Advice on a new bike for a female non experienced rider

[martinn]

Hi All,

I ride occasionally with my wife, and as a family.
We have gone out on a Tandem in the past which we both enjoy. However with 4 Children now, under 8, we are struggling some what with riding as a family unit.
My wife has registered interest in the GetGeorg-ous challenge this year which will build up over a number of months to ride 50 miles. (I have not forced her!), the issue is the bike... We purchased a bike when I knew nothing about bikes some 5 years ago, (I would say I dont know much more now, but with advice on here, I would not buy the same bike again)
So this is a what bike question. I am not sure I can advise my Wife particularly well, I do have some ideas, but I would like to tap into the Knowledge that is here on this website.

My wife is about 5"7, and currently rides a 7 speed Raleigh, which is really heavy, one of the reasons I would not buy this again.
Requirements, needs to be able to tow a trailer/ small child on bike,
Must have ability to have a basket on the front.
Needs to be comfortable and be able to get up hills.

I was thinking along the lines of a Hub geared bike (Afline or Nexus for the ability to change gear when stationary,
Frame type, would be ladies specific, or a step through frame, material, any
Flat bars, not drops,

So what is out there?
Is this a good rough criteria or would a standard derailleur set up be better,
What size wheels? 26", 770c or 650b,

Any input welcome

Thanks
Martin

[Vorpal]

Trailer + hills = *low* gears

IMO, Shimano hub gears do not go low enough. I wouldn't consider any hub gear but a Rohloff (expensive) for towing a trailer up hills.

If your wife will only do one of those (hill / trailer) at a time (pick flat routes for family days out), the Alfine or Nexus are probably fine.

Do you have a budget? Weight target? How much does the current bike weigh?

In general, bikes with step-through frames and hub gears will tend to be a bit heavy.

[horizon]

On these occasions I advise dropping in on the Dawes website, not because they are the best bikes in the world but because they have a large enough range of different types of bike to compare. Once you know what type of bike is best, you can look at levels of quality (frame/components) and make/model (it may well be a different brand altogether).

I would start by looking at trekking bikes, the more expensive will be lighter but the type is the important thing.

http://dawescycles.com/product/tanami-ladies/

One more note is that you might find that hub gears, althougth clean and convenient, may not have a low enough gear to get bike + trailer up a hill.

Trekking bike:

Comfy, relaxed riding potion
Low gears (for trailer/hill)
Flat bars
Women's step through frame
Light (if pricier)
Can take a basket.
Mudguards (to protect the kiddies)
Can pull a trailer

If you want a really lightweight bike you will probably have to forego many of the above. My guess is that you will want a lighter bike but it may not tick the boxes. Don't forget to compare like with like - a £1000 road bike for example will have lighter wheels etc and not have the heavy attachments.
Good luck!

[SimonCelsa]

The B'twin Triban 520 seems to get good reviews for the budget price of £450.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-520- ... nformation

Shimano Sora triple (50/39/30) with a sunrace 9spd 12-25 cassette (could probably be changed out with an 11-32).

You can fit guards plus front & rear racks thus a basket could doubtless be bodged somehow.

Stated mass is sub 10kg so not too shabby for the price.

I had a good look at one in Decathlon Glasgow the other day, looked OK. I preferred the Triban 540 (£600) which did feel substantially lighter although comparing the technical specs the Triban 540 is only 500g lighter.

Maybe worth a look,

all the best, Simon

whooops - just noted you are looking at flat bars......however, I believe Decathlon do a flat bar version of each, Ta Da!!

[RJS]

Several women I know have specialized Vita's, how about the "Vita sport", think it ticks the boxes quite well. The dearer ones are lighter but you only get a compact double, (higher geared). Discounts to be had if you search around, or you may be better off with a friendly local dealer.
Cheers, Rob.

[Brucey]

most bikes with a hub gear are liable to be built for utility rather than speed, and if so this means that they are not built that light. However some manufacturers eg Gazelle do offer a machine of that sort that is built pretty light, with an aluminium/carbon frame and a premium Nexus8 hub gear. Even so it is still in the 25-30lb range.

