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Recommend me a Cross bike for my wife

hellerphant

Maximum Pace
Mar 23, 2022
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Hello folks!

So my wife has expressed a slight desire to join me for some riding, which is really exciting for me. She is quite scared of the idea of drop bars, as she has basically only ever ridden a cross bike as a kid, and then a mamachari when we first moved to Japan. So I think a Cross bike will be the most comfortable for her to get on the road, moving.

Right now due to ongoing medical costs from my jaw, and then just a bunch of life things that happened, don't have a huge amount of money. But I am wanting to save up and get her something by the end of summer so we can go riding together. Wondering if people here have recommendations of a decent setup that won't break the bank?

We saw the Cannondale Quick at Mont Bell and she really liked the look of that, so maybe that could be the one to go for. But was interested in those here who may have a bit more experience with cross bikes in general. I am very happy with my Cannondale, but not sure how their cross bikes fare.
 
I used to have a Giant Escape RX2 Disc brake and absolutely loved that bike before it got written off. Took it up to Hakone and through Izu a fair number of times, and around Miura. Had a fair number of places to attach bottle holders, and also I bought some bar ends for it to help create some alternative riding positions to stop cramp. It also had hydraulic disc brakes at the time so stopped very quickly and a 18 gears though most of them weren't used really.
 
"Cross bikes" are a great choice. About 15 years ago, we (= my siblings, my dad and I) got my mom a cross bike. It replaced a German mamachari. Initially, she didn't get it. Until she lifted the bike. It weighed about 5 kg less than what she had before, especially in the rear (17~18 kg down to 12.5 kg).

It came with a suspension fork (with a spring, i. e. zero maintenance) and hydraulic rim brakes (this was 15 years ago). She loved it. After her death, my sister got and she will likely pass it on to my wife. If it is in as good a nick as it was when I last saw it, I will convert it to a 1x, though. My wife only learnt to ride a bike in her mid-30s, and front derailleurs don't make sense to her. Plus, she doesn't need the really tall or really easy gears.
 
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Hello folks!

So my wife has expressed a slight desire to join me for some riding, which is really exciting for me. She is quite scared of the idea of drop bars, as she has basically only ever ridden a cross bike as a kid, and then a mamachari when we first moved to Japan. So I think a Cross bike will be the most comfortable for her to get on the road, moving.

Right now due to ongoing medical costs from my jaw, and then just a bunch of life things that happened, don't have a huge amount of money. But I am wanting to save up and get her something by the end of summer so we can go riding together. Wondering if people here have recommendations of a decent setup that won't break the bank?

We saw the Cannondale Quick at Mont Bell and she really liked the look of that, so maybe that could be the one to go for. But was interested in those here who may have a bit more experience with cross bikes in general. I am very happy with my Cannondale, but not sure how their cross bikes fare.
The cheapest bike with disk brakes. She'll end up wanting a nice road/gravel bike in six months, anyway.
 
Go to BuyChari, Garage Off, or similar, and get something used that fits pretty well, that doesn't show crash damage, that's otherwise sound and that's cheap. Be prepared to switch the saddle, to shorten the stem, and/or to have rather narrower handlebars.

Planning to take the bike down steep slopes or to ride through slush or mud? If not, I don't understand why disk brakes would be advantageous. Indeed, I'd suggest that they'd be a minus: (i) slightly more troublesome than rim brakes, and (ii) you wouldn't benefit from the lower prices resulting from the unfashionableness of rim brakes (let alone the "Rim brakes are dead" blather).

(I've found that the long-reach [!] Mafac "Racer" centre-pull brakes [from the 70s?], with Koolstop pads, on my old bike do a good job of stopping the bike and me -- combined weight 90 kg plus -- while descending from, for example, Kazahari. These days they hardly ever squeal. And, unlike so many people's disk brakes, they're completely silent when not in use.)
 
Planning to take the bike down steep slopes or to ride through slush or mud? If not, I don't understand why disk brakes would be advantageous. Indeed, I'd suggest that they'd be a minus: (i) slightly more troublesome than rim brakes, and (ii) you wouldn't benefit from the lower prices resulting from the unfashionableness of rim brakes (let alone the "Rim brakes are dead" blather).
Hydraulic brakes (including hydraulic rim brakes) take significantly less actuation force, which enhances safety, especially for casual riders. Casual riders usually will not use all available braking force on mechanical brakes, at not quickly (same as for cars). This was something my mom loved about her bike (with hydraulic rim brakes). She e. g. successfully avoided being involuntarily backed out of a driveway.

In all her years of ownership (> 15 years), we did not bleed the brakes once, so hydraulic brakes might be less maintenance actually as they are self-adjusting. So she did not have to adjust her brake pads once. Last I checked (5 years ago) they worked perfectly and were not in need of a bleed. Hydraulic brakes are not princesses on the pea, they have been reliable in other segments for 20+ years.

PS My mom's bike might become my wife's bike in a few months. In that case, I plan to give it a complete overhaul, and I reckon the hydraulic rim brakes will be just fine. I'll make sure to replace the brake pads, though, who knows how old they are.
 
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Go to BuyChari, Garage Off, or similar, and get something used that fits pretty well, that doesn't show crash damage, that's otherwise sound and that's cheap. Be prepared to switch the saddle, to shorten the stem, and/or to have rather narrower handlebars.

Planning to take the bike down steep slopes or to ride through slush or mud? If not, I don't understand why disk brakes would be advantageous. Indeed, I'd suggest that they'd be a minus: (i) slightly more troublesome than rim brakes, and (ii) you wouldn't benefit from the lower prices resulting from the unfashionableness of rim brakes (let alone the "Rim brakes are dead" blather).

(I've found that the long-reach [!] Mafac "Racer" centre-pull brakes [from the 70s?], with Koolstop pads, on my old bike do a good job of stopping the bike and me -- combined weight 90 kg plus -- while descending from, for example, Kazahari. These days they hardly ever squeal. And, unlike so many people's disk brakes, they're completely silent when not in use.)
Less maintenance and better stopping power per finger. Better wet stopping.
 
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