Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - An introduction, an update, and a question...

Ok, so I've been lurking for the past couple of months and figured I'd finally speak up and introduce myself. I'm a 33yo, 6'4"/275ish Perma-clyde. To date most of my riding has been chasing my 3 kids around the neighborhood, but I've been bitten by the bug, so am currently looking for something a bit more suitable for some longer rides to hopefully burn off a few of these pounds.

My first post was regarding upgrading a mart bike (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=314796) that my kids had gotten me for father's day. Thanks to everyone's invaluable suggestions, I finally ended up replacing the brakes (Single Digit 5s), levers (SD7s), brake cables (XTR), shifters (generic friction) and tires (Evolutions) and had the LBS give it the derailers a once over. Regardless of the fact that it's just a mart bike, and the frame is WAY too small, I've been having fun zipping around the neighborhood, chasing after the kids.

Fortunately (for dad), my oldest son's 20" bit the dust last week. After lowering the seat and handlebars, the mart bike fits him perfectly, so he's been having fun with that, and Dad gets to buy something new, thus alleviating the guilt factor that I had been initially concerned with. :)

Which brings me to the (somewhat rhetorical) question portion of tonight's entertainment... Why are road bikes seemingly more costly than ATB based-bikes? I can get a very clyde-worthy ATB, commuter, or Hybrid for around $400, but it seems that one would need to spend around double for a decent road or cyclocross bike. Just curious if anyone could shed some light. Drop bars can't be THAT much more expensive.. ;)

Thanks again to everyone.

Mike

Welcome to the clydes subforum :)

I think the road bikes are more expensive, since they use somewhat higher quality components and frame material. Imagine you are shopping for a road bike, your target is a light frame and decent components which can give you the speed advantage over other bikes like MTB's or touring bikes.
That's at least what I think the reason is.

Thomas

Got it in one, scummer!

If you want a tank that'll still be fun to ride, look at the Hard Rock, from Specialized. It seems to be petty Clydeworthy.

If you want a road bike, just go with strong wheels. Deep V's and at least 36 spoke.

There are plenty of cheap road bikes, but I just wouldn't want to ride one.

MTB bikes seem cheaper because there are lots of cheap ones out there. It's not all that hard in China to built a heavy aluminum mountain bike and stick a semi-workable suspension on on the front. You get all of 2" of travel maybe! Road bikes take alittle more effort.

Your size and weight limits what you can buy. I do agree if you are just tooling around, mostly bike paths or dirt trails, the Spec. Hardrock is a good buy. Most Specialized bikes are. If you think you are going to stick to road, then try and buy a road bike, Although you may have a tweak a few things here and there. Good heavy duty wheels are a must! I love my bike. I have a 2002 Lemond Zurich - all steel - that I have ugraded and most notable with custom wheels that will support my weight. The bike is light but indestructble!

Suggestion - If you have any road clubs in your area - check out their websites and see if there is a buy/sell section. Lots of good buys to be had from folks upgrading to better bikes. There is nothing wrong with buying a used bike but just know your source and educate yourself on components etc or ask these guys. They know everything!

You can put skinny slicks on a MTB...well, relatively skinny anyway...26x1.5 to 1.25. That will help increase speed a bit and make the ride a little smoother and quieter. You won't be averaging 20mph like some of these roadies, though.

I am not sure I will ever get over 15mph average on my HardRock with skinny tires on it over any decent distance. Right now, I am lucky to get 13.5 on my best days and short rides and the average is usually around 11.5 to 12mph over any decent distance. But, I have it weighed down as a touring/fitness/commuter with (skinny but heavy) Armadillo tires, heavy tubes, rear rack and trunk, spare tubes, tools, pump, camera, etc, etc. Even without all that, though, it is not going to be a speed demon. ;)

Speed is fun, though. When I am cruising on the MTB for short periods in the 19 to 20mph range, it is exhilarating. I suspect I will eventually look at a real road bike in a couple years and a couple dozen pounds. Something like a Giant OCR maybe. But, until then, I really enjoy my MTB and am very comfortable on it. And I do have the 20 plus year old Schwinn to play with occasionally even though it is a bit too large for me.

Multiple good points in here.

