UTMC

I am looking for an acoustic bike for fat people like myself. I am having a hard time finding weight limits on most bikes that I have found so far but I am looking into a "comfort" bike because it seems to have all the characteristics that I need for a in-town commuter and casual rides on country roads and rail-trails.

I am 6' 4" and 335lbs. I have narrowed my search down to a Giant Sedona or Raleigh Venture 4.0 (so far) mainly because our local bike shop carries them and the shop is known for great customer service. I looked at Trek but they are not recommended for people over 300lbs and I found some reviews of large people having issues with the rims and spokes. I am going by the bike shop after work and checking out what they have and see what they recommend for my weight. I would like to stay under $500 if possible.

Any suggestions?

The only recommendation I have is for a steel frame. If you have a good bike shop near you that's great.
Can't speak to the tallness factor, but I've ridden when I was over 250lbs.
It's a great way to get some cardio whithout pounding the crap outa your knees, and various other parts.

This guy is a good read.
http://istanbultea.typepad.com/largefellaonabike/
Also check these Retro Grouches out for some cyclo-philosophy, really nice 'spensive bikes.
http://www.rivbike.com/article/bicycle_ ... _materials

Pattio and Ban Guzzi are both tall cycley guys, I'm sure they'll have some good advice for you.

The tallness is not a big deal, every bike I looked at so far comes in very large sizes it's the "falling apart underneath me" that I am concerned with.
I mainly would like to save gas and wear and tear on my car (only a half mile between my shop and house) as well as get a bit thinner.

Well Chuck I wouldn't worry about frame material so much personally. It's really about the quality of the wheels, rear in particular. The real damage you can do happens if you let all of your weight onto the rear wheel over bumps or curbs. So try to get the best wheels you can, ask the guys at the shop. Make sure that the rear wheel is a "cassette" style not a "freewheel". The cassette wheels have three sets of bearings to support the axle instead of two, and they support it closer to the ends, so it's much harder to bend or break the axle. If you can make sure to get wheels that have double wall rims instead of single wall. Once again they're much stronger and ride a lot better too. You're looking at relatively budget bikes here, so be aware that they're not meant to take mountain bike style abuse, but if you ride it normally and with some consideration you should be fine on any of them. Just like a motorcycle, if you get your ass off of the seat a little over bumps everything will work much better.
Have fun riding! K.

You're already on the right track if you have a trusted local bike shop (lbs), and going in there with a good idea what you want to use the bike for, and what you would like to spend, makes their job easier. So you're basically set.

My personal opinion is that I am not feeling those comfort bikes. The super-wide-range drivetrain and the suspension forks add a lot of weight without commensurate benefit. I would suggest looking for bikes with steel frames, and I would go further to suggest that you might want to consider having your local bike shop build you a bike, using a low-priced steel frame (their supplier should have several options(search term: Surly)) and really good wheels. The wheels are really where cheap bikes show weakness, so consider having your lbs lace you up a set, using rims and spokes that have earned their trust.

edit: see if your lbs has the Raleigh 'Port Townsend'.

All the ones I have been considering have double walled rims and 14ga stainless spokes so that is a good start. They also have teloscopic forks and seatpost so that should take some of the pressure off the rims. Probably the worst this thing will encounter is a pothole and maybe an occasional wheelie. I know this is not a mountain bike and I will not attempt to ride it like one. I am leaning toward Raleigh but I like both, headed to the dealer soon to check them out hopefully they have them in stock.

http://www.raleighusa.com/bikes/comfort/venture-40-11/

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/bik ... 357/44082/

Pattio wrote:You're already on the right track if you have a trusted local bike shop (lbs), and going in there with a good idea what you want to use the bike for, and what you would like to spend, makes their job easier. So you're basically set.

I remember someone posting a craigslist add on here from a bike shop owner and his rant about all the idiots that ask every stupid question imaginable so I tried to learn what I can.

Sales people will like me if they listen to me, I always go with as much knowledge as possible so they don't waste much time teaching me easily obtainable info. It's the ones that try to sell me what they want that I have a problem with. Sell me what I want and I will be an awesome customer.

