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Bike suggestion needed

Old 02-23-07, 07:57 PM
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Bike suggestion needed

Anybody have suggestions on a good recreational trail bike? I'm somewhat large--5'11, 235 lbs--but most of it is solid The bike would see action once or twice a month for six-eight months out of the year. Durability is a higher priority than comfort.
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Old 02-23-07, 08:00 PM
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I recommend the Trek 4300.
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Old 02-24-07, 10:50 AM
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Originally Posted by psycho_driver
Anybody have suggestions on a good recreational trail bike? I'm somewhat large--5'11, 235 lbs--but most of it is solid The bike would see action once or twice a month for six-eight months out of the year. Durability is a higher priority than comfort.
It depends largely on how often and how hard do you think you'll ride. Specialized Rockhopper would be good for weekend to a-few-times-a-week riding.
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Old 02-24-07, 10:53 AM
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You're a big dude, so you may want a sturdier frame than the 4300 or Rockhopper can offer. I would suggest getting a used Specialized Hard Rock (~2004-2006) and get some decent hand-built wheels that will be durable enough to take 235lbs worth of abuse.

Shimano XT hubs with Sun Rhyno Lite Rims and DT straight guage spokes. (I know where you could get a set fairly inexpensively)

You could substitute the XT hubs for LX or Deore because you won't be riding all the time. XT's are far more durable, but the LX or Deore should last a long time with your casual amount of riding.

That should be durable enough for ya.
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Old 02-24-07, 11:45 PM
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How much are you looking to spend?
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Old 02-28-07, 07:03 AM
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Thanks for the suggestions guys.

Price isn't much of an issue, as long as I don't end up having to make monthly payments on it
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Old 02-28-07, 07:51 AM
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Get an Ellsworth, then.
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Old 02-28-07, 08:28 AM
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Originally Posted by chelboed
You're a big dude, so you may want a sturdier frame than the 4300 or Rockhopper can offer. I would suggest getting a used Specialized Hard Rock (~2004-2006) and get some decent hand-built wheels that will be durable enough to take 235lbs worth of abuse.

Shimano XT hubs with Sun Rhyno Lite Rims and DT straight guage spokes. (I know where you could get a set fairly inexpensively)

You could substitute the XT hubs for LX or Deore because you won't be riding all the time. XT's are far more durable, but the LX or Deore should last a long time with your casual amount of riding.

That should be durable enough for ya.
A Rockhopper is more than up to the task. I'm near his size and I've been riding an M4 stumpy for a long time. The M4 frames are good and strong.

As for wheels, straight gauge spokes aren't stronger than double butted. Here's a good explanation from Sheldon Brown

Double-buttedspokes are thicker at the ends than in the middle. The most popular diameters are 2.0/1.8/2.0 mm (also known as 14/15 gauge) and 1.8/1.6/1.8 (15/16 gauge).
Double-butted spokes do more than save weight. The thick ends make them as strong in the highly-stressed areas as straight-gauge spokes of the same thickness, but the thinner middle sections make the spokes effectively more elastic. This allows them to stretch (temporarily) more than thicker spokes.

As a result, when the wheel is subjected to sharp localized stresses, the most heavily stressed spokes can elongate enough to shift some of the stress to adjoining spokes. This is particularly desirable when the limiting factor is how much stress the rim can withstand without cracking around the spoke hole.


If you want the toughest big guy wheels around you should look into DT Alpines. Again from Sheldon

Triple-butted spokes, such as the DT Alpine III, are the best choice when durability and reliability is the primary aim, as with tandems and bicycles for loaded touring. They share the advantages of single-butted and double-butted spokes. The DT Alpine III, for instance, is 2.34 mm (13 gauge) at the head, 1.8 mm (15 gauge) in the middle, and 2.0 mm (14 gauge) at the threaded end.
Single- and triple-butted spokes solve one of the great problems of wheel design: Since spokes use rolled, not cut threads, the outside diameter of the threads is larger than the base diameter of the spoke wire. Since the holes in the hub flanges must be large enough to fit the threads through, the holes, in turn are larger than the wire requires. This is undesirable, because a tight match between the spoke diameter at the elbow and the diameter of the flange hole is crucial to resisting fatigue-related breakage.


I've been running a set of wheels with these spokes for 5 hard years without problems.

However, since he's looking for a new bike, I'd stick with the stock stuff until something broke. The bike is going to give him years of service (at a low ride frequency) without much problem.

If you want to spend more, step up to a Stumpjumper hardtail. You can get a really nice one for around $1400 (starting price). If you want discs on it, you'll have to pony up another $300. The base one comes with v-brakes (adequate for most situations) and disc ready hubs if you want to add disc later.

There are lots of other options in the same price ranges. Go to a shop and ride everything you can get your hands on...from hardtails to duallies. Pick the one you like best.
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Old 04-25-07, 03:13 PM
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Hi guys, just letting you know I ended up getting a Bianchi DOSS 6600. I'm happy with it thus far, and it's holding up to my big frame over several rough rides so far. Thanks for the pointers
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