Recommend a bike for me please.

[tomfrazier]

Started riding my $300 Sears hybrid again and have a few questions about a much better bike for me.

I am a 6'3" 265lb Clyd.

I live in S. Florida and most of my riding has been on back country roads and improved dirt roads. SW of Miami and in the Everglades. I would like to continue this trend. The Everglades are an awesome ride BTW.

My current bike is much too small for me. I would say it qualifies as a medium frame.

My budget is less than $1300

Initially I thought a XL frame road bike would be nice with some 105's but then I thought that the wheels, even with wider treaded tires, probably couldn't handle the rocks, sticks and roots on the dirt roads that I sometimes take.

So... now I'm thinking about going Hybrid/Fitness bike again like with a Giant FCR1 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bikes/road/1244/29282/ Basically a road bike with wider wheels and without the drop down handle bars.

Are there any others like this that you recommend for a Clyd for my style riding? Road/Dirt Road

Thanks,
Tom

[bigwies]

How about a Cyclocross bike? They have drop bars, more of a road bike frame, are pretty tough and tend to have wider tires and better clearance for mud, etc. Maybe a Surly Cross Check Complete or a custom build.

[cohophysh]

good choices, you can also find KONA Jake the Snake cyclocross bikes on CL or Ebay and they seem to be pretty decent bikes

[FatA**]

for roughly $950 we can get you a used Longbikes Vanguard (aka Ryan Vanguard)...

[tomfrazier]

Cyclocross - Never heard of this class until today. Two LBS's didn't even mention them. They both steered me into either the road, mountain or hybrid direction. :(

So... pretty much any sport/road bike will work as long as it has wider rims and tires??? Guess triple chain ring would be nice for hills as well?

Hmm... what's the difference between a cyclocross bike and a touring bike?

All the bikes mentioned above are less than $1300 new?

Regards,
Tom

[st0ut]

for that amout a surly cross check or long haul trucker.

[speedxl]

Tom I live down here in South Florida and know about where your riding. Most bike shops should know what a cyclecross bike is, if they don't obviously not very knowledgeable. Specialized Has a model called the tri cross give it a try my wife has it and loves it. Got it for her because a road bike is to delicate for her. A cycle cross basically uses 32c to 42c x 700c Tires. See if you can also find a road bike with enough clearence for the fore mentioned size tires.
Most of the brands above are great. Do a google search for cycle cross and see what you come up with.

[tim24k]

tomfrazier,
Cycle Genius Falcon is the best recumbent. It's built like a tank! I've been commuting on it for going on two years now. I do 20+ miles a day year round. It is more comfortable and handles better than my $5,000 Easy Racer hands down! I paid $1,099 for it. I see they are $1,199 now. Still a good bang for the buck. Here's the link.

http://www.cyclegenius.com/ltx.html

Good luck I hope this helps.
Ciao,
Timothy

[UniversalFrost]

just bought a 58 Allez Elite Triple for around 1200 out the door with 105's all around and upgraded tubes, shoes, pedals, etc... everything except helmet basicly and I love the allez!

I am 6'1" 225 and the bike is a perfect fit for me and even better after the bike shop fine tuned it to me.

JOE