Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Moving up to road bike, suggestions!

Got the biking bug now and have been enjoying it since taking it up last July. I rode my first 40 mile event on my Trek 7.3 FX and survived but noticed I must have been the only one on a hybrid riding this leg. It appeared to me I had to work harder to stay with the road bikes. I am 6-2 and 255 and do work out but not your body building body at age 54. I really like Trek so I would like to stay with the brand. I wouldnt mind a metal frame with the carbon forks and seat post but I do no want an aggessive style of road bike. I have been looking at the Trek Pilot and 2 Series. Any comments on this is greatly appreciated on which bike is best for the bucks. Thanks

Don't not look at other brands. there are many, many nice road bikes at or below that price. And there are a number of less full-out race-wannabe bikes too, which tend to have a bit more relaxed riding position, longer wheelbase (more stable, more comfortable to ride when you're tired), take bigger tires, and will take fenders, racks, and which are more useful for people who don't race. (They also tend to come with rider gear ranges, which is nice for those of use who aren't super-fit.)

Don't not look at other brands. there are many, many nice road bikes at or below that price. And there are a number of less full-out race-wannabe bikes too, which tend to have a bit more relaxed riding position, longer wheelbase (more stable, more comfortable to ride when you're tired), take bigger tires, and will take fenders, racks, and which are more useful for people who don't race. (They also tend to come with rider gear ranges, which is nice for those of use who aren't super-fit.)

What other brands would you suggest to look at??? I like your comments.

I have the Trek 520 it is sooo sweeet. I also like the surly LHT. Not for racing, but great for comfort. IMHO they deserve a look.

What other brands would you suggest to look at??? I like your comments.

See what your local dealers have. Pretty much everyone that isn't a super high end racing brand makes a bike for what the Pilot sells for. The particular not-race wannabe bikes I was thinking of were things like the Trek 520, surly's Long Haul Trucker, the RaleighUSA Sojourn, there's a Kona something or other; there are doubtless others. they're mostly steel, on the heavy side (no heavier than your 7.3, though).

Really, the way to buy a bike is look at, and ride, as many as you can.

ride all types of brands and models, as others have suggested try touring bikes, cross bike and road bikes. see which fit best and is most comfortable.

you haven't told us what you want to do with the bike, except to go 40 miles with less effort. do you plan on riding centuries?, race?, tour?, just ride 40 mile organized rides with less effort?.

I use different bikes for different events. I will use a standard road bike for regular riding and for supported tours. I use a touring bike for loaded touring. I use my mountain bike for runs to the store. The reason I use a road bike for supported tours is that I am not carrying a load and I feel that it is faster than my touring bike (and it is).

I see that you didn't want an aggressive style of road bike but wanted carbon forks and carbon seat post, why? these are normally features for aggressive style road bikes.

You may not want a road bike but try some entry level road bike just to see how they feel, you may change your mind.

Also do you have a budget in mind?

This one:
http://www.bikereviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/jamis-quest-2010-road-bike.jpg (http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebikes/road/quest/10_quest.html)

Or this one:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3515/3773943176_332c04dea1.jpg (http://www.masibikes.com/steel/speciale/)

The Jamis has a Reynolds 631 frame and carbon fork. It's slightly relaxed geometry should make it very comfortable, but it should still be fast.

The Masi... well... just because it's so damn sexy.

There's nothing wrong with the touring-type of bikes that some of the posters have mentioned, but if you really want to keep up, you need something with road gearing (IMHO, YMMV.) Something like these or a CX bike would work great. BTW a CX bike would also be a great commuter or light tourer with its ability to take fatter tires, fenders, and a rack. (FYI - Masi also makes the Speciale CX (http://www.masibikes.com/steel/speciale-cx/). :innocent: )

Thanks Guys for all the responses...My buddy and I just got into this and really not looking at competion riding but riding distances with comfort but increasing speed. Looking for comfort and speed and we realize that an aggesive style is not what we are looking for but a road bike with comfort and faster then our Trek 7.3s. We are looking at spending in the $1500 range. Hopefully that gives you more imput.

Cannondale Synapse
Specialized Roubaix
Felt F Series
Trek Pilot

This category of bicycles is known as "performance road." They offer a little more upright riding position (longer head tube) and the geometry is more for comfort than speed. These bikes are for long days in the saddle and are designed to absorb road vibration. However, these bikes are "raced" in the professional road ranks in races such as the Paris-Roubaix (portions of the course are on cobblestone.)

I like road bikes that have eyelets at the rear forks, this is for placing racks on the bike so I can do overnight tours, so I think that I would look at cross bikes since these will feel more like a road bike but give you more flexibility.

