Neuro-Basher

Hi, I need a good ammount of advice concerning what type of bike to acquire. I have just finished destroying a cheapo Wal-Mart Schwin Sidewinder bicycle in a little under a week. I put considerable (read probly too much) force onto the cranks when riding, which lead to the largest front sprocket to bend and lose two teeth. This lead to massive accidental derailments when ever I applied torque to the peddles. After resolving this by simply using the next smallest sprocket (which is way too small and wussy feeling to make riding any fun), a peddle simply stripped every thread from the crank in which it was housed.

My previous bike (which was stolen) was a generic mountain bike given to me by a friend. It was anywhere between 5 and 10 years old, had cottered cranks and no real identifying marks. I rode it as it was for about 2 weeks before completely ruining the front gears by striking a head stone and bending them. Desperate to have a ride again, I knicked a set of cranks from a scrap womens Columbia cruiser. Where the default cranks for GMB (generic mountain bike) had 3 seperate sprockets, the Columbia cranks only had one which was a larger diameter than the largest GMB sprocket. I tore off the front derailer from GMB and quickly installed the Columbia cranks.

It was honestly love at first ride, the ammount of power ! could put through GMB was almost intoxicating when left on the smallest diameter cog. It was riden this way up/down hill every day for approx 5 months. It was stolen when I went on vacation with my family. As a bicycle was my only day to day transportation, I almost immediatly sacrificed the $139.99 on the Schwin just to have something to ride.

My size and riding style must make life for bikes a living hell, at +/- 250 lbs. and riding only on one gear setting (even up the steepest of hills). I need a sturdy bike for a suburban setting which involves alot of jump off of and onto curbs and a moderate amount of riding off of pavement. I like the looks of 1x1 mountain style bike, but I am put off by paying $600 dollars or more for a complete package. Money is tight right now. ANY suggestions for a style/brand of bike, second hand bike or parts are appreciated. Thanx.

naane

I am about 230 lbs (on a good day and have no issues with my 7300FX that I have owned for about 3 months. I have ridden it on a daily basis over nasty surfaces, jumped off curbs on occasion without drama. May be something you could look at.

Neuro-Basher

sorry for this semi-repeat ... thought first thread wasn't posted do to odd mozilla error

cyccommute 

Just about any bike will work for Neuro-blaster, your weight and my weight (somewhere in the middle). I don't baby my equipment when I ride and I've only broken 3 frames out of 25 bikes in my life, and most of these were after many years of use. I'd suggest looking anything in the Specialized line, the Hardrock or Rockhopper are excellent values for less than $600. Trek 3700 to 6000 series bicycles are good values also. Lots of people here like Kona, too.

DO NOT buy bicycles at Wally World!!! The bikes sold there are not meant to be ridden more than the average lifetime mileage of department store bicycles, which is 2 miles (really!)! Find a bicycle shop in your area and talk to them. If they won't meet your needs find another one. For the most part bike shops are staffed with friendly people who love bicycling and are very helpful. The bicycle you get will be worth the extra money you pay for service and living wages.

MichaelW

You can set up a bike to run in one gear without any derailleurs. Just shorten the chain to fit using a chain tool. This works better with horizontal rear dropouts so you can tension the chain but sometimes works with the right combination on non-movable axles. If you get it to work, remove the mechs, cables, excess front chainrings. You can leave the rear cog cluster in place.
Look for a decent MTB style bike (such as the Hardrock) with 36 spoked wheels.

Running the bike in one gear puts a lot more stress on the transmision. Fixed gear bikes usually have thicker cogs and rings without the ramps, pins and cutouts.

Hammy

1 Year ago I was at 377 riding allot but not losing weight (I ate everything) I bent axles and popped spokes. My LBS worked with me and recommended a bike that would take my weight and size (7 foot tall) I have a reilgh m80 that I have put 2000 miles on and have lost the weight, now at 275, and picked up a Trek 1000 that is treating me well. Get what you can but you will be hard on bikes. Your LBS is your best resource