Which comfort bike should my wife and I get?

I owned a bike shop for almost 20 years. Consumer reports is pretty worthless on bikes. Some aspects of bikes in a price range are generic - bikes in the same price range will likely have the same component group. So is bike X going to stop or shift better than bike Y? No because they have the same components. Consumer reports has value for other products more than bikes.

Also, did you know that Consumer Reports badgers small businesses like bike shops? If you come in my bike shop and I tell you that one of my bikes is Consumer Reports rated or I put that in my small shop brochure I can be contacted by them. That is unauthorized usage of their name and they vigorouly defend that. So much for free speech.

As already mentioned here go to a bike shop and check them out. The most important factor in buying a bike is the people in the shop and not the bike. The manufacturers all are very competitive and there will not be a major spread between the prices.

Giant is a good brand as are the others mentioned here. Are you going to find a bike that is going to save you $100 over another brand? Its not likely. The manufacturers are going to have very similar components on very similar price range bikes. Shops make very little on a bike (only about 30% margin) so unless the bike is something that is last year's model close out they are not going to be able to discount it much.

So all that being said the best way to buy a bike is in a bike shop's parking lot. You hang out in the parking lot and ask people about their bikes and more important their bike shop. People will be real honest about the shop. They will tell you if it is a good place or not. Your bike is not a toaster where you buy it and then throw it away after 10 years. You will need to have adjustments. You will have questions. If the shop is helpful it will overcome any price difference you paid for your bike.

Find out what as far as after sale service they offer, free adjustments, bike rides, discounts on parts and other add-ons they will offer you as a customer.

Bruce, I would shop one more bike. The Schwinn Sierra is inferior to the Schwinn Super Sport. Go to Schwinn.com and find a dealer near you. The Super Sport is not sold in Department Stores, only Bike Shops.

Competition levels the playing field. Make it work for you. Go to a local bike shop and see what they have to offer in your price range. Test ride the bike. Then to go other bike shops and test ride the apples-to-apples competition. One bike will fit you better than the others. You'll be able to tell this very soon after just sitting on the bike and riding it for a few minutes. Buy that bike because it's the one you will enjoy and ride the most. At the same price point, that's how to measure value. BTW, it's likely that you and your wife will select different bikes. The brand that fits you best will not necessarily be the one that fits her.

HTH

Richard has the bike shop thing right. You'll pay more than if you shopped on line, but bikes are like shoes. A properly sized and set-up bike feels and performs like a rocket compared to one that's not. Its worth it. I've never found Consumer reports useful for ANYTHING.

Intrepid is right about different bikes. Perhaps you think it would be "cute" to have matching bikes, but you and your wife don't walk around in matching heels, do you? You MIGHT find that you both like and fit the same bike, but please don't use that as a criterium.

Important stuff out of the way, I'll get on my soapbox about "comfort" bikes. They are to real bikes as Propel is to Gatorade. Gatorade was created in the lab, Propel in the Marketing Department.

Comfort bikes were designed to give non-cycling consumers what they thought they needed.

1. Wide soft saddle. More comfortable? Not. Actually generates more friction. Friction is your enemy when it comes to saddles.
2. Higher handlebars, upright position. Easier on the back? Not really, compared to a properly sized and fitted mountain or road bike. Worse, it puts you up in the wind, stealing 20-30% of your available power just moving air. Worse still, it puts most of your weight right on your naughty bits and that fat, soft, high friction saddle. The only legitimate reason to be that upright is if your gut is too big to get down on the bars.

3. Suspension: I'll give them credit here. Its important for off road, and a suspension seatpost can make a big difference in comfort on long rides where the road surface isn't what it should be. I even put one on my tri bike for races in the Clermont area.

My recommendation for casual riding and rails-to-trails use: A decent hardtail mountain bike. If you don't want to push the weight and rolling resistance of big knobby tires, have the shop swap into semi-slicks.

It will perform better, feel better, and you may even get a little street cred with the kids.

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RE you're amendments: Wow. I'm not sure how to answer that. I know what I would look for, but that's far different than you're asking about. If you have any friends who are cycling nuts, it might be helpful to ask them for a shop recommendation, or even to go shopping with you. I've done that with newbies before. Not so much to help them pick as to referee and throw the red flag if I thought the shop guy was hosing them.

Most shop guys should ask you about the type of riding you intend to do and follow the path of least resistance, which will probably lead you to something like your choices above. Hopefully they would put SOME effort into determining the right size. At $200-300 you're at the low end, so they're not going to treat you the way they would a competitive triathlete looking at $3000+ bikes, and that's not unreasonable, because most people buying comfort bikes never ride enough miles to discover the benefits or shortcomings of their choice.

The purpose of my rant above was to suggest that what seems to be the obvious choice may not be the best, and that after riding a while you might come to realize that. At least test ride a couple of MTB's to see if they do in fact ride as well or better than the comfort bikes. In all honesty, you may not be able to tell the difference in a short ride. I'm just bringing it up because one day you'll see a bit of singletrack branching off from your flat smooth path, and realize, sadly, that you can't go there.

At the low end, with recognized brands, they're all going to be pretty much the same as far as components and equipment. Its going to come down to fit and feel. Again, like shoes, don't get it if it doesn't feel right. And don't quibble over $20 or $50. If it feels right and you fall in love with riding, you'll forget about the money by September anyway.

go to a REPUTABLE bike shop. Most bike shops will allow you a test ride. Test out a few bikes and see what's most comfortable to you.
I worked for a couple of years back during high school in a bike shop, and can tell you that MY recommendation would be the Giant. Giants just seem to be the most durable of the bunch, although I do have to admit I have 0 experience with the Jarnis brand.

mountain bike