Also noone mentioned Giant Bikes, they have some really good bikes. Look at the Giant Defy entry level road bike in your price range.

I have the LHT and it is very comfortable on long rides. However, it is heavy so I'm not sure I'd want to do long rides with a lot of climbing (the same goes for the Trek 520). For flat rides or downhill the weight doesn't matter...

I recently made the switch from a Trek hybrid to a road bike. I went with the Cannondale Synapes over the Specialized Sectuer Elite. I'm 6'4" 295lbs. I liked both equally but chose based on the service of my bike shop. Free tune up for life.

Cannondale Synapse
Specialized Roubaix
Felt F Series
Trek Pilot



Not to be argumentative, but I think it's the Felt "Z" series that's the more relaxed. If I'm wrong, sorry...and please edumacate me. Also, Giant Defy is rumored to be a good value.

I have the LHT and it is very comfortable on long rides. However, it is heavy so I'm not sure I'd want to do long rides with a lot of climbing (the same goes for the Trek 520). For flat rides or downhill the weight doesn't matter...

The gearing on the LHT and the 520 is designed for long rides, hauling a lot of stuff, and the potential for a lot of climbing. Touring bikes may not have the zippy front end handling that a racing or sport-touring bike has, but they are plenty comfortable for a long haul. Quite a few riders in my randonneuring club use touring bikes like the 520, LHT, Novara Randonee and Fuji Touring on very hilly rides of 300km or longer.

I've had the Giant Defy 2 for a week now, it's a great bike for the price point. It does have a more relaxed geometry for a more comfortable ride over distance. Giant bills it as an entry level bike for century rides. So far I'm enjoying it, its comforatble and fast (enough for me :))

Not to be argumentative, but I think it's the Felt "Z" series that's the more relaxed. If I'm wrong, sorry...and please edumacate me. Also, Giant Defy is rumored to be a good value.

Yep, you're right.. it's the Z series that is in this category.

While touring bikes like the Surly LHT and Trek 520 are very comfortable, I'm not aware of any touring bikes that come with a carbon fork as the OP mentioned. I have a touring bike (Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30) and it's great for carrying a load and commuting but, I would take my Cannondale Synapse on a long ride over the touring bike. The touring bike has it's place on long rides also, but that would be if the roads a little rougher or unpaved sections, or if I plan on riding in the rain since the touring bike has full fenders and mud flaps.

I purchased a Roubaix a couple of months ago - I love it. "Relaxed" ride has taken away 75% of my hand numbness I was getting on my mountain bike. Furthest I have been is 32mile but I am a newbie and working on dropping weight. Im down almost 20lb in 3 months due mainly to this bike... :-)

I have a Trek 7.2 FX, and now have a Trek 2.1 on lay away. It's on lay away because anytime I buy a bike I have to buy 2, that's what my wife told me, and well, she gets one of them :P

Salsa Pistola (http://salsacycles.com/bikes/pistola/) might fit the bill.

I don't know that a LHT or Trek 520 would necessarily be faster than a flat bar bike like an FX...they're not really built for speed.

The Trek Portland might be a fun choice to have a look at as well. Steel with disk brakes and road/touring geometry

I read the OP's post and half way through it had to check if it was a post I wrote a couple of years ago.

I ended up with a Novarra Safari for touring. I then moved to a Surly LHT. The Safari is a good bike for trails and road and I decided I am not interested in the trail tour. The LHT IMHO is more of a straight road touring bike.

You may find though that what you have would do what you are now asking a bike to do for you with some modifications. Check out the Hybred forum here. There are a couple of threads about people that really changed their FX series of bike.

Thanks for all your comments...So many things to consider on a new ride. I am swaying more toward a Felt Z series or Cannondale Synapse. But havent had the oppertunity to ride either yet...Then the Giant brand is someting to consider. I am going to see what I can get for my Trek 7.3 FX and if not enough money to satisfy me, I might put a set of drops and adapt to a more of a road bike riding position...maybe add a carbon fork. The most important thing to me is to find a shop that I can ride each model and get a good idea of how each bike rides, the comfort, and ease of gaining speed.

Thanks for all your comments...So many things to consider on a new ride. I am swaying more toward a Felt Z series or Cannondale Synapse. But havent had the oppertunity to ride either yet...Then the Giant brand is someting to consider. I am going to see what I can get for my Trek 7.3 FX and if not enough money to satisfy me, I might put a set of drops and adapt to a more of a road bike riding position...maybe add a carbon fork. The most important thing to me is to find a shop that I can ride each model and get a good idea of how each bike rides, the comfort, and ease of gaining speed.

