Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - New Uber-Clydesdale from NC

Yes I have joined the ranks of you guys/gals again. I used to ride a Soma mountain bike that I made like a messenger bike. I am 6'7'' 310lbs, I just started to get back into jogging and need something to crosstrain with. I am just a big guy all around. When I was in the military and played college basketball I was weighing around 285lbs so I was never really a small guy.

But I just ordered a MOTOBECANE RECORD in 64cm. My brother who is a Clyd also told me about them, and said that I should get one, since I was looking for a bike not too long ago, and I told him to keep an eye out for me, can't beat the price. I know I will have to upgrade the wheels really soon, but for the price.

I was looking at the Spec Sequoia but that would have been a few more favors to Santa, lol.

I am trying to train for half-marathon or there abouts, I Hash with a great group of people that all are into trail running and what not, I did my first 5mile trail run with those guys and in the last month did another 5mile road race and 2x 5k, and my 5k time went down by a minute, 30:30 so far, just going to keep getting faster and faster.

You guys/gals are what life is about, lets get out there and ride. And if anyone is in the RTP area and need a riding partner just give me a shout.

On-on
Dwayne

Welcome Dwayne, Since I don't know what RTP stands for I guess I'm not in your area.

I have found that biking has helped my running. Some say there isn't a benefit, but when I started running, after having not ran for a couple of years, I was surprised how well I did. I think it was on here someone said you are one trip away from falling into a mud puddle from becoming triathlete. (I hope I didn't butcher that up too bad.)

Howdy from Whitsett NC(west of Burlington on 40/85!) Hope all is well this weekend!

Welcome to the forums.....this section in paticular is awesome, lots of great folks and lots of great advice without all the BS some sections have!

Ive been hoping to rde in some different areas this year...maybe we can get together and ride...take a few pics and have a brew!

RTP = Reasearch Triangle Park, Its an area just outdose of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill NC

Welcome Tbone.

I have a Spectrum Cycles here locally and have looked the Record up close. Seems like a good bike and easily upgradebable if anything fails after a while. You should get a ton of miles out of it.

QUOTE=dbikingman;8080768] I think it was on here someone said you are one trip away from falling into a mud puddle from becoming triathlete. (I hope I didn't butcher that up too bad.)[/QUOTE]

That would be me:D and you got the quote spot on.

I have bad knees so running is out of teh question for me. I do like the idea of a dualathon that has swimming and biking though. It also seems unlikely I would accidently run...........

Ok got the bike in the mail today, took it home and put it together. Had to go out and get a new pump, and some new pedals. here is a picture, I would have to say that the Motobecane has a good product so far, fit and finish is well, only did 3miles on it and it is pretty darn fast compared to what I am used to riding. Tires are pumped up to 120psi they feel solid. Here are the pictures.

http://api.photoshop.com/home_7bdb09da9027489ab33bc5c103d164e5/adobe-px-assets/1b62a0fad3c944219ecce25b07c57d12

picture 2

http://api.photoshop.com/home_7bdb09da9027489ab33bc5c103d164e5/adobe-px-assets/9f40e16b84e0471dadd4a2a728de816b

Picture 3

http://api.photoshop.com/home_7bdb09da9027489ab33bc5c103d164e5/adobe-px-assets/cf573d498c434c279448ec721a5be346

tbone nice bike. One request next time please stack the photos rather then placing them side by side, it makes me scroll to the side rather then just down. I know it is petty, but I'll still stick around:)

Also, if you ride the bike more and feel like you are stretched out, maybe not with your height, the hoods (top of the brake levers) seem low you can rotate the handle bars up moving the hoods up higher and give yourself a more upright position that may be more comfortable. just my .02 cents worth.

yea sorry about that, that was before I adjusted them before I took it out. Yea they are way higher now but still not too high, I think I might have to bring them up a little more. I am looking forward to putting a ton of miles on it. I used a ride alot, my legs were getting the latic acid in them from 3 miles, will deff make my running alot faster, can't wait.

From one Uber to another, Welcome!

