Question

i am a female 5ft 4, 150 lbs 57 yrs old and have riden bikes since i was five.  we have lots of bike paths, scenic routes in our neighbourhood. terrain mostly flat with slight inclines.

my husband and i love to spend an afternoon enjoying the local sights on our bikes and now that i am completely recovered from total knee surgery and can still comfortably ride, i am interested in treating myself to a new bike.

my current one is a typical local dept store bike that has served me well for years but i would love to ride more with my upper torso in a more UPRIGHT position rather than leaning over towards  the straight handle bars. we do travel to other communities in our car with a bike rack so weight has to be considered. picking it up and off the rack which is on the hatchback of the car.

Answer

What you are looking for is called a comfort bike. They are good path bikes with upright riding positions. Weight will probably directly correlate to price. Three bikes that might fit your needs are;

TREK Pure

Marin Redwod

Giant Cypress

My best advice is find a good bike shop. If you can go in a little off hours weekends are the busiest. Mid week day time is the best shops are usually a little slower and you have better chance of getting the owner rather than some 20 year old cycling rat. Tell them how you ride and that you are looking for a good quality comfort bike with an upright riding position, given your height a WSD (woman specific design) makes sense.  My guess is that you are looking at between $550 to $700 for a good quality comfort bike. If you are planning on riding the bike for the next ten to 20 years and getting on and off the bike is starting to be an issue consider a step through bike with a lower top tube.

So in summary visit a couple of shops and say you want a:

Comfort bike, with an upright ridding position preferably a Woman Specific Design frame and see where that gets you. A good shop should be able to steer you to the right bike based on that information. Each shop will carry different brands. If you get a couple options at one shop and they seem focused on helping you find a bike that fits your needs try them all. If you need to go to multiple shops to try different bikes do that, each manufacturer will be a little different. Also remember when buying a bicycle you get what you pay for. Three comfort bikes in the same price range will be very similar in regards to weight and components (the parts of the bike gears, brakes, etc) and a bicycle that is much cheaper is exactly that cheaper.

Try this approach out and let me know how you make out