Buy a used one in your size if at all possible. You can find cannondale/schwinn/bianchi/jamis/trek used on craigslist every day. The problem is beating someone else there for the ones that are a good deal. At 6'4" there will be others that know they want a 61 CM bike frame and once they go on craigslist and see it, they sometimes buy them sight unseen. That is why I bought a new Jamis for just under $500.00. I am 6'3" and the 61 CM is the right frame size for me. I got beat out on two $200 bikes, because I wanted to ride them first and I would have to drive an hour or more to see them, because I live in a small town an hour away from Omaha, NE.

Suggestion - If you have any road clubs in your area - check out their websites and see if there is a buy/sell section. Lots of good buys to be had from folks upgrading to better bikes. There is nothing wrong with buying a used bike but just know your source and educate yourself on components etc or ask these guys. They know everything!

I agree here. Check Craig's List too, it's a bonanza of good bike deals. I got my Specialize Allez Comp on Craig's List for $700 and it was loaded with upgraded components so it was a steal for the price. The wheels alone cost $650. Get educated, ride as many bikes as you can and then go hunting. Took me 3 or 4 months until I found this bike.

It boils down to the three choices in bicycles:

1. Light
2. Strong
3. Cheap

Pick which two you would like.

With road bikes, there is more emphasis on light, and with an acceptable minimum on strong, you wind up sacrificing cheap.

tigereye,

Sorry I missed your other posts.

Pisses me off when LBS won't work on a bicycle. SNOBS! Of course the shop I work at has turned down some work. There are some bikes beyond hope I guess and those should be recycled.

Looking over this sub-forum you will find many bike ideas. Some have already been mentioned like the Specialized. Seems like some models are the cream of the crop for Clydes and get adopted as out standard bearers. One model line up that seems to have a following here is the "FX" Series by Trek. Not quite a Road bike and not quite a Mountain Bike, but a great all-around bike. Take a look at The Historians new ride "Roark". It's a fine example.

Any bike that you buy in the $400 price range may have parts on it that a Clyde will not need. The largest offender on bikes is the Suspension Seatpost. Ask if the shop will swap it out with something else that will work better. These basic posts twist and turn and compress way too much for folks over 200 lbs. Many times the basic Suspension Fork on some comfort bikes is the same thing, too wimpy and too much of a weight sacrifice to be bothered with in Clyde use.

On the Road Bike verses MTB price point, it's a matter of supply verses demand. Many more MTB style parts being built verses the entry level Road bike stuff. The cheapest Road Bike at an LBS is in the $600 price range, but that will buy you a bike that weighs in at maybe 23 lbs where as a MTB at $400 will be lucky to be under 30 lbs. 7-10 lbs can make a big difference. My own CLYDE Bike weighs in at a stout 29 lbs with Carbon Fork and Brooks saddle. It's set up for fast riding anywhere I can take it and it does just that. I ride the Bosses Single Speed Fisher Triton no and then and that is something else. 19 lbs with a waterbottle in the cage and only a single speed bike, but BOY is it fast!

The thing is, RIDE! get out there with the kids and ride with them and enjoy it. I had the most fun last Sunday in the Park with my 3 year old Grand Son learning to ride a 2 wheeler with training wheels. I didn't get much of a work out, but I did work on my low speed stability and such.

Good Luck!

Welcome,

My $.02, if you want more of the road bike feel, go with something more like a Specialized Sirrus. It is around $550. It has 700X28 slicks and I have had no problems with it in the last 1.5 years. I average around 18mph but I am clipless. KHS makes some good commuter style bikes fairly cheap as well.
I agree something like the Hardrock would be stronger and last longer. But, you won't get the speed due to the 26" and wide tires. Speed may not sound like anything at the beginning but you will long for it as you progress and may not be able to upgrade that easily if your wife is like mine.
This sport is more like an obsession after a short while. So if you spend a little more at the beginning, it may save you more in the long run not having to upgrade to what you want.

If I was in your situation I would look at the Trek FX series.

I LOVE my 7.5fx.

