I am looking to get my wife a road bike for christmas and I found one on craiglist for $850
The bike is a specialized dolce elite compact road bike and in the price a Sigma wireless computer with cadence,...
Price is relative to condition. As described it is a fair deal for a bike that does not need any mechanical work and.... this is the big one, it is the correct size for your wife.
The most important feature to look for in a bicycle is that it is the correct size. Items such as handlebars, seats, etc. can be changed to make the fit more comfortable, but you can't change the frame size. A wrong sized bike no matter how good the price, will not be comfortable and will have poor handling characteristics, and may even be unsafe to ride.
If you need help with determining a size you can send me a note or even better go into a local shop and have a shop employee help with sizing. From there you can continue the on-line search knowing what size will work, or buy a new one from a shop. Decent road bikes start in around $700- these days. All depends on what type of riding she will be doing, her morphology, experience and frequency of intended riding and last but not least, color. It always comes down to color.
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