Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Another Clyde in need of some advice

Well guys I was hoping for a bit of advice. I am just getting back into riding to help lose some weight like a great number of people here, but after last summer I am just starting to find my old bike to be showing it's age. Compared to the new stuff out there it is starting to look like that third cousin twice removed that you just have a sneaking suspicion came from an act of incest. I have been shopping the LBSs in the area, and still can't decide exactly what I want. I live in Colorado so while my riding style probably fits a street bike better I just can't help but look at the mid-range mountain bikes and think that I at some point I am going to want to do some trail riding. With that in mind I have kind of zeroed in on a leftover 07 Canndondale Rush 600. My concern after lurking around the forums a bit is that my 6ft 230 frame may be a bit much for a full suspension bike on the road.

So, any comment or experiences with full suspension bikes in general? And any comments on the R600, especially in relation to the wheels and spokes specifically?

I know nothing about the bike you listed but I can tell you about the suspension. A full suspension bike is going to absorb a lot of your energy instead of applying it to the ground as forward momentum. This will cause you to have to work a lot harder to get as far as a solid frame bike. I would say look into a solid mountain bike or if you are set on some suspension look into a front only. This way if you don't like it you can switch it out later. Or the other way around start solid and see what you think later (this would me my choice). Also with a mountain bike its nothing to switch to a fast rolling road tire tread making your road riding easier.

Just my .02

Last but not least welcome to the forum!

I would never ever ever ride a full suspension bike on the road. If you want to pick up a good "all around" bike for street riding & occasional trail use, find yourself a nice Hardtail MTB with a front suspension lockout.

MSRP on that Cannondale looks to be north of $1000, even on sale. For that price, you could get a brand new Specialized Hardrock Pro w/ disk brakes & front suspension lockout, some puncture resistant 26x1.5" semi-slicks (for road use), helmet, gloves, bike shorts, bottles & cages, and a decent lock, and probably still have money left over.

-DR

I too would suggest a hard tail mountain bike or perhaps a cyclocross bike. I'm not familiar with the Cannondale line up to suggest a particular one, what all does your LBS sell?

I'll third the hardtail MTB. Get a set of slicks to use for the road, and a set of knobbies to go off road with. Then just.. ride the wheels off it!

If you are only 230, then why not something more along the lines of a cyclocross bike. More road worthy, but can be used somewhat on the trails. I don't have any trails to ride that I would need a mountain style bike, so I don't know enough to give you any added benefit of some of the others that have the experience of mountain bikes. I have ridden a hard tail mountain bike with street tires on it, and I will take my road bike over it any day of the week if I am going to be anywhere near a smooth surface. As long as it isn't a rough trail, I will use my road bike.

+1 for no suspension.

You could get a front suspension 29er or get a cyclocross bike. Gets you closest to the best of both worlds, master of none. I'd test ride a lot and figure out what feels best, if you can do some impromptu off road riding that would help too. As others have said lock out on the shocks is key you'll bob like crazy and lose a ton of energy just on actuating your front suspension with little to no gain while you're on the road.

What kind of off road riding would you be doing and how often? If you're mainly on fireroads and rolling non-technical singletrack the cross bike would be fine and would be better on the road and have better gearing for road. If you're doing some crazy rocky rooty singletrack and that's really what you want to ride I'd go with the mountain bike although you'll be taking a hit on the road performance.

Hi Blindrage, I don,t think that you are all that heavy. I am 6'1" 225-230 all the time and I ride everything from a comfort bike to a road bike, my favorite being my touring bike. From your varied types of riding maybe you should consider a hybrid or a cyclocross, even if you have to change the tires. I would try to stay away from any suspenion unless you decide that you really need it for trail riding. Suspension is wasted energy to me.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the input. I guess this puts me back to square one a bit. I had set on the mountain bike just because my old bike was a hardtail mountain bike and one of my complaints with it was the impact to my wrists and rear when I had to hit curbs or even small bumps. A lot of the issue here is that the bike is very old and none of the components were high quality even at the time. It was not a schwinn or huffy so I thought I was living the high life when I bought it back in '98.

So instead of running out and buying a 1400 dollar bike without doing more research I guess I am going to make the poor salesman's life at REI a nightmare for a day. I am going to deck out is some comfortable gear and ride a few different bikes to feel the difference between a full street bike, a cross, and a mountain bike. I will probably still spend my money at a LBS just to support them instead of the big box, but REI has a great test riding area here in downtown Denver.

Just wanted to thank everyone for all the input. I guess this puts me back to square one a bit. I had set on the mountain bike just because my old bike was a hardtail mountain bike and one of my complaints with it was the impact to my wrists and rear when I had to hit curbs or even small bumps.

You may simply br gripping the bars too hard. It's counterintuitive, but loosen up your grip a bit when ogign over curbs, broken pafement, rocks, etc. Also be sure to keep your elbows bent.

You may simply br gripping the bars too hard. It's counterintuitive, but loosen up your grip a bit when ogign over curbs, broken pafement, rocks, etc. Also be sure to keep your elbows bent.

Ditto, also come up off the seat a bit and use your legs as shock absorbers.

Don't buy a jelly seat pad, if it's truly an issue of poor sadle fit then have your LBS measure you up and get a properly sized one. One size does not fit all rear ends.

From my motorcycle dirt bike experience, I would have to agree with gripping too tightly and getting off of the seat and using your legs as shock absorbers they are really good for that.

Don't buy a jelly seat pad, if it's truly an issue of poor sadle fit then have your LBS measure you up and get a properly sized one.

