Well, I'm hoping to help my wife find a bike. She did ask, so I need to find some options!
After doing some Breeze rides she's keen to get a road bike. Sadly, she has quite a bad back (slipped disk in her youth which never fully healed) and seems very prone to Schirmer's neck type symptoms after quite a short time. So she got a bike fit and has a "prescription" which basically boils down to an endurance style bike with a high-ish front end.
She's tall and has been advised that a 56cm Men's frame is about right, subject to making all the other measurements work with narrow bars, stem adjustment etc. The shop that did the fit mainly stocks Trek and unsurprisingly that's what they recommended but it came on 700c 25mm tyres with rim brakes and a 34/28 lowest gear. I don't have the full fit details here, but what I'm really asking for is whether anyone could think of a bike that takes wide tyres for comfort and ideally some nice low gears* for a novice on the hills. Disk brakes would help as the neck problem also affects her arms and squeezing hard on brake levers can trigger discomfort. Frame material is immaterial, as long as the overall effect is a comfy yet efficient bike.
Fast handling TdF lookalikey bikes are definitely out, but something a bit more stable and confidence building would be good.
As for price, cheaper is better
The magic £1k is probably realistic. However, if 0% finance comes into the picture we could go higher to get hydro disks.
Would anyone care to share some ideas? It would be very much appreciated.
To start the ball rolling, I did look at the Kona Rove NRB (link to Tredz
https://tinyurl.com/ycugudv7) but it seems a bit steep for Tiagra and I already have a lime green Kona. I don't think the "His N Hers" look would be appreciated!
Thanks!
*I'm thinking subcompact/triple here. We have some nasty hills nearby and being more of a sprinter** she hates hills.
** Not a euphemism this time! She was a 12s 100m runner as a girl.