It looks killer. I have a soft spot for white bikes, and have two with white as the dominant color, and one is totally white and will have a black CF fork like yours soon.

I'm looking forward to the ride reports!

Here are the pictures.

http://api.photoshop.com/home_7bdb09da9027489ab33bc5c103d164e5/adobe-px-assets/cf573d498c434c279448ec721a5be346

Snazzy looking bike, thanks for sharing the pictures :thumb:

I look forward to ride reports and your reviews on the bicycle. Around the forums, not so much clydes but elsewhere, Bikes Direct takes a lot of cr@p (which I personally feel is undue) so it would be really nice to hear an unbiased and honest to goodness report and review from a new user. Plus eleventy on your reviews if you have another LBS quality bike to compare it to.

If I may make a suggestion I would advise you to get a longer stem to bring the bars up a bit. Right now (if your saddle is correct as pictured above) your bike is in a very aggressive position. Bringing the bars up will help make your longer rides much more comfortable. Also, after your first 200-300 miles make sure you take that bike to a shop to have the wheels retentioned.

Ride on tbone!

Yea I was looking at the stem myself, and was wondring how much of a bigger one I would need to get. I think the seat can come down a little bit. I have to go get fitted at the LBS after I put a few miles on it, I like to play it by ear when it comes to fitting, or listen to what my body tells me, within reason. lol. I will deff post a bike report after like 300miles when I take it to the LBS. I dont know how long they will have it but I am going to miss it.

Yo TBONE,

Hello from Southern Illinois. I am planning on moving to your neck of the woods in a couple of years. I'll look you up if you are still there. Besides, at 6'7"/310, I got a couple of bars I want to go to, but I will wait till we are together:D

You are gonna like it here. Nice folks, lots of help, and normally great senses of humor. There is this guy named Beanz here. He is cool and full of testosterone ;). The Historian is our resident intellectual, and at present, most popular Clyde:thumb:. Pay attention to both of them. They along with most here are really good gals and guys.

About that bike. NICE! I too want to hear about the Mont after some road time. I agree that Bikes Direct gets unduly pounded. I do everything I can to support my LBS, but I think there is room for both.

Again, Welcome.

Jay

I don't want to turn this into a B*k*s D*r*ect thread, but....

Most of the complaints are about the company's marketing methods and customer service. Among the complaints for marketing:

- use of old bike companies names (Windsor, Motobecane, etc) for what are essentially BD's house bikes.
- use of "MSRP" and "sale price" in ads. Since they are BD's house bikes, they can sell them for whatever they want. There's no need to pretend a 600 dollar bike had a list price of 1000.
- use of shill posters and sock puppets on Bike Forums.

As far as customer service goes, I've heard and read some horror stories. It's a lot easier to take a defective part to your LBS than to ship it to Texas. And the shop will probably respond to your emails.

Now, the bikes are another matter. I've seen two up close. One was a Motobecane road bike. Nice bike, but some remarkably ugly welding. The owner liked the bike, after he sent back a defective wheel.

The other was a Windsor Tourist that had been ridden cross country. Nice bike, after modifications to gearing and the like (not uncommon on any stock touring bike.) BD shipped the wrong frame size, however, the first time.

You are gonna like it here. Nice folks, lots of help, and normally great senses of humor. There is this guy named Beanz here. He is cool and full of testosterone ;). The Historian is our resident intellectual, and at present, most popular Clyde:thumb:. Pay attention to both of them.

Let me add I'm sure Mr. Beanz could pass as an intellectual in most circles, and I am "cool and full of testosterone." :)

Dwayne,
Welcome. Very nice looking bike. You'll find many friendly, helpful folks on this and other forums (this is the best, however). Regarding the stem you can gain some height by simply flipping it upside down. Just do a search for instructions or go to the Sheldon Brown website. If you need/want more height you'll probably find the cables to be too short. Not a really big deal, but something you would want an LBS to handle.

Even though you bought the bike on line I think you'll want to make friends with your LBS. I bought my bike from a BS about 50 miles north. Should have bought it in town, but I've since bought tires, tubes, cables, a fitting, .... I've bought big, expensive stuff on the Internet as have we all, but a bike is a very personal (emotionally and anatomically) thing and the advice and help you get from your LBS is priceless.

