spaciousskies
New Member
Hello and thank you in advance for your help! I am 5’0” and live in a very hilly area. I’m looking for a lowstep bike to ride to work, on paved trails, and hopefully, if I can find a bike that can do all three, on gravel/dirt logging roads in the mountains. My budget is $3000.
Yesterday I rented a Giant LaFree E+ One and took it up the steepest hill in town, and it was fine in the second gear with the highest level of assist. So that’s the level of power I need, but I felt a little too high off the ground on that bike.
Previously I tested a Gazelle EasyFlow and was extremely happy with the 26” wheels and size 44 frame. I like being lower to the ground—it’s easier on my orthopedic issues (bad shoulder, bad foot) when coming to a stop. In fact, I liked everything about it. However, I was only able to ride it in a big parking lot, not on steep hills.
My questions:
Yesterday I rented a Giant LaFree E+ One and took it up the steepest hill in town, and it was fine in the second gear with the highest level of assist. So that’s the level of power I need, but I felt a little too high off the ground on that bike.
Previously I tested a Gazelle EasyFlow and was extremely happy with the 26” wheels and size 44 frame. I like being lower to the ground—it’s easier on my orthopedic issues (bad shoulder, bad foot) when coming to a stop. In fact, I liked everything about it. However, I was only able to ride it in a big parking lot, not on steep hills.
My questions:
- Will the EasyFlow be as powerful on hills as the LaFree?
- Would I be able to ride the EasyFlow on packed gravel/dirt logging roads? Could the EasyFlow take wider tires?
- The Gazelle sizing guide puts me at a size 46 frame, so supposedly I could also fit an Arroyo, which actually is better suited to the kind of riding I want to do. But the Arroyo also has 28” wheels. I’m afraid I don’t understand the relationship between wheel size and frame size. If someone could explain it to me, that would be great. I just want to be closer to the ground so it’s not as hard on my shoulder and ball of my foot when I stop. Note that I will not be able to test ride the Arroyo—nobody has one in stock. Is it possible to put smaller wheels on a bike? If so, is it expensive?
- Given my height and my needs, is there another bike I should be looking at? One of the primary uses will be commuting, often wearing narrow skirts, so the step through needs to be low enough for that.
- The dealer who carries the Gazelle is 90 minutes away. I live in a rural area and local options are limited to Trek, Giant, and Electra, which don't seem to have anything small enough for me. I feel like the occasional hassle of having it serviced would be outweighed by getting the bike that actually fits me and is comfortable to ride. Am I wrong?