Hello everyone,

After giving my commute a test run on my bike, I decided it's something I want to do on a consistent basis. However, there is a problem. The bike I use now is in terrible shape and it doesn't fit me anyway. To give you all an idea on its condition, I once went to my nearby bike shop and asked for them to check up on it and they politely refused after tinkering a little bit with it. With all of its problems, it would cost more to repair it than replace it with a new one. I am not certain, but I also think they were trying to hint that it wasn't even safe to use!

Anyway, I need a new bike. Last time I went to a used bike shop they couldn't find me one in their inventory that would have been a good fit. And if I wanted one that did, I'd have to get it custom made or I would have to buy it new (The guy quoted $1000+). I definitely can't afford that. 200-500 is an acceptable range for me.

The commute is 6 miles one way, a third of it going uphill at a constant 30 degree angle (on the way to work). Some of the roads are not in great condition.

Should I make do with a smaller bike? Am I hopeless? Should I provide more details? I am not an experienced biker so forgive me if this is a no-brainer. I am not asking for anyone to do any research for me but just for some general advice.

Thank you all!

Matt

You can always watch eBay for big road bikes. Get your shop to do a fitting session and take your measurements. Pay them for this. They should be able to tell you what size bike you need, top tube length, etc. Then you can watch eBay for what's going to fit. Big bikes turn up there occasionally. It's going to be difficult for you to find a used bike in such a large size. Your budget is going to make that difficult.

Your commute is short now, but a bike that fits will make you want to ride more.

Here's an online framesize calculator: https://www.ebicycles.com/bicycle-tools/frame-sizer

Or you could buy this hot red Bianchi Strada road bike. Looks like it even has rack and fender eyelets. Not my listing!~

https://cgi.ebay.com/Bianchi-Strada-R...item5d2e7ed9a1

There are probably some strategies to modify a bike with tall stems and tall seat posts that could result in an acceptable fit for a tall person - if that would work would depend a lot on the frame.
Have never had to do that as I am a short 6'1".

Don't think that you will find a bike to get you up a 30% grade. 20% is very steep.

What do you have like a 38in inseam? You need something like a 27in/ 68cm Ideally. Few and far between on the used market but they do pop up on craigstlist on occasion. You might get away with the more common 63cm/25 inch with a long seat post and long stem for a while.
You near any major cities?

Craigslist all the way wismer, and you want to find bikes that were built in the 70's to early 80's. I'm tall as well and weigh 250. I bought a new 64cm Motobecane Cross which I basically did a complete build on afterwords with custom wheelset, carbon cross fork, longer crankset, carbon seatpost, etc. etc. But for kicks I bought two old 27" Schwinns off my local Craigslist. And when I say 27", I'm referring to the FRAME size. 27" translates to about a 69cm frame. BIG

They do not make production frames that big anymore, and aside from a custom build, you cannot go wrong with purchasing a bike from this era for fit. Put a long quill stem on I can't imagine you needing a bigger bike. A bike like this will also allow your wrenching skills to develop as you learn to work on it. (Something I think is fun to do but also necessary.)

I have a hard time believing the lbs would hint that your bike is unsafe. You'd think they'd tell you something like that in no uncertain terms, or at least indicate what they worried about. You could come right out and ask them if they think it's dangerous.

I guess that doesn't make it fit either way.

With your size, if you cant' find a used one, maybe you could get a low cost Bikes Direct bike and make some modifications to get you want you want within your budget.

I'd say go to a store and try out a few bikes to see what works and then see if something comes up on your local adds. What area are you in?

Mountain bikes usually have long top tubes and stems which is important here because it may be difficult for you to find a road bike with enough reach. Mountain bikes usually have long cranks and there are now 29er bikes, which mean bigger wheels as well. A bit more reach can be added with drop bars instead of flat bars

i'm 6'5" and i feel like I'm at the edge of bike sizes. It isnt very often I see a large bike on CL, but when I do they are usually low end and trashed. I found one in decent shape but it is low end. It's not often I get a frame my size so I chose to build it up anyway.

There are bikes floating around that is your size, you just have to do a whole lot of searching. I see ginormous bikes on ebay from time to time.

I'd get a tall road bike and use flat handlebars with it. This will help you maintain an upright posture (less reach = more upright).

I usually ride a 62cm bike, but I do just fine on a bike I have with a 51cm seat tube and a 56cm top tube, because of the flat bars.

Aye, aye, Craigslist, Ebay or perhaps something from BikesDirect. At 6'3" I've found that a 410mm Thomson Elite seat post can help even things out, too.
Good luck!

You should be able to find a suitable frame, that with suitable seatpost and stem, can be made to work.

The road conditions suggest a setup similar to what I have used: low, mountain bike gearing for the hills and fat tires on strong wheels for the road conditions. 26x1.75 would probably work or 700x35c should also work. You give your height, but not inseam length or weight. I have always been heavy and bending rims with small section tires was always a possibility.

I'm 6'6" with a 36-inch inseam. I'm riding a huge old 1975 Schwinn Continental (The old Varsity came in the same size, but is heavier) with 27" wheels. (See my restoration blog at https://1975continental.blogspot.com) I barely have the seat raised on this thing. I picked the bike up used (very) for $50.00 back in about 2003. There were millions of these bikes made in the 70's & 80's. They're deraillure-shifted ten speed road bikes, steel frame. These bikes are often overlooked in a world of 25-speed bikes made of carbon fiber, aluminum, and ultralight alloys. However, they fit tall guys like us well, and they're pretty durable. You can probably do a solid functional restoration on one for $100.00 - $200.00. It might cost you $400.00 or so to do a full restoration including aesthetics. It's a thought, anyway.

