Bike for a shortie with double-knee replacement?

[eldudino]

Looking for a bit of advice here. My mum's in her late 50's, 5ft tall and is looking to start riding again, she's had a double knee replacement though and is finding pedalling quite difficult.

She currently has a Raleigh Caprice and the saddle's right down on it as she's not too confident and can't move about quickly enough to get on and off it when she needs to stop. The trouble is this is making her have to pull her knee up farther than she wants to turn the pedals.

I thought smaller cranks would be an idea, but she's also finding controlling the Caprice quite hard, it's a big wheel bike with a heavy frame.

So I'm thinking something like a folder/old shopper style of bike, with a change of crankset so that it's got 150mm arms on it. The trouble is, I don't know where to find something like this, or if it even exists! Any help would be appreciated.

 

[arallsopp]

I think a folder might prove to be heavier than necessary, else it'll add in cost a lot more than it saves in weight. It might be worth checking your LBS for a reasonably priced step thru hybrid, then ask if they can swap the cranks out. As the saddle on the old bike is as low as it'll go, I'm guessing the frame is bigger than it need be. That won't help with weight saving either.

No particular experience or recommendation here, but check out the Kona Africa, Dawes Duchess and the Falcon City as examples.

 

[jimboalee]

http://www.hawkcycles.co.uk/product.php?productcategory_id=7&productsubcategory_id=17&k=7

They had a little "Campsite bike" for £50, but it's gone off the website.

 

[Cranks]

Dawes Red Feather has a 26" wheel and low step-through frame. Similar style to the Dawes Duchess but lighter alloy frame and smaller wheels.