Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - First Upgrades for New Cheap Bike?

Thanks to everyone who provided suggestions about what bike to get. After a threefold reduction in my budget price (thanks to the possibility of needing to house-shop shortly), I settled on the only thing that made sense:

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/motobecane_elite.htm

It gives me about 70% of what I want; a hybrid stance, chromoly fork, road gearing, road-inspired tires right out of the box. For $249 delivered, hopefully not a bad deal. (We will soon see, of course.) Things I am passing up on are: any future possibility of disc brakes, an assuredly bulletproof frame, more-than-just-plain-functional components.

Planning to use the services of Sheldon Brown, my own tools, and an Internet video or two to build and adjust the thing. As a big guy, what should I plan to upgrade immediately? Please understand I'm not putting $400 components on a $250 bicycle.

IF I were to get that bike, I'd immediately put on some 26-28MM tires.
Those 40MM will be really sluggish accelerating because of their weight.
You can sell the take offs and recoup some of your investment.

Have you seen this-
http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=2304

I'd keep an eye on anything with bearings- hubs, headset, bottom bracket. They don't spec that in the brochure, so it's probably no name stuff. Easy to adjust on your own, but it's probably cheap sealed bearing stuff- so when it goes south, it's time to replace the bearings.

Tires should be fine and more than fast enough for that kind of bike. You can buy something better when they wear out.

I'd immediately put my money into good bike clothes, and things such as tools, a portable pump, spare tubes, racks, lights, etc.

And I'd dump that seatpost and saddle in a heartbeat, but that's just personal taste. :D

Helmet, gloves and a good floor pump. If you're just beginning to ride expect sore butt syndrome. Softer and wider isn't the solution, only time and miles.

On the bike itself, I'd just ride it and see what came up- if you like it as-is, no great rush to change anything.

On the tires- just try the ones that come with. You don't need faster unless you start riding with other faster riders, or start setting milage goals as opposed to time goals.

On the bike itself, I'd just ride it and see what came up- if you like it as-is, no great rush to change anything.

On the tires- just try the ones that come with. You don't need faster unless you start riding with other faster riders, or start setting milage goals as opposed to time goals.+1

I'd just ride it for a while to see what you want to change.

What everyone else said. A pump, spare tubes, (maybe seat bag to carry tire levers, spare tube, patch kit, mini pump), some water bottles (and maybe cages if it doesn't have them), a helmet, and maybe gloves and cycling clothes if you feel they're necessary. Just ride everything else until it breaks or you're unhappy with it. Right now put your money into accessories and then just spend a bunch of time on it.

IF I were to get that bike, I'd immediately put on some 26-28MM tires.
Those 40MM will be really sluggish accelerating because of their weight.
You can sell the take offs and recoup some of your investment.

Have you seen this-
http://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=2304

Hadn't seen that; will keep this site in mind for my next purchase.

I'd actually thought about the tires, I know the point of those particular 40s is you're riding on the center road-tread about 80% of the time, and the extra material on the edges is supposed to help out stability when you get into the sand or gravel. Now coming from motorcycles, I look at those edges and wonder how I'm supposed to take a banked turn on those. Then I look at myself and wonder whether I'm going to be taking a banked turn on a bicycle anytime soon. :) Since they're not knobbies, I'll probably keep them on until I lose a little of this weight; the extra cushion will be my shock absorber.

Anybody know the max pressure on a cheapie inner tube, or how high I can realistically pump these up? I was at a big-box store "discussing my options" and I put 85 psi in a 700c X 28mm, well I put that in the front anyway, I got to the rear tire and by the time I put 80 psi in it exploded, attracting a little bit of unwanted attention. :eek:

What everyone else said. A pump, spare tubes, (maybe seat bag to carry tire levers, spare tube, patch kit, mini pump), some water bottles (and maybe cages if it doesn't have them), a helmet, and maybe gloves and cycling clothes if you feel they're necessary. Just ride everything else until it breaks or you're unhappy with it. Right now put your money into accessories and then just spend a bunch of time on it.

^ -- This

and then when you wear this out or you have a change of heart in what you want to ride Craigs list this one and move n the the next.

I'd keep an eye on anything with bearings- hubs, headset, bottom bracket. They don't spec that in the brochure, so it's probably no name stuff. Easy to adjust on your own, but it's probably cheap sealed bearing stuff- so when it goes south, it's time to replace the bearings.

Tires should be fine and more than fast enough for that kind of bike. You can buy something better when they wear out.

I'd immediately put my money into good bike clothes, and things such as tools, a portable pump, spare tubes, racks, lights, etc.

And I'd dump that seatpost and saddle in a heartbeat, but that's just personal taste. :D

Definitely would like to dump the seatpost for something more rigid, not a fan of the "suspension post" which is code for "your fat ass is just going to bottom it out anyway"--exact same reason I didn't want a front fork. I'll probably suffer with the saddle for a while but I know the Clydes board has a number of threads on good heavyset saddle choices, I'll look at those.

Racks and lights will be one of my first additions, I'm planning on outfitting this as a commuter. What are options for a rearview mirror? I'm used to a full set on my motorcycle, but those are damped pretty well; I'm concerned that bar-end mirrors on a bicycle would shake too much to be useful.

pedals. I see lots of broken "resin" ones when I do volunteer bike fixing work.

Anybody know the max pressure on a cheapie inner tube, or how high I can realistically pump these up? I was at a big-box store "discussing my options" and I put 85 psi in a 700c X 28mm, well I put that in the front anyway, I got to the rear tire and by the time I put 80 psi in it exploded, attracting a little bit of unwanted attention. :eek:

If that happened to me, I'd suspect the store's assembly person more than a cheap or faulty tube. I think it's more likely it was badly installed and pinched between the tire bead and the rim. A tube for a 28 tire shouldn't have any problems with 85 psi.

listen to me now and hear me later, all you need are...

...a helmet and upgrade your brake pads to koolstop salmons.

BTW nice bike, and remember when going down a hill always smile and yell out WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!