williaty

My fiancee is shopping for a bike but hates the internet so I'm having to write up the questions. She's shopping for a bike to do a couple of things 1) commute from her parking lot at work to her lab at work (it's about 3 miles of nasty broken, potholed pavement with lots of dirt, broken glass, and crazy stupid drivers) 2) Ride on roads out in farm country 3) Ride on paved and groomed, packed pea gravel (the kind even road bikes can do) paths in local parks.

She doesn't care what it looks like
She doesn't care what the factory thought the bike was good for (i.e. road, hybrid, or mountain frames acceptable)
She absolutely doesn't want any suspension.

She does want the bike to be light (lifting onto car plus carrying up/down stairs).
She does want the bike to be nimble.
She does want to have the option of running slick tires as well as light tread tires.

So far, she's been able to ride the Specialized Vita line, Trek FX 7.* WSD line, the Cannondale Quick Feminine line, and the Specialized Ruby/Dolce line.

She hated the Vita and the FX 7.* She said both were too sluggish to change direction and that she didn't feel comfortable on them. She said she fit the Ruby/Dolce very well, but frankly they're just out of our price range and she isn't sure about riding drops on campus to get to work (can't say I blame her). She liked the fit of the Quick as well as how it rode.

Basically, the Cannondale Quick represents the "good enough" bike and she's just wanting confirmation that there's nothing else in the market she should try that might take her from "good enough" to "awesome".

Thanks,
Ty

Fern53

You don't say exactly what your budget range is, but I would also suggest trying the Fuji Absolute line-and check out Jamis bikes www.jamisbikes.com , in their fitness/commuting lineup before you settle on 'good enough'. (I love my Coda Sport, but that is a steel frame and doesn't meet her lightness requirement. As a middle-aged woman, I don't find lifting it to be difficult, but everyone's strength level is different.) You might want to look into the Allegro for starters-there are others that might fit the bill.

Also, unless she has a secure place to leave the bike on campus, I wouldn't be too keen on using a nice bike for that purpose. (JMHO)