The weight of a bike is in fact not that big a deal; bikes that are fast (in a touring context) are usually fast because of other things that often just happen to be associated with a lighter bike, such as tyres that roll easily, an efficient transmission, and an efficient riding position. Even at 15mph or so, the vast majority of the effort the rider expends is against air resistance and the bulk of that comes from the rider, not the bike.

Riding solo, an upright riding position could 'cost' about 2mph vs a more aerodynamic position. Overall, this effect is larger than any other single effect might reasonably be; greater than the effect of another 10lbs of bike weight, greater than the effect of using the worst tyres that you can buy, greater than the effect of using the least efficient transmission you can buy.

Needless to say the weight of the bike is almost irrelevant once you are towing a loaded trailer uphill; 10lbs more or less of bike weight is likely to be less than 5% of the whole so that will be the maximum impact on speed when riding uphill.

I share the concerns of others regarding the range of gears on offer; I'd suggest that you need a bottom gear of around 20", maybe less. Very few bikes come fitted with gears this low; most would have to be modified slightly to give gears of this size.

If you set the bottom gear of an Alfine/Nexus8 to (say) 24" then top is just 74" which isn't high enough for any favourable conditions; realistically this would give a top speed whilst pedalling of 20mph or so. And 24" isn't really low enough for the hills.

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=SNI8&KB=38&RZ=22&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

The Alfine 11 hub offers more range eg

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=SA11&KB=39&RZ=26&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

21" to 86" but the hub itself is not as reliable as a 8 speed one.

Shimano do sell components that allow the use of two or three chainrings with an alfine hub and this can expand the gear range; however I don't think there are very many bikes that come with these parts already fitted, so this might have to be an upgrade. Obviously you can't shift chainrings whilst stationary. An alternative to this is a thing called a schlumpf mountain drive, which can be paired with any hub gear to increase the gear range, but this is a fairly expensive piece of kit.
Past this you are looking at a Rohloff hub. This will have the gear range you need, eg

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=RLSH&KB=42&RZ=17&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

Right now you can get a bike with a Rohloff hub for about £2000 (the hub/shifter alone cost about £1000); presently SJS have a few Rohloff-equipped Thorn models (which are nice bikes if they fit you) for a bit less than this on clearance.

If I might draw an analogy, asking for a lightweight bike with a hub gear that will also tow a trailer is a bit like asking for a lightweight sports car (like a Caterham) but with 4WD, that will also tow a caravan; you can see that there will be compromises, it is just a question of where they are made.

cheers

[martinn]

Thank you for your replies. Food for thought. I really was not sure about the hub gears, so will probably ditch those.
I think initially, my wife would not consider pulling a trailer up hill, but possibly will when she gets fitter and more confident in her abilities. We do try to pick flat routes when we go out, only my opinion of what constitutes a flat route and what my wife thinks is flat are sometimes at odds .
Many thanks
Martin

[Elizabethsdad]

I would disagree with the nay-sayers on hub gears. I had a Carera Subway ultra 8 - Alfine 8sp hub and used it on my tehn 10mile eachway commuter towing a Carry freedom Y frame trail without any problem. If you looking for something to carry stuff and/or children check out Really Useful Bikes near Bristol - I currently ride a Bakfiets long john around Southampton taking my 8 year old daughter places and it is great (Nuvinci N360 hub). If I had the money I'd look at Larry vs Harry bullit or an Urban Arrow. There is also a new bike builder in London - Porterlight Bicycles - that make a nice looking long john as well. Don't give up the hub gears till you try them - the ability to change down while stationary is not to be discounted.

[nez]

most bikes with a hub gear are liable to be built for utility rather than speed, and if so this means that they are not built that light. However some manufacturers eg Gazelle do offer a machine of that sort that is built pretty light, with an aluminium/carbon frame and a premium Nexus8 hub gear. Even so it is still in the 25-30lb range.

The weight of a bike is in fact not that big a deal; bikes that are fast (in a touring context) are usually fast because of other things that often just happen to be associated with a lighter bike, such as tyres that roll easily, an efficient transmission, and an efficient riding position. Even at 15mph or so, the vast majority of the effort the rider expends is against air resistance and the bulk of that comes from the rider, not the bike.