Converting is not going to be cheap. For the price of this conversion, you could find a really sweet used bike, maybe even less. And then you will have two bikes to ride, not just one. I buy quite a few nice used bikes. One other great advantage of used is if you buy right, you can get your money back out of the bike pretty easily when you find something better, or go a different direction.

For the price of the bottom of the line, entry level road bike from a bike shop, I have a 2003 Colnago Master Lite (full Ultegra 9 speed) with a Columbus Gilco frame, and a 1987 Schwinn Prologue (also full Ultegra 9 speed) with a Tange Prestige frame. The Colnago was bought ready to go (it sat on the local Craigs List for about ten days, so its not like I scooped it up), I did do some work on the Prologue (price includes what I paid for the upgraded drivetrain, Prologue was bought off ebay). I do my own work, which made improving the Prologue fit within my thrifty limits.

While neither of these two bikes are set up as Clyde friendly, there are plenty of Clyde friendly bikes out there.


+1 Not sure a touring bike is going to give you much speed advantage.


thrifty bill

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3343526043_ea5f5ea5da.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/4584516594_4d7c41d5fc.jpg

At 255lb special care should be given to your wheel rims strength.
If you are choosing between a "Cannondale Synapse" and a "Specialized Secteur Elite" as previously mentioned; then you'd better go with the latter as it has stronger wheels...
There should be no worries for the frame :)

Here are my thoughts. Seeing as how you have a Trek FX you can keep it and set it up with fenders, and what not. What you need now is a roadbike. At your size you can pretty much get whatever you want. I'm not a typical clyde as in I like the fance roadbikes and I don't want wider tires and fenders and lights and whatever else you can possiably stick on a bike. Nothing beats a true roadbike for riding on the road! I would suggest any of the great aluminum or cabon bikes out there, find one in your price range and enjoy. I too like Trek but have and will own different makes in the future.

Try a Touring Bike ! Jamis and Raleigh put out great tourers that are very strong, but quick enough to keep up with road bikes. Tourers are built to hold up to 360 lbs !
They cling to the road and feel confident on decents, have good gearing for hills, and fly on the flats ! Most are chromoly and have a nice shock and bump dampening feel. You could drop the tires down to 28cc for a more nimble feel. For big riders that's the smallest you should go. Anything smaller than 28cc and you'll be trueing rims twice a week ! I know the hot rod racers look so good but lets face it, if you are 250 +, your gonna go thru rims like crazy if you don't put a decent sized tire on it. Also, checkout bikes direct. They have some nice tourers and even hybrids that might interest you ! I know what your going through im 275 lbs and have been through many tires to find that perfect medium. My fixie has Kenda Quick Rollers in 32cc on it, they seem to work for me good on that bike. Where as my Fuji Sunfire 1.0 gets Vredstein Touring/ Trekking tires at 37cc's. My late 80's road bikes all get Continental Gatorskins or Kenda Quick Trax in 28cc's. Checkout that jamis tourer though. If you don't like the cantilever brakes, you could always swap them out for long reach calipers so to fit the slightly larger tires up to 32cc. Good Luck !

my brother is a shade over 300 lbs and recently bought a Giant Defy 3 and it's treated him well thus far. that is the most entry level giant bike and it's between 550 and 700 depending onwhere you look. The Defy 1 is the top of the defy series and can be had for 1250 which puts you 250 under your budget to put towards other accessories. you should do some test riding

I second Fixie flyer's suggestion; can't agree more and that's what I would have personally done.
Get a touring bike!

A light weight steel alloy frame, 700x28 tires, a drop bar, and something like Shimano Tiagra or Shimano 105 :)
That's all!

I keep seeing recommendations for touring bikes. I like touring bikes (I have one) but the OP said he wanted a bike with carbon forks (that's not a touring bike.) He rode a 40 mile event on a hybrid - great accomplishment but I think he wants to go faster. A touring bike can be faster, but that's not what it's designed for. A touring bike is designed to carry a load over a long distance... it's not designed for speed.

If you don't want an aggressive road bike, but you would like a bike built for speed... then stay in the "performance road" category. You're on the right track with the Cannondale Synapse and Felt Z series. I've ridden a touring bike in a 200 mile event (Seattle-to-Portland) and a performance road bike in the same event. I'll take the performance road bike (cannondale synapse) every time from now on.

Man, I really appreciate all your suggestions...I have read and read again to take in all comments...One thing that hit me is the recommendations not to go below size 28 tires? Looking at all the Cannondale Synapse, Felt Z series, Specialized, Trek, they have 23 and 25 tires...So, remembering I am in the mid 250 range...What are you suggestions...I dont want to worry about wheel trouble every time I ride my bike... Or can I take those stock rims and change out to the 28 tires????

