There's a lot of companies out there that do women specific bikes. They're not just painted a pretty color - they have a different frame geometry, stems and handlebars that don't make you stretch as far and saddles that are more appropriate for women.Originally Posted by SmallPackage
alfeng, this is my 3rd attempt at answering your post to me. The browser on my iPad keeps getting booted closed, so I'm switching over to my new laptop with Windows 8.
I loved my St Etienne bicycle. It was beautiful and well designed aerodynamically. Lovely shade of blue-green. I don't remember what happened to it after all these years. It could be something horrible, so I would rather not think about it. The things that occur when you are poor are not cool at all. It wasn't the best size for me. Even back then when I was just a shade under 5 feet, I had to hop up onto the seat and off. I couldn't reach the ground. My St Etienne was flown from Los Angeles to Southern Florida, back to Los Angeles, then driven to Orlando, then to Upstate New York where I have been for decades now. After repairing and refurbishing the bike back in 1974, someone broke into our shed where it was stored and stripped it. We couldn't afford to fix it again. It was like watching one of my children get badly injured. It really hurt me. After that I didn't have a bike for a long time. Then I went to a bike shop one day looking for a Terry bike and was talked into buying a crappy used bike by the shop owner. The stupid thing fell apart on my first time out, about a mile from home. The St Etienne had drop handlebars which were great for me at 16 through 21 or so. But I would rather have my handlebars up now (regular handlebars?). Riding here in the country for me is interesting. Our dirt road is very steep and goes 150-200 feet from the end of our driveway down to the state road. The state road is busy with cars, trucks and buses going 55-70 mph. Then a mile to a quiet county road. I can either stay on the county road or turn onto another steep dirt road up into the hills. It's lovely up in the hills and you can go on forever. Coming back home I will have to push my bike up the hill to my driveway, unless there's a bike made that I could ride up (if I could ever be strong enough!). I have had fibromyalgia for most of my life and it will take a long time to get strong again. My budget will be no more than $1,500 at the most (thanks to my mother who just passed and left a bit for my twin and me). My husband used to be handy around the house and he helped me with bike repairs too. But he doesn't have that kind of time anymore since his hours were increased at his job. It will be nice when he can retire, but that won't be for another 4 years or more.
Thank you for the birthday sentiment! I'm approaching a new era of my life. After all the things I have been through, I find it amazing that I have made it this far. So I might as well make an attempt at being as healthy as I possibly can. Thank you for all your help!
As you seem to have a hill on
Maybe something like this:
~~The Specialized Vita is a mix of road bike with mountain bike - this one also has disk brakes that should work better on those steep dirt roads.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/fitness/vita/vita-elite-disc-eq
This one isn't quite as fancy but has lower gears that may allow you to ride up the hill to your driveway.
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/fitness/vita/vita-elite#specs
At $820 msrp, that leaves a nice chunk of change from some nice bike shorts and helmet...
Other companies like Cannondale, Trek and Terry offer similar bikes.
The ones I provided links to are just 'hybrid' bikes. There's also womens specific sizing in regular road and mountain bikes too.
like this one...
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/road/dolce/dolce-triple
Happy riding...
... and happy birthday!