WTD - Practical Bike for a single mum

Dear all,

A friend of mine - a fashionable single mum - has asked me to help her source a bicycle she can use to ferry herself and her young daughter around the mean streets of Hackney and Shoreditch.

She is a tall lady, so probably wants a 57cm seat tube, and being fashionable will probably want something a bit classy or tasteful.

Flat bars with twist grips, while not essential would probably be a good idea.

She has a budget of around £200.

I'd be grateful for your help.

JJ

A brand new Pendleton Initial is only £250 (from Halfords), comes with rack/mudguard mounts.
Swap out the drops/STI which would fund a set of nice flat bars (you can buy vibration damping carbon bars for under £20) and rapid fire trigger shifters, then flip the stem to give her a more upright position..oh and don't get grip shifters they are awful!

^good value, but if theres a kid on the back I think a step-through is easier.

The medium is classed as a 46cm so in reality it would be a step thru for her taller friend :o)

Back when my kids were small enough to sit on the back, I rode with a normal top tube ('cos I'm a bloke). I would be worried about the integrity of a step through with so much weight on the back. Would surely flex like the devil.

Will look at the Pendleton. Ta.

I wouldn't completely discount a step through, certainly if you can find a large frame& the Mixte's certainly went up to 22", m\ybe even 23". I sold my mums old 531 mixte to a CTC forum member and he put his kids seat on the back no sweat.

The ex bought this bike once upon a time to see if she could get into my cycling fad, though failed miserably after one lap of Richmond park. I helped her buy it and tbf it's a great machine (hub gears, mounts for everything, and looks damn pretty - I'm sure it was £650 or so originally). She's been looking to get me to sell it, though was hoping for £300 odd. Probably no help I know, though thought it was worth suggesting?

http://www.specialized.com/ie/gb/bikes/archive/2012/live/live2mixte

I really can't work out the sizing on step-through's. My friend is near as makes no difference 6', would this be big enough?

I'm 6'3, and from memory she was a (only) a few inches off that in heels. I'm going to assume it's a size L (it's in my garage so can go and check later) though with step-throughs there's much more scope to adjust?

Cool. PM me a price, please, and I'll pass it on.