Originally Posted by
firesfate
I have addressed my bicycle wants a couple times on the Clyde/Athena forums. I am back at it again looking into what bike I want. I have been off and on about wanting a touring bike, specifically the Surly Disc Trucker. Every time I look at the bike and get interested, that kid in me wants the speed so I start looking at other bicycles and wondering if they will hold up to me.
I had visions of taking a tour here and there on a bicycle but the more I think on it, I am not planning to do that anytime soon. I plan to and from work for exercise and because I just love to bike. It is about 13 miles away to my station and that distance is well within my capability. I may need to carry a few things here and there or perhaps go to the grocery store and get a few things. So in my normal day of bicycle curiosity I came across this article
Goodbye Trek 520: A lesson in choosing the right thing to buy and it pretty much hit the nail on the head.
So I am here to ask... will a different bike like Trek CrossRip Elite, Giant Anyroad Comax, Giant Fastroad Comax, Scattante SC650 Cross 2 and similar, hold up to a guy my size at 6'3" 400 lbs? Maybe carry some groceries on occasion? I understand that wheels are the typical weak link and I accept I will put money into them for quality hand built wheels with a high spoke count....but will the bikes hold up?
Honestly, don't pay too much attention to the guy with the Trek 520 because he really doesn't know what he is talking about. If the goal is to have a bike that can be "use[d] for commuting, hauling stuff around town (groceries) and running errands", it is really hard to find something that would do it better than a touring bike. That's what they are built for and they have all the rack mounts you need to accomplish the task without the warts of a shorter chainstay "racier" bike. The CoMax bikes, for example, don't have rack mounts. If you want to get groceries you'll either have to wear a backpack or pull a trailer. Neither is all that conducive to speed.
The CrossRip and Scattante can be fitted with a rack but the chainstays on the bikes are short and if you have feet larger than about a size 9...I'm assuming that your feet are a bit bigger than that..., you'll be clipping even a small set of panniers with your heels on each pedal stroke. That gets annoying very quickly.
If you really want a good, all around bike, go with a touring bike. There's nothing wrong with the other bikes but they just aren't "grocery" getters. If speed is really a goal, you can pedal the touring bike faster or get a "fast" bike for those days when you don't need to carry around stuff.