Dwayne,
Welcome. Very nice looking bike. You'll find many friendly, helpful folks on this and other forums (this is the best, however). Regarding the stem you can gain some height by simply flipping it upside down. Just do a search for instructions or go to the Sheldon Brown website. If you need/want more height you'll probably find the cables to be too short. Not a really big deal, but something you would want an LBS to handle.

Even though you bought the bike on line I think you'll want to make friends with your LBS. I bought my bike from a BS about 50 miles north. Should have bought it in town, but I've since bought tires, tubes, cables, a fitting, .... I've bought big, expensive stuff on the Internet as have we all, but a bike is a very personal (emotionally and anatomically) thing and the advice and help you get from your LBS is priceless.

Yea I love my LBS, great place, been there for like 15years, lol. I got my last bike there back like 10years, they are always helpful. I had to go there lastnight to get pedals, a pump, wrench(pedal), toe clips, and that was it, lol. Spent a little bit of money. They dont sell anything my size off the rack and they are totally cool with working on stuff that you bought online.

I am that instant gratification sort of person, when I want it, I want it now. So the LBS is my friend. I need to get helmet will prob go to LBS get fitted and buy online, lol Same thing with a pair of gloves, lol cause they only carry a few kinds, all way to pricey.

On-On

Well of course the LBS is happy to work on bikes bought online. Know why? Because repairs have no cost to the store other than the mechanics time. It probably has a higher profit ratio than any item they sell in the store. With that in mind, don't feel bad about not buying a bike from a shop, bikes generally have the lowest profit margin. Buy tires, tubes, cables, pumps, multi-tools, computers, services etc., that have the highest profit margin. Bike Sales alone probably don't keep 99% of LBS in buisness.

Support your local shop, don't go in and try on helmets, shoes, jerseys then buy online if the shop has it in your size. That's pretty jerkish. They spend the time to educate, size, and fit you then you go buy somewhere else.

For cr@ps sake will you edit your post that is three pictures wide? Put a line between each picture, something like this:

picture 1's url

picture 2's url

picture 3's url

That post asploded the margins in IE

Everyone happy? I changed that, when I look at it, it was showing them stacked on top of each other and not side by side. What browser are you guys using? I am using firefox.

I will see what I can do about a helmet, but come on, they have a small selection and I like to get what I like, and I hate paying tax :( no taxation I say. lol

You guys have been great. I have to go running tonight but might go out for a ride in the AM.

Take care.

You guys have been great. I have to go running tonight but might go out for a ride in the AM.

Take care.


6'7"/310 going running. LOOK OUT :eek:


The photo thing must have been IE prob. I never saw it on Mozilla.

Took it for an 4 mile ride that turned out to be more like 7.8miles took the wrong turn, lol. Bike performs well, and is very solid. Were should I post something if I want to make a testomny about the bike in the foums when I have a few more miles on it?

Took it for an 4 mile ride that turned out to be more like 7.8miles took the wrong turn, lol. Bike performs well, and is very solid. Were should I post something if I want to make a testomny about the bike in the foums when I have a few more miles on it?

Here. We love hearing about bikes. :)

If I may make a suggestion I would advise you to get a longer stem to bring the bars up a bit. Right now (if your saddle is correct as pictured above) your bike is in a very aggressive position. Bringing the bars up will help make your longer rides much more comfortable. Also, after your first 200-300 miles make sure you take that bike to a shop to have the wheels retentioned.

Ride on tbone!

+1 That is a very aggressive position, I would raise the stem.

Wecome to the forum from Western NC.

Took it for an 4 mile ride that turned out to be more like 7.8miles took the wrong turn, lol. Bike performs well, and is very solid. Were should I post something if I want to make a testomny about the bike in the foums when I have a few more miles on it?
On testimonials, there is a large love/hate relationship with bike direct. Do a search and you will find endless comments.

FWIW: I stay out of the fray on that one, as I only buy used bikes