Regards,

Dan

One useful bike to watch out for is the old Cannondale tourer, and archetypal big-guys bike.
A good big bike needs fat tubing for stiffness. Traditional bikes from 1970s/1980s use standard thin tubing in longer length for big sizes. This is not stiff enough and the frame is typically "noodly". The use of fat tubes in smaller frames gives them the reputation for "excessive stiffness"; that is not an issue in xxxl sizes.

The Cannondale tourer is well build, well proven by plenty of big riders and provides a good, practical ride.

The largest production MTB size is 23". You could probably make this fit OK with a suitable seatpost and stem. Put some slick tyres on and it will be OK on the road.
29" MTBs use a touring/hybrid size wheel (700c) which is good for big riders.

For the ultimate Big-Guys bike, see Zinn, his custom bikes are way above your budget but a useful inspiration.
Crank size is critical to correct sizing outside the norm. The largest common size is 175mm which is small for you. This limits your spinning circle, constricts your lanky leg movements and makes you inefficient. A longer crank will make the whole bike fit you better BUT they are hard to find and expensive. See Zinn for more info.

Philadelphia. I made a similar thread in the General forum and this one fellow found one that is around my size on craigslist: https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/2358713846.html . I'm not a big fan of those foot straps and it seems those tires would be too thin on the rough patches I have to bike through. I did go to a local bike shop a year ago in hopes of finding a good bike for use but they searched their whole inventory and nothing fit me with a few notable exceptions (but were priced way over 500).

Damnit, I just hope I find something before summer hits!

Thanks all for your advice. Each one of you offered some valuable info that I will be looking into over the next couple of weeks. Much appreciated.

AND THEN I FOUND THIS!

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/2359564712.html

Tires are still thin but 36" is my leg size!

That bike looks pretty nice. You can take the foot straps off or just buy a different set of pedals. You can put some wider tires on the bike, but I can't tell how wide you could go. In your market I would think you would be able to find something on craigsliust.

Check this out. For $100 you could do a bunch to it and still be within your price range and those older frames usually took wider tires. In 100 postings I saw at least 3 road bikes that would be your size.

https://philadelphia.craigslist.org/bik/2359564712.html

Yea, I saw that moments after posting. It looks promising.

Wow, that doesn't sound like it would be too tough to find a bike to fit. I am a little shorter than you, at 6' 4" but my inseam is 36". I find a 62cm is plenty of bike for me and I can make out just fine on my son's bike that is 61cm.

Good luck.

+1 I know another tall guy with one and I'm jealous.

You should be able to find something decent in Philly. Check out Coops, Craigslist, garage sales, and auctions. Like mentioned before replacing pedals and/or tires shouldn't be a problem. Your biggest problem will be finding bikes in your size.

If your current bike is to small it probably isn't worth putting money into it. However, do ask what is wrong with it. You might be able to find parts through the internet for cheaper, and do the work yourself.

Missed that part. Measured 36" inseam and I weigh 170. Sometimes may carry 10-15 of books.

I know I'm thin. Been trying to gain weight off and on for years.

Somehow there's water in the frame, the seat is rusted shut, I can only shift to two gears out of 10 (really only 1, there is a little grinding going on from the shifter and the chain) and the brakes barely work. When I had it looked at I think one of the mechanics' mentioned the integrity of the frame may have been compromised.

It's a Takara bike. Unsure if that's a good manufacturer.

have a look at the trek fx series. They have a few hybrids in their bottom range (7.0, 7.1 & 7.2fx) which offer 25" frames. I have a 7.2fx in 25" that I got for $600 and I'm 6'5". It suits me like a glove. The 7.1 and 7.0 are even cheaper.

Without seeing your bike its hard to say what exactly to do, but from your description it doesn't sound that bad. You probably can use something like WD40 to remove the seat and let the frame air dry. After that you probably need to replace the cables, chain, and brakes. Usually not that expensive or difficult of a job.

However since the bike is to small anyway, don't worry about it. I figured you might have been able to make do or at least learn how to fix it yourself or sell it. I bought my LHT from Trophy Bikes in Philly. When I was there they had an area where people could bring in their bikes and fix them.

Just scour Craigslist and see what comes along. Did you contact the two sellers from your other post? It'll probably be cheaper in the long run to get something used and in decent shape.

Yea, the Schwinn Roadster is what I will be looking into this weekend. The other seller seemed sketchy and was not being flexible with time.

Trophy Bikes was the place I took my old bike in to get it looked at, actually. Nice people. The owner was explaining to me in the nicest terms possible that he was not going to repair it.

The other place you are referring to is the neighborhood bicycle place (workshop?). It's located in a church basement only 5 blocks away from where I live. I plan on visiting the place hopefully with a better bike. But yea, great place to learn.

The owner from Trophy was a nice to me as well. He only stopped in for a bit while I was talking to the sales clerk still deciding what to do. He pretty much confirmed that the LHT was the best deal in the place. I would probably trust the owner about repairing it.

I think since you are so tall it is unlikely that either bike will sell before you get a chance to look at them. Keep looking though. As the weather changes you should be able to pick up something. Keep us posted or ask questions and we'll answer them the best we can.