While I was looking at road bikes the LBS salesman was comparing bikes as for their ride. He spoke about performance, aceleration and comfort. Also along with frame flex. He also said since I am a big guy.(270) He said he would be a total different ride than with him at 200. He said I need to ride several different bikes and see what feels the best. I understand some of what he was saying but not totally. For me being a big person are there anything in paticular I need to look for. Thanks for any comments and suggestions,


Steve

Softride is a company that makes weird looking bikes. https://www.softride.com/

basically,
i think he might mean full suspension or hardtail. a hardtail mountain bike has no suspensions in the back, just in the front. a full suspension has suspensions in the front, and in the back. the suspensions in the back absorb a lot of the bumps, thus making it a "softer" ride. for a road bike, they're all hardtails, with rigided forks. so it has no suspensions or anything.

you dont want the LBS to intimidate you with all the fancy lingo. what you want to do is figure out what kind of bike you want. Mountain bike, Road bike, or Hybrid. if you dont know, tell them what you plan to do with the bike. if you want to just get a bike to ride to work or something, then they'll give you suggestions, if you want a bike that you want to do some heavy single tracks, they'll give you suggestions. or if you want to go on a race or something, then they'll give you suggestions. once you've figured that out, figure out how much money you want to spend on a bike. then you just go into your LBS, tell them you want a (for example) mountain bike for 900$. then they should show you all the mountain bikes they have at that range, then ask them to quickly fit you to see what size bike you need. you'll probably need a large? maybe even a medium, i dont know. once they've told you that, remember it. so lets just say they say you're a large. so they should show you all the mountain bikes, that are 900$, that is a large frame. then from there, just test ride all of them. every single bike that fits your category. each bike will feel different. then when you're done test riding all those bikes, either buy the one you like, or, go to another LBS, and test ride everything they have that fits your category. then after you ride all those, go to another one, and test ride all of them. then if you need to, go back to the first one and test ride all of those again. then when you find a bike that you feel very comfortable on, then make your purchase.

the biggest thing about a bike purchase, reguardless of what brand or price it is, is that it has to be comfortable and you have to like it. but the key word, is that it has to be comfortable.

.....

he said he was looking at road bikes. personaly I dont have any experiance with real road bikes,'cept for converted hybrids,but I do have experiance with aluminum mtn bikes vs steel and the steel is a nicer ride from my point of view(I too am a big guy...bigger then the original poster). Probably the best advice I have seen on these forums is to make sure the bike you chose fits and make sure the wheels are tensioned and trued properly. Good luck with your choice!

hahah oops.. just go to the softride website and you'll see all the softrides.

I don't even think he meant anything about "softride" the bike company themselves... I think he was referring to "plush" vs "stiff" ride. Materials like titanium and steel tend to have some flex to them, which soaks up some of the bumps and road chatter. Aluminum, on the other hand, has very little "give" (flex) so anything that the tires hit and don't soak up is going to be transmitted straight through the frame. If you can handle the stiffer ride, aluminum is good because the stiffness keeps the bottom bracket and other areas from flexing when you go to crank on the pedals. From what I've heard, bigger guys don't seem to notice aluminum being harsh as much as us smaller guys do. An aluminum frame with carbon stays and fork seems to be a good compromise between the two. The carbon soaks up some of the road chatter and smooths out the ride, but the bike is still stiff for out of the saddle cranking.

Hi,
the ride depends on how the bike is made. I have seen plush ALU, and I have a fairly stiff Ti. The problem is this.. you want an efficient transfer of energy, and that means you don't want flex when you push the pedals. But you do want a comfy ride, which means you DO want flex when you hit a bump.

Fortunately, you can have your cake and eat it too. A good designer
can build in some verical compliance for a plush ride. And he can build in stiffness to resist the twisting forces you generate pedaling.

How tall you are plays a big role. If you are also tall, then the tubes have to be longer; which can turn an otherwise superb frame into overcooked sphaghetti. The best frame makers compensate with thicker tubes, but you'd be surprised how many don't. But if you're not over 6', it's not much of an issue.

Which brings us to test rides. Find a hill, shift up a couple gears, get out of the saddle and accelerate up the hill. You will feel any frame flex. A little is ok, after you try a few bikes too much will be obvious. Test rides come with a set of problems. One bike might fit better solely because of something like the stem,or have a nicer saddle, and that can color your impressions even if you don't want it too.
Even worse, people usually buy a size small. Once they start to get in shape ( a couple weeks later), they don't feel right. A real asessment (like a Fit Kit session) is a good idea, but it will cost a little.

Whatever you do, don't rush,this will take a while to do it right. Enjoy your test ride. If you like the bike, don't just ride it 5 minutes. And keep us posted as to how things are going, we might have a suggestion or two.

If you are heavy stiffness in the frame is less likely to transmit road shocks to you, but if you have powerful leg muscles you will want a stiff frame that wont twist when you are pushing on the pedals. The frames design as well as the materials will betermine its stiffness in various directions. That is why everyone is saying take test rides. When you are riding, think how it feels over cracks in the road, how it feels climbing, how easy it is to throw into a corner, and how steady it is riding straight with no hands.