Mean Chuck wrote: They also have teloscopic forks and seatpost so that should take some of the pressure off the rims. Probably the worst this thing will encounter is a pothole and maybe an occasional wheelie.

Au contraire, my Mean frere, the telescoping seat and forks protect only you, so if you should have the misfortune to nail a square-edged pothole or partially-elevated manhole cover or unseen curb edge or even just sometimes a brick (and yes, I have squatted by the roadside patching my flaccid tube after each and all of these) at least your hands and butt will be spared some of the impact. It's all about resource management- what you do with the weight you carry. A 'rigid' steel frame with wide, tall bars, a good seat and large-volume tires can be quick, sturdy, and comfortable, without any need for additional springs in your handling and weight equation.

The Giant has a freewheel rear wheel. I weigh 150 and I break those things like pretzels. Just sayin' Also I'm totally with all of Pattios suggestions, especially high volume tires.

Pattio wrote:...and yes, I have squatted by the roadside patching my flaccid tube after each and all of these...

Wait, what're we talking about again?



--Jaeger

Pattio wrote:

Mean Chuck wrote: They also have teloscopic forks and seatpost so that should take some of the pressure off the rims. Probably the worst this thing will encounter is a pothole and maybe an occasional wheelie.

Au contraire, my Mean frere, the telescoping seat and forks protect only you, so if you should have the misfortune to nail a square-edged pothole or partially-elevated manhole cover or unseen curb edge or even just sometimes a brick (and yes, I have squatted by the roadside patching my flaccid tube after each and all of these) at least your hands and butt will be spared some of the impact. It's all about resource management- what you do with the weight you carry. A 'rigid' steel frame with wide, tall bars, a good seat and large-volume tires can be quick, sturdy, and comfortable, without any need for additional springs in your handling and weight equation.

Ok, good point about the suspension. One other factor I failed to mention is my bad back which is why the comfort models caught my attention. I priced custom built bikes at two very good shops (which by the way is awesome to have that many good shops in our little town) and both were twice my budget to make the bike simple and sturdy. My biggest issue it the spring rates and my weight, the Raleigh is still at the top of my list and if it had solid forks it would be perfect because everthing else looks up to the task of transporting me.

Here is a crazy thought, I wonder how hard it would be to make a set of spring perches that would slide over the fork tube and be able to sandwich springs between the lower legs and the triple clamp (I guess that is what it's called on a bike) to essentually make it a coil over helper spring. I think I have enough parts laying around to try it.

Skip suspension. Your starting out and don't need it. Get a good, cheap saddle that won't hurt As Bad. Your ass WILL hurt for a bit. http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/ ... AID=332695

If you can swing it, go internal gear hub and learn how to change a flat, in the dark. Because you will. I'm running XT and XTR stuff on my commuter. Expensive but will last and be just fine. Deore level components are more than good enough. Learn basic maintenance and do it your self. A regularly riden bike will need maintenace. Save your dough, do it yourself. http://bicycletutor.com/

As for wheels, Open Pro and hand laced with XT/Ultegra hubs are what I use (XT are mountain hubs and Ultegra are similar quality for road). 32 spoke to 36 is more than enough. You can get 40 spoke but thats getting heavy and limiting on suppliers. DT Swiss spokes. Deore hubs, XT if you can swing it. Whatever you have on the bike is fine for now, but spend a bit and have the shop detension and then re-true the wheels. At our size, that is the biggest failure point. The Wheels!

Comfort bikes are okay. When you get into the swing of things again you might be irritated that the riding position will be limiting for longer trips and higher speeds, but to each his own.

Good luck! If I knew how to post pics I would to show you what I mean...

http://www.bikeforums.net/ Go here to the Commuter and Clydesdale forums for exhaustive discussions on these same subjects....

Well, I did a lot of thinking about this and I think I will go with the Raleigh Venture 4.0. For my budget it has the best components on it, a good local dealer and is set up for what I want to start with and should hold up fine except for the suspension but I thought of a way around that.
Getting a solid seat post is easy enough but the forks are the bitch; I had a thought last night when I was eating supper that I could make a set of fixed fork tubes that bolt in place of the telescopic ones. I know that probably sounds nuts that the simplest solution that I can rationalize is making my own parts from scratch but fabrication comes very easy to me and I can do it for very little money. The other advantage it offers is that if lose enough weight for the suspension to work for me I can just bolt it back on.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it.

