bike Rental just off of First Avenue near downtown (on the Eliza Furnace Trail) and have her try a couple before you commit to a purchase. We have lots of great bike shops in Pittsburgh. When you go in, you should expect them to talk to your wife about what kind of ridign she expects to do, getting her on the right size bike, and doing a bit of finetuning to get the bike comfortable for her. That means more than just pulling a rack off a display and saying, "this is about your size, what do you think of this one...." As for WHERE to buy the bike, well, I think you'll find that people have really great things to say about many of the bike shops in town. If you walk into one and you don't feel comfortable with the sales staff, find another shop. The staff is there to help you. Selling you the wrong bike is not good for either of you, in the long run.

Take her to a local bike shop and let them sell her a bike; Thick is nice if you're in town If you just buy her a bike based on what you think she'd like, you could easily end up with a several hundred dollar paperweight taking up space in the garage

I second swalfoort's comments about trying out triangle rental bikes first, especially if she hasnt ridden for a long time. They have a few different styles of bikes to try; plus a few hours of riding the trails will allow her to get her sea legs under her so to speak. It should help her feel more confident when she goes to test ride bikes at the shops too.

as can be expected, you've already gotten plenty of great advice from folks here. i would add two things, i think. one is to shop around. i haven't experienced a hard sell from shops around pittsburgh so the experience should be (and is supposed to be) pleasant. places i return to include: thick bikes, iron city bikes, biketek, dirty harry's, trek of pittsburgh, and others; i'm just scraping the top of it. i suspect you'll have a good experience just about anywhere. go in, tell them the kind of riding you expect to be done, tell them you don't want to spend a ton of money because you don't know how well the bike will be used, and go for a few rides. everyone will treat you well, because if they don't, there are a dozen other places you can go. this isn't like car shopping. the other bit of advice is to get a bike pittsburgh membership. and this isn't just a shameless plug (though it is a plug, and i don't feel any shame)! just have a look at the membership discounts, and notice that it's worth it. i mean, if you find a bike at biketek that you like, you can pay for your membership and then some. and thirdly (i know, i said two, whatever): come back and ask questions when you have them, or search the message board to see what others have asked. it's a great resource, and people are all only too happy to help.

Here is another thread from a few months ago that's relevant to your wife's situation. http://localhost/mb/topic/adult-novice-just-learned-to-ride/

Thanks for the amazing response! I really appreciate it. I'm going to take the wife down for a rental-ride this weekend and let her try out some of the bikes, then we'll see what suits her best. I'll definately look into the membership, it would be more than worth it as it would pay for itself, thanks for the head's up!