LOL no certainly not a newbie, yeah I know test ride some bikes just wondering what was out there since I bought my last bike 5 years ago. About fatter tires, my Raleigh had 32's on it and I thought those were pretty fat, my fuji road bike I used to run 18-20's inflated to 110 to 120 psi, and I used to break spokes all the time on that bike. Well yeah the raleigh like I said weighed it at about 30 lbs, the fuji about 22 or 23 and the recumbent was about 32 lbs, so 24 or 25 would be a good weight I guess it just boils down to if a bike that weight is in my price range.