Jefffred05

As the title says I weigh 360 pounds and am 6 ft 4. I'm 23 and haven't touched a bike since I was 12. (Hence the reason I'm now a uber clyde!) I've found walking/jogging to not be my cup of tea but if I'm to get down to 250 I need to find cardio I can stick with. I'm looking for a bike to ride 5-6 days a week, paved ground only, and I'm looking to spend no more than 400-500.

I know nothing of bikes except for what I've been able to absorb from reading this forum for the last 5 hours

What type of bike, rims, brakes, seat, stim, etc should a heavy tall guy like me get?

Should I go to a LBS or order online?

Also, I live in Orlando if anyone is familiar with LBS here.

Thanks for the help and I'm glad I found these forums!

doc0c

Hi Jeff, welcome to the forum. I'm new here myself, but it gets quite addictive after a while. It's also nice to know that there's a community out there that can answer most questions one may have about cycling.
As a bigger rider myself, I find that comfort is top priority if I'm going to stick with the sport. For that reason, I ride a commuter bicycle to work and back, which allows for an upright posture while trading off speed. The next priority would be the weight rating of the bike. My bike is rated at 270lbs, which I come very close to when counting in the pannier bag on the rack, the bike itself, and of course me and my clothes. This means I have to keep my tires overinflated at all times so I don't ride the rims.
In your case, you mention that you only need this bike for exercise, so your choice of vehicle will probably not be the same as mine. Do think about your comfort, frame size, tire size, and weight rating of the bike. Your LBS should be able to help you out in choosing the perfect bike for you.

PS After doing some quick research I found that the Kona Hoss has a weight rating of 400lbs. Take a look at this bike and see if it meets your needs.

Jefffred05

Thanks for the tip. I want to get a rough idea of what the community recommends before going into a LBS. I use to be in sales and there was nothing better than a customer that wanted to buy something they knew nothing about.

Comfort is going to very important to me starting off because I don’t see myself getting up on the pedals any time soon. I've been sitting on my butt in front of a computer for the last 2 years so it will be rather difficult starting out.

malux

I live in Orlando as well (Winter Garden). If you're out this way: The Cycling Hub in Clermont is great. Winter Garden Wheel Works is also good. Downtown way look for: Orange Cycle.

I would recommend AGAINST buying online because you'll need to assemble it and then pay again to tune it a month or so later. You should be able to get a trek hybrid in your price range, but it's going to be close.

The Madone 1.1 Road is closer to $600 i think. With your weight, wheels might be an issue. There are wheel experts on here, but I'm not one of them (maybe one day ).

Craigslist might be an option if you know what to look for, but always add 100-200 to the price of a Craigslist bike to get it tuned, etc.

I would start at an LBS and go from there, use the forum to help you along

JaxGator

Hey there, another newbie and clyde(6'2" 250). I was looking to get into road after an 8 year layoff from mtb riding. I'm up in Jacksonville and hit up a couple of local bike shops(also posted some questions in the "under $700 bike thread" on here which is a great resource). Had a great experience at the LBS even though I told the guy up front that I was price sensitive and not looking to spend much. He brought over a couple different size frames for me to try, got things adjusted and fit to me and I bought my first road bike yesterday. Was able to get a 2010(last model year) trek 1.1 for $560. Another shop told me I was too late to take advantage of last year model prices, but after looking around he was able to find a 2010 Specialized that he could do for $550, about $300 less than the new model. So if you're looking to save some money, that's a good road to go.

The biggest thing I learned, that would make me shy away from online(at least until I'm more experienced and know more about frame geometry) was that when the guy initially sized me for the bike, he said I should need a 60 CM based on specs and measurements. They only had the Trek 1.2 in 60($200 more) but had a 1.1 in 62CM. He brought both over from his other shop for me to try out and it turned out that the 62CM was a better fit because of the longer top tube. And after having a couple of adjustments done, it felt great. Finally understood why everyone says that making sure you get the right fit is the most important thing.

exile

There is nothing wrong with going into different LBS and asking for advice. You can search used as well. Cragslist, coops, LBS that sell used, auctions, pawn shops, and garage sales are all choices. I am a fan of the early to mid 90's rigid mountain bikes. They were pretty heavy duty and some had a geometry more along the lines of a touring bike.

malux

I went that route and got a great deal on a Trek 2.1. Best to be careful if you go this route. if the person is a cyclist, they shouldn't mind going to the LBS to check it out before buying it. If not, see if any of your friends are qualified to point out issues on a bike.

Wogster

I've been around here for years, and am more then twice your age, except for extremely light weight racing bicycles, pretty much any frame will carry the weight. The key is the wheels, you need heavy duty rims, the double wall deep-V style rims are pretty much the best for this, you want them wide enough to handle a wide tire, a 35mm wide (1.4") wide tire is probably about right. The frame needs to have the clearance for those tires. Stay away from any form of suspension, most suspension forks (except some top of the line air ones) are designed for riders about half your weight, which means it is ineffective.