Now I'm picturing a saddle with goober jelly on it... :D

Now I'm picturing a saddle with goober jelly on it... :D

Just the jelly? What about the peanut butter?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/cynical_1/goober.jpg

I had set on the mountain bike just because my old bike was a hardtail mountain bike....

About a month ago I was about where you are at now. Hadn't ridden a road bike since I was a teenager, only been on MTBs for the past few decades. Picked up an old MTB last September to replace the MTB I had given to my son. When I got done with refurbishing it, I started riding. I went from averaging 10 miles a year to now averaging over 10 miles a day. After putting about 1,000 miles on the old MTB, I decided it was time to shop for a new bike.

My first impulse was to buy another MTB. I was comfortable on an MTB, I was used to an MTB, we do a lot of camping so I will be doing some trail riding and, at 6' 230 lbs., I assumed a road bike wouldn't suit me well. Started asking questions on the forum and was told to seriously look at a road bike, or at least a cyclocross bike, based on the fact most of my riding is on the streets.

Well, I had the good fortune to be given an old Schwinn road bike. I did some refurbishing and now have it on the road. After putting 100 miles on it, I am starting to feel comfortable with the riding position and have realized that I am not going to pop a tire every time I hit something. Along with that, it is a blast to ride! The acceleration is amazing compared to a MTB and I can easily maintain a higher average speed. It has become my primary ride.

Still looking at new bikes but am now focused on road bikes. I will keep the MTB to use on trails (and will probably replace it with a new or newer MTB at some point) but the road bike will be what I rack up the miles on. Going in this direction may make sense for you as well.

I agree with the suggestions about a full suspension. I can not remember if that bike has a rear lockout. If it does then it would not be to bad for the road. However if you are only going to be doing road riding with it I would look at a F3. It will have great suspension. Another thing to think about with a Canondale is that the front spring is rated for you. Usually only the XL's come with the heavy duty spring and yes you will want it. I have owned a Furio for several years now and I love it. With your wieght the rims should do well. You can always get a 36 rear made up and then keep the other one for when you have service being done.

Well guys I was hoping for a bit of advice. I am just getting back into riding to help lose some weight like a great number of people here, but after last summer I am just starting to find my old bike to be showing it's age. Compared to the new stuff out there it is starting to look like that third cousin twice removed that you just have a sneaking suspicion came from an act of incest. I have been shopping the LBSs in the area, and still can't decide exactly what I want. I live in Colorado so while my riding style probably fits a street bike better I just can't help but look at the mid-range mountain bikes and think that I at some point I am going to want to do some trail riding. With that in mind I have kind of zeroed in on a leftover 07 Canndondale Rush 600. My concern after lurking around the forums a bit is that my 6ft 230 frame may be a bit much for a full suspension bike on the road.

So, any comment or experiences with full suspension bikes in general? And any comments on the R600, especially in relation to the wheels and spokes specifically?

Okay, road and trail riding are two different kinds of riding, but it really depends on the kind of each you want to do.....

If you plan on doing centuries and doubles at some point, you want a road bike, if those trips are going to be multiple day, with stays in camp grounds, then you want a touring bike. If those trips are multiple days, and the heaviest thing your going to carry has a Mastercard or Visa logo on it, then go with a road racing type bike, just make sure that the wheels are properly tensioned and trued by a person competent in doing so.

If you plan on doing light trail riding, then a hard tail mountain bike, is probably sufficient, if you want to do twisty technical mountain trail riding, then you need a full suspension mountain bike, it must have air shocks, so that you can set the air pressure for your weight, these are not cheap bikes however, it's not uncommon to spend $1500 or more on one.

For light road use, or light trail riding, cyclocross attempts to do both, however it's closer to road then mountain, in that you don't have very aggressive tires on them. However you can go with slicks and a cyclocross in that case becomes a road bike, with slightly different gearing in some cases.

Another issue, because you already have a bike, what is it? Maybe you can spend a little money on it, and buy a new bike for another purpose. 3 Years ago, I bought a mountain bike, if I could rewind life, and do it again, I would go cyclocross. I would actually change a lot of other things, heck I would go back and keep my fire engine red 1978 10 speed Sekine road bike, instead of selling it to the kid next door. The way I used to goof with that thing, it would probably have 30 speeds by now:D

I can't, so the next bike will be more road oriented, most likely I'll buy up some old garage sale junk, and build something out of the parts of 4 or 5 old clunkers, or buy something experienced, but in good condition. Unless I win the lotto, then I think I'll buy an LHT, and maybe a nice full carbon for one day trips.......

Just the jelly? What about the peanut butter?

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/cynical_1/goober.jpg

You get that after a hard bump:D

Well I wanted to thank everyone once again for the advice. I rethought everything I wanted and decided that a road bike would be great for me. After looking around some I just could not go whole on road bike, so I ended up on a Specialized Tricross Sport. I have only gotten to put about 10 miles on it with all my interviewing and errands, but I can tell a major difference on my standard out and back ride. The computer and cadence monitor will help a lot in setting goals and meeting them. I look forward to reading more helpful information from all you guys, and in a few months I be even be in a position to offer encouragement to others in my boat of just getting started.

Well I wanted to thank everyone once again for the advice. I rethought everything I wanted and decided that a road bike would be great for me. After looking around some I just could not go whole on road bike, so I ended up on a Specialized Tricross Sport. I have only gotten to put about 10 miles on it with all my interviewing and errands, but I can tell a major difference on my standard out and back ride. The computer and cadence monitor will help a lot in setting goals and meeting them. I look forward to reading more helpful information from all you guys, and in a few months I be even be in a position to offer encouragement to others in my boat of just getting started.

Given your needs I think that's a great choice! Good luck with everything and enjoy the ride!