on 12/2/09 8:49 PM, Austin Andrews at austinfromthefoodc...@gmail.com wrote: (mom goes 3-speeding, snipped) > I know the obvious choice would be a Betty Foy but she is squeamish > about the price tag. I really think she should get one but she just > doesn't want to spend that much money on anything, be it a bike or > whatever else might cost that much. I am well aware that the bikes are > worth the money and I've told her that. She just doesn't want a bike > that nice. So, does anyone have any suggestions?
Longer riding really comes down to fit. If you feel handy enough with a wrench (or know a shop that does), you might set up a used mixte frame for her. By paying close attention to comfort and fit, you could set up something that would make her even more interested in riding. There have been several stories of mixte conversions and resurrections over on the ibob list. But, really what you are looking for is pretty scarce in the new market. Combine the versatility of on and off road, and you're right back to the Betty Foy design tenet, a set of about one. Most of the lightly used "off the shelf" mixtes were set up with relatively narrow tires, so you'd probably be looking at a 65B conversion project. It's not difficult with a resurrection or conversion project to spend a good chunk o' change, and you might work the numbers with mom to point that out. Also, if your mom is only 50, she's probably got 20-30 years of riding ahead of her, which may help her to amortize the expense a bit in her mind. Good luck! Great to hear your mother is getting excited about riding. -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Your Photos are needed! - Send them here - http://www.cyclofiend.com/guidelines "I threw one leg over my battle-scarred all-terrain stump-jumper and rode several miles to work. I'd sprayed it with some cheap gold paint so it wouldn't look nice. Locked my bike to a radiator, because you never knew, and went in." -- Neal Stephenson, "Zodiac" -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
