Big Guy advice... Help Wanted!
 

Hello everyone. This is my second post... my first one was my introduction. I am in the process of buying a bike. I have been looking over everyone's posts and gleaning from it what I can. I went out this weekend and spoke with two different bike shops. I got two different answers let me run them by you and see what your thoughts are.

Local Bike Shop #1 suggested that I go with a Surly Long Haul Trucker about $1200 to $1500. This is way out of my budget. But he said that its a cruiser and it would really last. I asked if I could go less and he suggested a Jamis but he said he the wheels are from China and he would suggest he build a set of custom wheels for me.

Local Bike Shop #2 a Trek Bike Store, I spoke with the General Manager and he suggested I go with a Verve or Verve 2 and get him to build some custom wheels for about 350 for the back wheel. I think I can just get the rear one for now instead of dropping another 700 on wheels. I can get the Verve 1 for about $399 + the cost of a new seat and custom wheels.

Let me know your thoughts. I wanted to try and stay below $800 or $900 if possible. Thanks for your thoughts.

If/when spending more increases the chances of your riding more, spend more. I spent more than 2x what I intended on my first serious bike ... and I've now put over 7.5K miles on it. Worth every penny.

That said, you can save a lot by buying used; assume an expensive tune up (a guy I know owns a shop and he budgets about 30% for a serious overhaul) and speciality/custom wheels/spoke lacing. If the used bike is in great shape, you may put off the really serious tune until you've got a few thousand miles on the puppy (mine came at 5K).

Staying within your budget is important. But so is the fit of your bike. Were you able to test ride any of these bikes?

And when I say "fit"; it's not just ergonomics.
But how does the bike handle, stop, accelerate, etc.

@interceptor Thanks for the suggestion. I just assumed they would have to have the bike for me to test ride it. I will reach out to them today and let you know what they say. @Khb I agree with you 100% I believe in buying the right bike first. I did some looking over the past 3-4 weeks and I could not find anything locally that was the 22.5 height I need. So it looks like I will be buying new.

What did you base your 'budget' on? Many people just choose a number they think they'd like to pay. You are far better off looking at all the bikes, then deciding which one suits you and which you are willing to pay for. You do tend to get what you pay for.

On the other hand, I've been cycling for 50 years and have a pretty good idea of what I like and want. Although this has left me set in my ways, it made the selection easier when I went shopping for a new bike late in 2017.

My basic advice is always to look at everything, get confused but keep looking and re-looking. Eventually you find yourself coming back to one bike or style of bike and when it comes to laying down the cash, buy the bike you fall in love with. Provided you can actually find the money, you'll always love your bike long after the pain of paying for it fades and conversely, if you went 'budget' and bought the wrong one, you'll often remember and regret the compromises.

Perfect used starter rigid mountain bike and it is reconditioned.

https://charleston.craigslist.org/bi...519148804.html

My first real bike I bought last year was a Jamis DXT Comp, I put about 500 miles on it before I needed a new back wheel because of multiple broken spokes. They put on a cheap but strong wheel and it has been great since, but I only use it now for gravel trails.

I ended up buying a used but perfect condition All-City Mr. Pink, with Shimano 105 components. I REALLY enjoy the Mr. Pink, I got 20 miles in on it yesterday on only my 3rd ride of the year. I would highly recommend finding a higher end bike that is used with better components, you can really get more bang for your buck.

I agree with a used bike (just make sure you need a 22" bike frame if you look at this one). Deal with the wheels down the road if you have any issues.


Of course, I've never purchased a new bike either. Just newer used bikes. There are plenty of them out there with almost zero miles on them.

Curious on how much you weigh? Some clydes think of themselves really big, but only weigh 240-260lbs and 32 spoke wheels on pavement work just fine.

When I was over 300lbs myself (around 370lbs when I started biking), I was using 32 spoke wheels without a problem, until I started attempting mountain biking and going over some rocks following my kid. Only then did I ruin the rear wheel.

But, there are some decent and inexpensive wheels with 36 spoke that can be had and can handle riders in the upper 300lb range.

Example, check out my post number 437 here: https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bi...-today-15.html

Haven't had problems with these wheels at all after having the spokes tightened properly at the LBS.

Ok, just read your introduction. Are you planning on just riding pavement or trails?

I would suggest if you get either bike, just keep the wheels and ride them until you ruin them. You may end up finding that they will work fine. Example the Verve you looked at has 32 spokes, but a bigger tire, which in my opinion is a good idea for us Clydes since it softens the road or gravel imperfections and thus protect the wheel better.

The Long Haul Trucker and the Verve are very different types of bikes. The Surly is built for loaded touring and with an upgraded wheel set, would be an excellent choice for loaded touring, day trips, multi day charity rides.

The Verve would be a good choice for casual rides of 10 miles or less, or shorter rides generally. If you really had to, you might be able to ride an occasional ride of 40 or 50 miles with it, but the geometry would limit your speed and the comfortable upright position would become fatiguing on rides longer than 2 hours.

Now, if you haven't ridden in awhile you might say that 2 hours is a lot, but if you get the cycling bug, you could easily find yourself riding longer rides in fairly short order.

Which ever bike you buy, it makes sense to upgrade the back wheel.

@MRT2 - Thanks for the info. I put a down payment on the bike. They are ordering it and I will get to test ride it. They quoted me a set of wheels with 40 spokes on the back and 36 on the front. The wheels are from Velocity and are about $400 for the set and the bike is 399 so $800 plus tax. Is what I am looking at. I don't think that is too bad.

Thanks everyone for the input. I think I will start with Casual riding with the family and see where this takes me. If I catch the bug I don't mind spending the money on a different bike. We have 4 kids so off to find a bike rack for 6 bikes!
@travbikeman - I thought about that too. I liked the idea of the bigger tires. I will talk with them.

Jamis is a good manufacturer. I used one with stock wheels as my first over $200 bike and while I outgrew it eventually I had a lot of fun until then. Highly recommend.