Please help me get the right bike for me
 

Thinking about size of frame now.

I am following a friend of mine and building my bike from scratch. I am 6" 250lbs with a 45" waiste

My friend bought a frame, steel from the look of it and added wheels, pedals, handle bars etc. and it cost him a fraction of the advertised prices that I have seen.

What size frame would be ideal for my height ?

I have been using a mountain bike for my riding but I get backaches and I am thinking that the frame is too small for me.

Suggestions ?

It all depends on what type of riding you are planning on doing as to what type of frame you are looking for. Frame geometry can vary widely so you will want to think about how far you normally ride and how fast you think you will want to be able to ride, and what type of terrain you will be riding on.

I started suffering from pretty serious lower back pain when I got back in the saddle after several years. It turns out that I was completely neglecting my core muscle strength. I would suggest coming up with a set of stretches and exercises geared towards strengthening that muscle group.

On the other hand, my brother in law suffers from upper back pain, which he has no answer to. For him he has settled on riding a hybrid style bike that has a similar riding position to a mountain bike, but suited for riding on smooth terrain like asphalt.

The greatest suggestion I can make to you is to get out there and test ride some different bikes, or borrow bikes from friends and find out if any of them work better than others. When it comes to picking out a frame, there are so many different variations in geometry so unless you have a good idea of what is going to fit you well you won't have much to go off of.

I want to do road cycling. I have always admired the fitness of the cyclists that I see on the road and the few weeks that I have been back in the saddle I have enjoyed.

My goal to to ride in a 50 miles ride later on in October.

What is your inseam? My guess on your sizxe is anywhere from around 56cm to 60cm. Do a search of this forum on frame sizing, there are a lot of theories, ideas, comments, on it. Be sure to search by relevance.

As far a building up a bike from a frame, I have found so many sweet vintage bikes (complete) for around $100 each, that I would personally not build one up from a frame.

My last addition to the fleet cost me $165 on ebay. You would be hard pressed to build one up from a frame for anywhere near that cost. FWIW: This bike has a 22 inch frame (thats about a 56 cm size), I am 5-11 with really short legs.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3634/...3e57638c31.jpg

Bottom line-the same bike will fit two people differently, even if they're the same height. One guy has longer legs, one guy has a longer torso. And then there's differences with arm length, etc. That's one reason why the guys who are really serious about cycling and/or have a lot of money get bikes custom fitted and built to their frame.

Use the web and the local bike shops to find the basic frame size you'll need. One place might say a certain size is the right frame for you, just using your height as a guide, but in actuality it might be just a bit too small or large. Height is a good place to start and gets you close to the right size, but the final answer might require a little adjustment one way or the other. Or it may not, if you're lucky.

wrk101

Nice bike.

My friend Wayne put together his bicycle and it cost him about $ 220.

Their is a bicycle shop close by and he can size me. I really dont want to purchase one here as the prices are a bit high. Once I have gotten myself sized I will search on ebay. The first time I spoke to him he looked at me and told me right away that I would probably need a 58cm frame.

I have a picture on my blog standing in front of Wayne's bicycle at http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uwh3ViPNG2...6052009300.jpg

That bike looks to be way too small for Wayne.

sorry

The line should have said "I have a PICTURE OF ME on my blog standing in front of Wayne's bicycle at http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uwh3ViPNG2...6052009300.jpg "

A picture of Wayne on his bike is here http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_uwh3ViPNG2...6052009299.jpg