brewmastr

Hey guys, this i guess falls into the category of what bike should i get but may be a little bit more difficult then that.

First off about me I'm 32 years old 6' 3" 350lbs needing to lose weight, I am currently mid process of recovering from a fracture of my left heel (calcaneous fracture). I have a gym membership but so far I'm pretty limited to what i can do pretty much swimming and upper body while i wait for this thing to heal. I have been informed due to the severity of this type of fracture that basically walking for long periods of time will be out the door, not that I ever enjoyed that anyhow.

When I was in my teenage years i rode a bike a lot and enjoyed so and when I am well enough to do so am going to purchase a bicycle so I can get outdoor exercise in addition to exercise in gym. My problem is I really dont know what bicycle to buy as I have lower back issues as well, when I was 22 i had to have L-2 and L-3 discs removed from my back and a widening of my spinal canal due to severe stenosis. This leads to back pain when I am in a sitting position however if i am slightly reclined back at an angle or standing it is not bothersome. It seems road bikes have the body in a lean forward position that im sure will aggravate my back, a mountain bike could be better but im not absolute sure there, third is a recumbent bicycle which seems like it might actually be a good option but manufactures are limited and they seem quite expensive as my budget for a bike is probably around $1500-$2000 usd. So to the good folk here I ask for any help and assistance you may be able to offer and thank you for you help.

MacNasty

Does your gym have any stationary bikes? If so you may want to start out there and see how your heel progresses.

Willbird

I know there was some kind of recumbant type bike a shop I was in had that was around 1200 for a 8 speed one with a geared hub. it had two wheels under the rider and one wheel behind.

Ahh found it, Terratrike Rover.....around $1200 in 8 speed.

TerraTrike

intransit1217

Shop around. Likely you can find a good used 'bent and save a bit of dough doing it. Double check with your doctor about seating position. There are also pedal forward designs that aren't totally laid back. In fact going from one end of the spectrum to the other by body position would be something like this.

recumbent--pedal forward--comfort--hybrid--touring bike--mtn bike--endurance road--race road--time trial.

linnefaulk

Either look for a 'bent to try or even a gym with a 'bent type exercise cycle. If sitting or leaning forward are painful, no regular bike is going to work.
It may seem expensive now but compare to future surgeries of other health problems, it is a good investment.

TrojanHorse

One of the members here who isn't a frequent stopper-byer anymore (Sayre Kulp) has a crank forward bike - I asked him about it 3 years ago on behalf of my father in law and he raved about it. Consider something like this in your shopping... it looks goofy relative to a standard diamond frame bike but I remember him telling us he won some timed events on it, to the consternation of the rest of the riders.

Zenetik

delcrossv

Probably a recumbent (either bike or trike) with adjustable recline would be easiest on your back.

Take a look over here: https://<a href="https://www.bentrider.../index.php</a>

they have lots of posters who has solved similar issues.

brewmastr

willbird: That looks absolutely awesome!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and if anyone has them keep them coming, my gym does have recumbent and regular type stationary bikes, before my injury to my heel i found the recumbent i could ride for a hour with no problem but the regular upright style would hurt my back probably around 20 minutes in due to the position on the bike.

Judi

How comfortable a bike is has a lot to do with its particular geometry and how it relates to your individual shape. I have a Townie, which has the crank-forward design but maybe not as far forward as the bike posted above. I also have a spin bike. I have identical saddles on the two bikes. I can ride my Townie all day, or at least for several hours. I can ride the spin bike for 20 minutes before my lower back and my wrists are begging me to stop. I've had a recumbent exercise bike before, to try to build my leg back up after I broke it and had to have hardware put in, and the recumbent hurt my butt. You never know what's going to be comfortable until you try it a few times.

You should see if there's a shop that rents bikes near you, so you could rent a couple different styles and see what's comfortable for you.