Riding solo, an upright riding position could 'cost' about 2mph vs a more aerodynamic position. Overall, this effect is larger than any other single effect might reasonably be; greater than the effect of another 10lbs of bike weight, greater than the effect of using the worst tyres that you can buy, greater than the effect of using the least efficient transmission you can buy.

Needless to say the weight of the bike is almost irrelevant once you are towing a loaded trailer uphill; 10lbs more or less of bike weight is likely to be less than 5% of the whole so that will be the maximum impact on speed when riding uphill.

I share the concerns of others regarding the range of gears on offer; I'd suggest that you need a bottom gear of around 20", maybe less. Very few bikes come fitted with gears this low; most would have to be modified slightly to give gears of this size.

If you set the bottom gear of an Alfine/Nexus8 to (say) 24" then top is just 74" which isn't high enough for any favourable conditions; realistically this would give a top speed whilst pedalling of 20mph or so. And 24" isn't really low enough for the hills.

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=SNI8&KB=38&RZ=22&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

The Alfine 11 hub offers more range eg

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=SA11&KB=39&RZ=26&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

21" to 86" but the hub itself is not as reliable as a 8 speed one.

Shimano do sell components that allow the use of two or three chainrings with an alfine hub and this can expand the gear range; however I don't think there are very many bikes that come with these parts already fitted, so this might have to be an upgrade. Obviously you can't shift chainrings whilst stationary. An alternative to this is a thing called a schlumpf mountain drive, which can be paired with any hub gear to increase the gear range, but this is a fairly expensive piece of kit.
Past this you are looking at a Rohloff hub. This will have the gear range you need, eg

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=RLSH&KB=42&RZ=17&UF=2125&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH

Right now you can get a bike with a Rohloff hub for about £2000 (the hub/shifter alone cost about £1000); presently SJS have a few Rohloff-equipped Thorn models (which are nice bikes if they fit you) for a bit less than this on clearance.

If I might draw an analogy, asking for a lightweight bike with a hub gear that will also tow a trailer is a bit like asking for a lightweight sports car (like a Caterham) but with 4WD, that will also tow a caravan; you can see that there will be compromises, it is just a question of where they are made.

cheers

Audi Quattro?

[Brucey]

I would disagree with the nay-sayers on hub gears....

I think the worst that has been said about them is that the gear range of an alfine/nexus8 is, in this context, limited.

You might have managed OK with the gears you had but the subject here is a female non-experienced rider who has found their present bike too heavy and is working up to 50 miles; I'd suggest that lower gears are in order if uphill trailer towing is envisaged.

cheers

[willcee]

AUDI's Quattros and very especially the UR or the 80's one we all remember were far from light, even the works team had headaches trying all sorts of titanium , carbon to lose the bulk.. then they just upped the power and torque..Bruceys analogy is spot on..last generation before the short one reputed to have 500 bhp++++..will

[georgew]

I would have thought that a Moulton TSR27 would fit the bill. It's not too heavy, has hub gears and a nine speed dérailleur giving a range from 20" to 106", allows you to change gear while stationary and has a step through frame. It's low centre of gravity makes it ideal for carrying loads as well and I only wish that I'd found mine years ago.

[martinn]

Hi all,

Moulton, interesting, but too radical for my wife.

So striking whilst the thought of N+1 was in the air, went to a large shiny clean bike shop, and looked at the specialized Vita as suggested. It seems to be a good all rounder, my wife was happy on it, and commented on how much lighter it is than her old bike!
The only other question which I had not thought of was disc brakes or rim brakes, I know rims... I will be expected to maintain it.... What are the advantages for general purpose riding with discs, bearing in mind they will add around 30% to the purchase price.
many thanks
Martin

[Vorpal]

IMO, the biggest advantage of disk brakes is that they are easier to apply. That is, it requires less grip strength for the same braking force. It's probably worth getting your wife to try some, just so she knows what the difference is.

[hamster]

You need LOW gears for a trailer - even if only to get up a short incline like the edge of a canal towpath. I found 22T front / 28 rear was adequate.

A mountain bike or flat bar commuter with rigid forks would probably be ideal.