Terrierman, I'll take strong and cheap. Fast isn't really in my vocabulary at this point, and I'm not sure that shaving 5 lbs off of the bike is going to be particularly impactful when I'm hauling around nearly 300 of me (willing to be corrected, though).

byoung... It is like an obsession. I've got my spreadsheet going with all of the various models that I can find locally, am planning on taking lunch hours to start test riding, and I find myself burning up the BF search engine nightly trying to glean any useful information that I can.. ;) Fortunately, there's no wife nor girlfriend, just the kids and I, to put a cap on the spending... although that may not be such a good thing the more I think about it... ;)

I didn't mean to start a what bike should I buy thread, but hey, I'm thrilled with all of the info that I can get.. :) My concern with the bikes listed is that they're all flat bar hybrid types. It's not that I specifically want a road bike. But, I've read enough posts saying that I won't be happy with these for distance riding, and will end up looking for a road bike anyway. So, while all of these seem like great bikes, I've gotten myself all paralyzed wondering what to do about that.

It would seem to me, the undeducated consumer, that there is a market niche for one of these cheaper Hybrid bikes (700cc wheels, relaxed geometry, mtn frame and components) like the Sirrus, FX, Dew, etc, but with drops instead of a flat bar for those of us that don't want to necessarily go fast and don't need to shave ounces, but also don't want our hands falling off if we try riding more than a few miles.

Maybe just a decent pair of bar ends would do, but I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to know for sure.. :)

Thanks for the warm reception,

Mike

Bar ends help, or Trekiing Bars (Look like a bowtie), or drops.

What you are describing, is essentially a touring bike, by the way.:D
Terrierman, I'll take strong and cheap. Fast isn't really in my vocabulary at this point, and I'm not sure that shaving 5 lbs off of the bike is going to be particularly impactful when I'm hauling around nearly 300 of me (willing to be corrected, though).

byoung... It is like an obsession. I've got my spreadsheet going with all of the various models that I can find locally, am planning on taking lunch hours to start test riding, and I find myself burning up the BF search engine nightly trying to glean any useful information that I can.. ;) Fortunately, there's no wife nor girlfriend, just the kids and I, to put a cap on the spending... although that may not be such a good thing the more I think about it... ;)

I didn't mean to start a what bike should I buy thread, but hey, I'm thrilled with all of the info that I can get.. :) My concern with the bikes listed is that they're all flat bar hybrid types. It's not that I specifically want a road bike. But, I've read enough posts saying that I won't be happy with these for distance riding, and will end up looking for a road bike anyway. So, while all of these seem like great bikes, I've gotten myself all paralyzed wondering what to do about that.

It would seem to me, the undeducated consumer, that there is a market niche for one of these cheaper Hybrid bikes (700cc wheels, relaxed geometry, mtn frame and components) like the Sirrus, FX, Dew, etc, but with drops instead of a flat bar for those of us that don't want to necessarily go fast and don't need to shave ounces, but also don't want our hands falling off if we try riding more than a few miles.

Maybe just a decent pair of bar ends would do, but I'm not nearly knowledgeable enough to know for sure.. :)

Thanks for the warm reception,

Mike

Bar ends only help, they are not a real replacement for drops. There is a company (Origin8) that makes a bar end that creates a drop but I have no experience with them. While I am happy with my Dew Deluxe for my 34 mile round trip commute I intend to get a drop bar road bike as my next commuter.

The mountain bike/road bike cost difference is as ang1sgt indicated, supply and demand. I bought a road bike in the early 80's and a mountain bike 2 years later, the mountain bikes cost more at the time as almost everyone was on a road bike. Mountain bike popularity sky rocketed and road bikes became specialty items, no doubt road bikes are becoming popular once again but the prices remain pretty high.

Just take a look at the cost of shifters on Performance Bike. You can currently get a set of Deore Brake/Shifter combo levers for a mountain bike for 49.99 where a set of 105 Road Shifter/Brake are 299. These are comparable components that perform the same function and ironically the Deore is 50 grams lighter than the 105.

I chose a touring bike, and I don't regret it at all, except that it will be slower than road bikes, so anyone I ride with will have to understand that. With 2" tires on it, it can go off-road if I want and gives me a lovely smooth road ride. Yet, it is nice and relaxed for long rides. I feel the bike will be good no matter what kind of a rider I end up being, besides a roadie.

I like the big wide nitto noodle bars. They're drop bars, but they're also nice and wide. I switch hand positions all the time, even going in the drops to rest my back. I find that riding the tops and hoods is probably as upright as straight bars, and you get more options with the drop bars. Of course, you can put any bars on that you want... if I didn't use the drops as much as I do I'd be attracted to the touring bars.