Wyoguy

My wife is getting more into biking at 44. She loved when living in New Orleans riding a cruiser to travel around daily. She is now spinning on her Mtn Bike on a trainer, getting into shape for summer. Besides fitness cycling, we are looking at using our bikes as transportation from our Class C RV. My wife has mixed feelings between a comfort and fitness configurations. She does want a step through or Remixte to make it easier if she is going to be bringing back groceries, carrying a pack or a loaded rack.

My wife is leaning towards a Trek Verve. My concern is if we start doing some longer rides the comfort bike might limit the ability to comfortably ride distances. I am wondering if a bike like the Trek FX disk 3 stagger, could be given a more upright position with an adjustable stem?

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/fx/

Carbonfiberboy 

She'll want fenders and a rack of course. You can check the various models against the accessory chart: https://retailerassetsprd.blob.core...._and_Racks.pdf

Go to a bike shop and take a test ride. She might do just fine with the stock setup. More upright is not more comfortable, to the contrary.

Wyoguy

Yes for sure I will be adding a rack and fenders to whatever she gets and i have checked to make sure they are all compatible for those accessories.

You and I think alike on what is comfortable, but my wife thinks differently and feels a comfort bike might fit her style of riding. I will show her a picture of a bike where the seat and handlebars are level and she knows it will be uncomfortable, riding two different bikes won't make a difference. Initially, a comfort or hybrid bike might feel more comfortable for someone who normally ridden a beach cruiser. I think down the road a comfort bike will limit her ability to ride further.

If I could alter a fitness bike to have higher handlebars she may enjoy the better quality and spec' d bike. Later she could try out the bike with the handlebars in a fitness position, see if she likes that position at all. My other option is to buy her a comfort bike and put a motor on it.

Wyoguy

I was thinking this bike with this stem.

Iride01 

Is she only allowed to have one bike? It really sounds to me like she needs at least two bikes, each for a specific purpose.

Adding that stem to that bike will only look ridiculous, IMO.

For the easy, short, leisurely riding to the store or just for a stroll around the neighborhood the cruiser is the best choice IMO. For exercise and faster, longer rides a road bike with drop bars or I can't believe I'm saying this... a flat bar bike intended for fitness riding at higher than leisurely efforts.

spit, spit spit! oh how I can't stand flat bar bikes. I know many of you like them. It's just a personal thing with me. I won't sneer too much. <grin> Certainly doesn't mean we can't get along.

Carbonfiberboy 

Of course the answer is that she's always right. I saw a group of SS balloon tire cruisers finish a local double. A similar bike has finished PBP inside the time limit, complete with basket and flowers. Talented riders of course.

ofajen

Check out this post on bike position from Dave Moulton:

Dave Moulton's Blog - Dave Moulton's Bike Blog - Riding Position Simplified

He does a good job of showing the key requirements for a comfortable riding position when you are actually doing some work.

Note, you don’t have to lean low to pedal hard, and actually it becomes a hindrance. But you do need to have the arms mostly opposed to pedal force. You can still be mostly upright and still have bars about level if you have touring bars that come back to straddle the steering axis.

She can keep the same body angle and shoulder position but the lower, closer bars will leave her the option to work harder if she wants. The high bars make it just about impossible. Also, straight bars are an ergonomic nightmare that are at most justified on single track (ok, that’s just my opinion).

Otto

Wyoguy

I have seen something like that. I worked for Patagonia in College. There was some sort of bike race they sponsored. I thought i was fast on my Mtn Bike with slicks. I got blown away by two guys on an old school tandem. As they blew by me like I was standing still I could see the frame twist under their efforts. It might be easy to do a century on a beach cruiser if you spend 20 hours/week on a real bike.

Moisture

That bike is more or less designed to be ridden the way the stem is currently setup, assuming the rider is within range, or at least close to fitting properly onto the bike. You can add a cm or two in either direction of the stem to adapt a user on an extreme side of the sizing chart, but once you feel like you want to get the handlebars significantly higher, or lower , longer or closer on an otherwise proper fitting frame, it's how you know that you're not shopping in the right category.

Your wife most likely would want a more upright type of cruiser If that type of stem is what she's going for .

Fwiw, I used to own an older model trek and really enjoyed it overall. Eventually, I sort of adapted and grew out of its riding position and have since happily settled for a sportier ride.

The solution to the FX 's ride position was simple. The top tube is essentially the same length as a bike designed for the stretched out riding position of drop bars, but with noticeably longer chainstays to help you comfortably ride more upright without feeling like the bike is gonna flip backwards on you. Its more of a neutral position which is well-balanced for most riders who want to be comfortable without sacrificing much in the way of hardcore performance .