Generally the best option is to go to an LBS and try several bikes, if you can't find anything in your budget, consider a pre-owned bicycle. There are lots of makes and models that will do, a lot of larger riders start with an older mountain bike (mid to late 1980's) with a solid fork, put on some nice wide, smooth tires and your good for the road, until you get the weight under control. You need a bicycle that fits you close enough that it can be properly fitted to you. A bicycle that fits, will be comfortable, and you will want to ride it. When you need to go somewhere and you automatically grab your helmet rather then the car keys, you have arrived.

You also need a few things, other then the bicycle to make riding easy:

1) Helmet, there is no conclusive evidence that they do anything in a crash, why take chances. I think the biggest safety advantage to a helmet is to identify you as a cyclist when your lower parts are obscured.
2) Cycling gloves, they make riding easier with a sure grip and it isolates your hands from the bars, mine live inside my helmet when I am not on the bicycle.
3) Pump, tire levers, extra tube. Flats are a fact of life on bicycles, having a frame pump, tire levers and a spare tube along with a little knowledge on changing out the tube, means you can fix it and motor on, without needing to call a SAG or worse do the walk of shame.
4) Bicycle shorts.






One thing that is important though, this is not your last bike, it's your first bike, don't expect it to be perfect for all riding.

Jefffred05

Are there any particular brands I should be looking for? Should I upgrade the seat post?

From what I gathered I need to get a MT bike frame and upgrade the rims and tires on it?

Wogster

All major brands have suitable models, the Specialized Hardrock seems to be a group favourite, if you can find one with a solid fork (typically late 80's to mid 90's) you should be fine. The only problem is, being 6'4" you need a pretty large frame, and they can be hard to find. The most common size seems to be 18"-19" (mountain bikes are measured in inches, no clue why, road bikes haven't been measured that way since the early 1980's) where as you probably need closer to 24". If you go with a mountain bike, and end up buying a newer one with the suspension fork, look for one that has a lockout

Burr

Welcome Jeff!

Be sure to get a checkup from a doctor and tell him what you are going to do.

Boyd Reynolds

Hi Jeff, and welcome.

I agree with Wogsterca about the suspension; you don't want it. Pretty much everything on a bike will handle your weight with no difficulty except the rear wheel. On a budget of $400-$500 you likely won't have room for upgraded wheels, but if you start with a mountain bike you might not need them. Stock mountain bike wheels are usually pretty stout, so you might be OK. Whatever you end up with, I suggest that you ride it as is until it fails you and start saving now for a better rear wheel.

If you like cycling you'll probably want a different bike somewhere along the line when you know more about what you want and don't want in a bike, so this bike won't have to last you forever.

One note about comfort: Everyone gets a sore rear end when they first start riding. It's normal, and it goes away after a few weeks. Don't let that soreness convince you that your bike is wrong, you saddle is wrong, or that cycling is wrong for you.

Good luck and good riding!

Peter_C

Welcome to the herd.

What you wish to do can be done. An LBS (IMO) is the only way to go, as you will have many, many questions and issues as you get started.

If you are bored, you can reread some of my early threads, as they deal with the question of what to get, etc... many great replies~!

The secret in my book, is to buy what you will ride today, not what you think you will become. In other words, my dream bike is a Surly LHT. Can't afford it, but even if I could, would be the wrong bike for me to start with~! I needed a "comfort" bike - and stand by my 2010 Giant Suede DX (bout $450) - yes, had wheel issues at 500 miles, replaced with better under warrenty - and that was it.

Only other point if I may? Ride every single day - even if for five minutes, but every day. Make it a habit...

root11

Welcome to the forum! Where do you plan on riding (road, offroad trails, etc.)? If you are on the road you might like a road bike better as the bars have more hand positions. I have the raleigh sojourn which is sold as a touring bike (usually designed for heavier loads and a more relaxed position than a racing bike) and have really liked it. I has space for bigger tires, fenders for riding in the rain, low gearing to help get up hills, and comes with a brooks b17 saddle which I have found comfortable. A pair of cycling shorts will help prevent chaffing and provide padding for your rear end. I have a couple of bibs from aerotech designs https://www.aerotechdesigns.com/bibshort.htm that have served me well ( and they sell sizes that fit big people).

Good luck finding a bike and stick with it.

Jefffred05

I plan on riding road/paved bike trails only. About what CM road bike should I be looking for if im 6'4?

From what I'm gathering is buy a stock road bike and ride it till I have problems with the wheels and then upgrade them when I can. Do I need to worry about seat posts or should most stock ones work?

adam_mac84

https://www.helmets.org/stats.htm

There is a stat box on helmets vs no helmets in cycling related deaths about 1/2 way down. Id take a gander there.

LarDasse74

Welcome!

If I were you I would start my search at a bike shop. There are many advantages to this, but the primary one, in my opinion, is the selection of sizes and ability to set up a bike to suit your dimensions. I am 6'4" tall, too, and I need the largest size available in almost every off-the-rack bike on the market. A good bike shop will have multiple models in different sizes, and they should take the time to adjust or swap handlebars, stems and saddles to get the bike comfortable for you. Making the bike comfortable while riding is the most important aspect of selecting a bike. A $4000 wonder-bike that does not fit properly will be less fun to ride than a properly fitted $300 rigid mountain bike.