Before you slap plastic, do me a favor and take a quick look or two around for used Hybrids. The Trek Multi-Trac sold in huge numbers and there are specimens sitting in many suburban garages. They are kind of like a comfort bike with a rigid fork. They are great all-around bikes in Mountain Bike drag. They have the flat bars, with concomitant brake levers and shifters, cantilever brakes and triple drivetrain common to MTBs, but are lighter duty and have the larger 700c wheel size common to Road bikes.

Take note of SpecialKs advice- even when I was under 200lbs (I spent much of my days running from saber-toothed tigers and was quite fit) I used to break freewheel-style hubs (actually, the axle) with discouraging ease, and came to prefer the freehub design. It's not a dealbreaker on an otherwise clean yard-sale score though, and a good upgrade option for your lbs to help with (see, custom laced wheels).

You should be able to pick up a good hybrid for $50 to $200 depending on venue. Spend some friendly cheddar at the lbs on some fresh tires and tubes and a good saddle and you should be able to get on something solid for the same basic price window as the out-of-the-box comfort bike with, as the saying goes, 'none of what you don't want'.

This looks good, hope he's flexible on price:
http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/bik/2054733746.html

Here's what I'm talkin-bout:
http://harrisburg.craigslist.org/bik/2046937393.html

Not a hybrid, but an older bike from before they knew how to engineer the longevity out of them in the name of economy and lightness. Classic & classy frame, break/replace dated parts as needed. Have lbs lace internal-gear hub into sturdy rear wheel, fresh tires as big as your lbs can find to fit, comfort saddle and a two layers of foam handlebar tape and you are apocalypse-ready.

one more:

http://lancaster.craigslist.org/bik/2029340041.html

I just can't see chuck riding anything with drop bars...

I echo what pattio says, though; I'd rather have a 10 year old, $150 bike picked from craigslist, than a brandy-new $400 one.

xaos wrote:I just can't see chuck riding anything with drop bars...

....and you won't! My back hurts enough as it is.

I almost never buy anything new because I am a total cheapskate and the thought of a shiny new bike that will pay for itself quickly in fuel savings appeals to me.

I am going to the lbs again after work and looking at how the forks are put together and get some measurements and if I can do my fixed fork leg conversion easily I won't see the need to spend the same money to piece a bike together from here and there to get the same thing when all I need is another $20 of raw materials and about three hours of fab time.

What started me thinking of this is we were notified this week our layoff that had been delayed will now be happening by the end of the month and I am right on the edge of being on the chopping block. So I have been planning my next step and since most of my travel will be a half mile at a time between my house, the shop and around town it seems like such a waste to use my car.

I am not trying to sound ungrateful for your advice and help or like I am ignoring it but this still seems like the easiest way for me to do this. I am definitely happy for the info and it has helped me answer my questions so thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Well my fork idea isn't as feasible as I anticipated because the forks are manufactured differently than what I thought. However he does have a leftover Giant Sedona ST in my size that is a steel framed with regular forks and he can put double walled rims with heavy duty spokes with cassette rear on it and get me out the door for $400.

This looks like the best way to go for now but I will look into the used market a little more but I am a bit skeptical about buying used with my limited knowledge. I would rather spend my money on a small local business with awesome customer service if I can, especially since I have already used up a some of his time.

Mean Chuck wrote: However he does have a leftover Giant Sedona ST in my size that is a steel framed with regular forks and he can put double walled rims with heavy duty spokes with cassette rear on it and get me out the door for $400.

For the win!

OK, now the other question what about gear? I am figuring a helmet and decent cold weather gloves right now (I don't think the world is ready for me in spandex yet). Most of my riding will be a half mile at a time and so I don't want to spend a half hour to gear up for a 10 minute ride.


I assume that I can choose this on my own but is there anything I should steer clear of? How little can I spend to get decent gear? I am basically looking for the equivalent of HJC and Tourmaster in the cycling world.

