Westjw2

I am 6,5 230 lbs. I have been commuting to school on an old schwin 68cm frame. It fits me well. I am interested in buying a new mountain bike to get into the sport. I want a hard tail in the 600-1,000 price range. I have been on 21 in trek frames at my lbs but wasn't happy with the way they fit. I was thinking about a 22in frame but have found only Kona bikes that come in a 22in. These are the bikes i am interested in:

Kona Cinder Cone
https://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/C...ONE/index.html

Kona Caldera
https://www.konaworld.com/bikes/2k7/CALDERA/index.html

Gary Fisher Cobia
https://fisherbikes.com/bikes/bike_de...9er&bike=Cobia

Does anyone know of other manufactures that make 22in, or larger mtn bikes?

(51)

I have a 25" Trek 7200 (Hybrid). I suppose you could convert it into a true mountain bike.

martianone

i have a Trek 4500 with a 24 inch frame.
it fits me pretty well, but i did change the stem to one with more angle (don't recall the exact dimension)
however i'm only about 6'4", so not quite as tall as you
are, but probably a little wider.

cousincletus

I have a 2006 Giant Yukon mountain bike with the 25" frame. That's the largest frame I was able to find, but the bike is Chinese made (I would have preferred American made, but don't know of any that have a large frame). I am 6'5", 255# and the bike, with a few modifications, fits me well. The mods I have done are: Riser handlebar stem, C-9 wide seat w/suspension, hybrid tires, alloy pedals, kick stand. I have about $600 into the bike total. When I picked up my bike, the bike shop swapped the knobby tires for smooth ones of equal value, just paid them for the labor.

e78990

Hey,

I am 6'6"... had the Trek 4500 24inches... AWESOME BIKE! Can t believe I sold it, I miss it dearly! It will fit you very very well. It is a huge bike.
If you are looking for a big mtn bike at a DECENT price, look at the Giant NRS. They make a 22.5" and they are very nice.
Good choice on the Fisher 29er, I would go with that or the X-Caliber.

So... overall my vote would go for the 29er fisher.

K

nate c

I have a Soma Smoothie ES. Similiar to their standard smoothie, the ES has drop outs, room for fenders, and a slightly more relaxed / touring geometry.

https://www.somafab.com/extrasmoothie.html

Note they are available in sizes up to a 66cm (I am 6'4 / 200lbs and ride a 64cm ).

I like it quite a bit. My last bike prior to this was a LeMond Buenos Aires... This Soma is heavier, but more comfortable to commute and better suited for Panniers, (also better suited to the 30lbs I have gained since my days riding the LeMond.

Regards,

Nate

(51)

https://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdales-athenas-200-lb-91-kg/267978-400lb-x-7ft-rider-needs-wheels-large-road-bike.html

barndoor

I've just purchased the biggest road bike frame I've ever seen.....a 71cm Panasonic road frame off of eBay. I can't wait to put this thing together and see what I come up with! I also have a pair of 66cm Cannondales and an old Schwinn Traveler 25" framed bike.....no puny 60cm's for me!

btw....I'm 6'7" 280....so kind of need a slightly larger frame

andymac

Give some serious consideration to what sort of riding you will actually do before you really start shopping and then try to test ride some bikes off road or at least bouncing off some curbs before you make a decision. If you are likely only to be on rolling single track trails then you will probably want to look at a cross-country style bike. If you are more likely to do some downhill and ride ladder bridges, etc. you are going to want to look at more of an all mountain bike.

Take a look at Norco if you have a dealer nearby, they have a huge range of bikes, including some taller ones. I ride an upgraded 22 inch Norco Rival and I am a few inches taller than you. As a base bike it is pretty good but there are a lot of compromises (cheap cranks, cassette, derailleur). This is pretty typical in the sub 1000 range but you can get by with the stock set up and upgrade as you break things.
If you are used to riding a tall road bike most mountain bikes will feel odd but that odd feeling may be what you will actually want when you hit the trails. The bottom brackets are typically much higher on a mountain bike so adding a really long seat tube to this already elevated position can put you way up there. My off road riding area has lots of relatively skinny ladder bridges and places where I am really uncomfortable if I can not get my foot down when I need to so I would never consider riding a bike taller than 22 inch . I prefer to ride a bike with a sloping top tube and a really long seat post so I raise the seat and straighten my legs out if I need to but still be able to drop the seat way down for the downhill sections. If you are in an area with lots of downhill sections you may also want to look at the head tube angles. My current hard tail has similar angles to the Kona bikes you linked (around 69 degrees), I regret that decision and am looking at replacing the frame, possibly with a Norco Sasquatch frame (20 inch frame with a 66 degree angle). The slacker head angle lets you sit back more on the downhill and take weight off the front wheel when you need to, I recently had a chance to try a bike with slacker angles than mine and it was a bit of a revelation on the downhill sections, not so good on the climb as I had to work harder to keep my body position.

Prior to buying my bike I tried several others including a few Trek. The 21.5 inch Trek is quite a tall fitting bike but I wasn’t comfortable riding it.

Westjw2

Thanks for everyones imput.

metal_cowboy

Gunnar makes a 23.5" mountain bike frame. I think you would spend close to a grand on just the frame and fork, but it would be a sweet ride.