We have spme 300 pounders riding on 23's. One of my Mod staff is a CLyde that rides on 23 mm tires on a road bike, and has no problems with wheels or tires. He did go with a 36 spoke Velocity Deep V, though, and checks his air pressure daily before each ride. He's heavier than you, and has no issues. 250ish isn't that heavy, except in relation to a skinny roadie. ;)


Man, I really appreciate all your suggestions...I have read and read again to take in all comments...One thing that hit me is the recommendations not to go below size 28 tires? Looking at all the Cannondale Synapse, Felt Z series, Specialized, Trek, they have 23 and 25 tires...So, remembering I am in the mid 250 range...What are you suggestions...I dont want to worry about wheel trouble every time I ride my bike... Or can I take those stock rims and change out to the 28 tires????

Man, I really appreciate all your suggestions...I have read and read again to take in all comments...One thing that hit me is the recommendations not to go below size 28 tires? Looking at all the Cannondale Synapse, Felt Z series, Specialized, Trek, they have 23 and 25 tires...So, remembering I am in the mid 250 range...What are you suggestions...I dont want to worry about wheel trouble every time I ride my bike... Or can I take those stock rims and change out to the 28 tires????

2 things, 1. Stay on top of your tire pressure. I was 250 when I got my bike, down to about 235 now and i had issues with flats. Gotta go to the max psi rating and even 5-10 over it and check it virtually everytime out.
2. You should be able to put 28 tires on those rims without issue.
3. If for some reason you can't, most decent bike shops should work with you to give you a comparably priced wheel/tire setup appropriate for you.

Lastly, Someone earlier mentioned bikes direct. I haven't bought from them yet but I'm in the same boat as you. I have a giant Rapid 3 which is an entry level flatbar road bike/hybrid and while it moves nicely, I can't help but want a true road bike when I see everone blowing by me. There are some great full ultegra equipped bikes from Bikes Direct for $1000. Your budget is $1500. You can spend the extra money to have a LBS complete the assembly, tune it and fit you to it and have a LOT more bike for a lot less $$$

I set the goal for myself to get down to 230lbs before buying a roadbike, partly to make sure weight on the bike is less of an issue. I'm almost there!

Man, I really appreciate all your suggestions...I have read and read again to take in all comments...One thing that hit me is the recommendations not to go below size 28 tires? Looking at all the Cannondale Synapse, Felt Z series, Specialized, Trek, they have 23 and 25 tires...So, remembering I am in the mid 250 range...What are you suggestions...I dont want to worry about wheel trouble every time I ride my bike... Or can I take those stock rims and change out to the 28 tires????

Nothing to worry about except for the comfort of the ride :)
The heavier you are the higher the pressure that you require and thus the stiffer the tire... i.e. less comfort

I would run 25 or 28, usually you can go up or down one size on the same rims without any problem. You have to check the bike frame and fork if they allow the increase in thickness.

the important thing to look at when you are at these weights is the number of spoke per wheel, try to go up to 32 or 36 spoke per wheel to avoid truing your wheels every week or so :P

I check my tire pressure before every ride. When I first rode my FX I kept about 110 psi. and after dropping 15lbs I run 95-100 psi. Glad to hear their are other riding with the smaller tires. I just dont want the smaller tires to hamper any good deals I can make on a good used bike if I find one, especially a Roubaix! For some reason, I really am drawn to that bike...Has anyone read reviews on the Fuji bikes? They have a cross model with Shimano 105 series and 700x30 tires...

If you are really concerned about tire width (I don't think you need to be concerned) then you really need to check the frames and forks on performance road bikes. While I believe that these bikes best fit your needs as you described in the OP, I'm not sure that the forks have clearance for a 28mm tire. I checked once with cannondale on the synapse, they told me that it could take up to a 28mm tire, however, when I look at the clearance... it would be very tight if it actually fits. That being said, I'm 225 and have not had any issues riding 23mm tires.

The increase in power need to maintain a given speed from going from 23 mm to 28 or 32 mm is pretty small. It matters if you spend your time at 30+ mph. At 20, it's noise. The increase in comfort, if you ride on anything less than glass-smooth pavement, is substantial.

my brother is a shade over 300 lbs and recently bought a Giant Defy 3 and it's treated him well thus far. that is the most entry level giant bike and it's between 550 and 700 depending onwhere you look. The Defy 1 is the top of the defy series and can be had for 1250 which puts you 250 under your budget to put towards other accessories. you should do some test riding

Agree. I'm about 250 and I ride the all carbon Defy with 25mm tires.