Also, suspension is not advisable when buying a $400 bike - the price for a decent suspension fork is almost as much as your budget for a whole bike, and many will not be adjustable up to the point where they actually suspend you - they will be bottomed out as soon as you sit on it (this is a problem for people starting at about 200 lbs). A well equipped shop might have a bike that suits you in every way except for a wimpy little suspension fork, and they might have a good rigid fork they can replace the suspension with if you decide to buy the bike! The same goes for suspension seatposts.

As for durability, like others have said the wheels are the primary concern. Luckily, if wheel failure occurs it is after riding for a while, and then you can simply replace with something more robust. What has not been mentioned is that the primary cause of wheel failure is not poor quality, but poor assembly - the wheels are generally machine built in Asia and not given another thought, but for maximum durability they spokes need to be properly tensioned and stress relieved by an experienced person before you start riding, then probably retensioned after a few weeks of riding. Most of this should be included in the purchase price of the bicycle, but if you have any concerns about the ability of the shop to do it (not every shop has a wheel building expert) it is worth it to pay someone a few $$ to do it at another shop.

Anyhoo, good luck! Feel free to post any questions, comments, experiences... or anything!

Wogster

That actually doesn't prove anything, because if someone had their arm ripped off and bled to death, whether they were wearing a helmet or not would be immaterial, but they would still be on one side or the other of the page. The only way to prove that helmets are effective is to crash in the same way with and without one and compare injuries, and then it would only prove effectiveness in that particular type of crash. Another telling stat from the same page is that 26% of those deaths involved a person who had alcohol in their blood -- not sure if that applies to just the cyclist, or the driver that hit them. A person on a bicycle who has been drinking is less likely to use a helmet, which would skew the results.

adam_mac84

That's probably true. But i would say that the much larger % of cycling related deaths being non-helmet wearers is a good reason to wear one. Also, 1/3 of evidence based practice in medicine is clinical experience, and being in brain injury rehab, i can defiantly say that in my experience, wearing a helmet will most certainly improve your chances of a brain injury free survival. I will look further to see if they ran those same statistics controlling for non-alcohol related injuries. In those statistics it was also cited that the majority of cycling related deaths were resulting from brain injuries. There are more deaths in non-helmet wearing cyclists, and the of the deaths, the majority were from head injuries. Obviously there is no P values listed, but that is good enough for me.

You had mentioned that there wasn't any conclusive evidence for helmet use, and I was merely showing statics that MAY suggest one might want to wear one, because there is without question no evidence to suggest that they will cause additional problems in an accident.

For the record, I also only posted out the site and where to find the information. I made no suggestions how the OP should interpret it. That is up to each individual.

Wogster

Yes one might want to wear one if you look at the photo, you will see that I do in fact wear one, even though I don't buy the absolute requirement of one. You want to discuss this further, send me a PM.

Peter_C

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Jefffred05

Lol. In regards to the helm, I've actually seen a car swerve near a bike and yell wear a helm A** etc twice. So if nothing else, I'll wear one to appease the unsafe, safety conscious.

Jefffred05

Anyone familiar with Orlando area LBSs? Which ones to go too, which ones to stay away from? Davids world cycle and orange cycle seem to have decent reviews. I'll most go kick some tires Tuesday.

cappuccino911

My thoughts regarding size I'm 6'3" 235lbs. One of my bikes is a giant Rapid 3 flat bar road bike. it is about $550. the flat bars will keep you more upright than a regualr road bike, which is generally regarded as being more comfortable. The frame has what is known as "compact geometry" or a sloping top tube. the measurement is 58.5" but the real effective measurement is 63cm. this bike is huge, it borders on being too big for me at 6'3" This bike has a cromoly steel fork so that is going to be plenty beefy.

You ABSOLUTELY need upgraded tires vs what comes stock in most situations. the rapid comes with 700x28c tires with a max pressure rating of 85, realistically at 235 i needed 100 lbs of pressure, you would need closer to 120 in that sized tire and generally they don't make tires that size that can take that much pressure therefore, you will want to upgrade to a larger 32c tire that you can run around 100psi (the larger the tire the lower the pressure it needs) this will also make it ride more comfortable.

Stock rims will probably work for you but the LBS MUST give them a thorough working over and tensioning of them to make sure you don't start popping spokes. Other than this, you will certainly want an upgraded saddle starting out and probably a decent pair of shorts. And anyone who says don't wear a helmet is a complete ****ing knucklehead. A helmet cant hurt you and can only help you. An ******* ran me off the road 4 weeks after I got my rapid last spring, i supermanned over the bars at 25mph and smacked my head good on the pavement, my first thought was "wow, that didn't hurt! this helmet did it's job!" it was hard enough to crack my helmet. It definately saved me from serious injury.

malux

if you're out in the Winter Garden/Clermont area you can also try The Cycling Hub and Winter Garden Wheel Works.