Dogfan,
1\. Riding: If she enjoys riding, THAT in itself is a HUGE plus. If she doesn't, and just wants to spend time with you, buddy, you're a lucky man as that's a pretty big sacrifice.
2\. Lessons: She may scared on 'easy' terrain, but we were all scared on comparatively 'easy' stuff at one point. Take lessons from accredited instructors like Endless Biking. Sign her up for a MTB club, like NSRide.com, so she can also meet people who are her skill level, and try new trails (to her).
3\. New bike: If you think about it, making a beginner ride an old bike is doing them no favours in terms of progressing. My wife's capability went WAY up by replacing her 8 YO bike this year. Her exact words after the first ride were "the new bike inspires confidence".
Aug. 9, 2018, 1:12 p.m. - Merwinn
Dogfan, 1\. Riding: If she enjoys riding, THAT in itself is a HUGE plus. If she doesn't, and just wants to spend time with you, buddy, you're a lucky man as that's a pretty big sacrifice. 2\. Lessons: She may scared on 'easy' terrain, but we were all scared on comparatively 'easy' stuff at one point. Take lessons from accredited instructors like Endless Biking. Sign her up for a MTB club, like NSRide.com, so she can also meet people who are her skill level, and try new trails (to her). 3\. New bike: If you think about it, making a beginner ride an old bike is doing them no favours in terms of progressing. My wife's capability went WAY up by replacing her 8 YO bike this year. Her exact words after the first ride were "the new bike inspires confidence".