First and most important is the lid, any helmet you buy should have a built in cage (called Rolock or something in Giro brand) usually made form nylon type cord that keeps the Styrofoam together if it meets the road. You should be able to pick up a helmet for $50 or less. Bell and Giro both have economy $35+ offerings. Pricey stuff does not make it any safer, you could pay 3X the price for same helmet that is 100 grams lighter or has slightly better aerodynamics, none of which makes it better for commuting. When someone tell me that they have "shaved" couple oz's off the bike by spending few grand on carbon/titanium/unobtainium my reply is that I saved more weight by taking a dump this morning. Don't get me wrong, I like exotic bling components, but I will not buy them till they are last years (or 10 year old) bargain closeout model.

Get decent gloves, don't have to be specific cycling glove if you only plan to ride 5-10 miles at a time, also any wind blocking jacket will do.

Spandex padded bike shorts under your regular pants will be the best comfort investment, the longer is the ride the better it pays off.

Hope this helps

D

Yes, that does help since I know nothing about bicycle stuff.

I do however know something about glasses and I wear Jackson Nemisis saftey glasses for just about everything and they should work well for this. They have different lenses for almost anything including anti-fog fit to my face very well and seem to fit most people that wear them. We use them at work almost exclusively and most people love them.

They are very durable and I can verify that, I was hit in the face with an air line coupler (and we ust the big saftey ones) when the air fitting of the impact gun I was using broke. With 120psi behind it it struck me right on my left eye and rang my bell really good, the last time I was hit that hard there was a fourth-degree blackbelt behind it and he wasn't holding back. The glasses took the impact very well and I didn't have a scratch or a black eye which I was expecting from a hit like that. The best part is the're cheap most places sell them for less than $10. If you have ever seen me outside you have probably seen me wearing them. They are the most comfortable glasses I have ever used with a full face and the only downside is they are not compact when folded up.



http://www.jacksonsafety.com/linkdetail ... id=3000354

I figured I would give back to this information exchange!

Just to reiterate what BanGuzzi said, it is going to hurt at first. Don't let that put you off, it gets a lot easier pretty quickly. If you start doing any kind of hills at all, use your transmission. Spinning a lower gear will be way better than trying to tough it out in a taller gear. Also, if the bike has flat bars and you're going to be riding more that a couple of miles look at bar ends. It's nice to be able to change hand position, especially on hills.

Bicycle shorts will help immensely with ass soreness. Hugely immensely. You can wear them under other clothes and they still work pretty well. As to other gear, cycling jerseys are nice because they're longer in the back. Cycling caps are handy too for their little brim if you're going to be riding anytime near sunrise or sunset. Gloves are nice, but don't get too much padding in the palms or your hands will end up really sore.

All that said, day to day, when I was riding everywhere, I'd wear jeans and t-shirts, and my lid had a built-in visor.

If you have the scratch to blow, a Brooks saddle is worth its weight in gold (and they aren't light) and will last practically forever if you care for it. During break in, I'm told they can utterly suck, though that's not been my experience, but once you break them in, they're a lot more comfortable than anything else I've found. The downside is that they don't really like rain, so they have to be covered if left outside when you're not riding.

That Giant sounds like the best plan for now. When I was wrenching on bikes, we sold those. IIRC, there were some crap parts on 'em, but that's true of anything, and they held together well enough otherwise. The brakes were especially crap, made from some cheese-based alloy. They worked fine, but the adjusters were super-easy to strip. Good-enough brakes cost $30 a pair, so if (when) you trash 'em, replace them with a decent set.

Expect to break things. I weigh 190 and break stuff all the time (or did until I sank a pile into putting together a couple of seriously overbuilt bikes anyway). My experience with heavier people commuting by bicycle (tech'ed at a shop that served a lot of commuters outside DC for a while, and we had our share of 300-plus guys and gals who rode day-in, day-out) is that a bulletproof bike for a heavy commuter takes about $1500 to build. We did 48h rears for a lot of people when they got tired of blowing out 36s, but all said and done, those were $500 rear wheels, which is more than you'll have in this bike. Those $500 wheels were usually so somebody could run a narrower, higher-pressure tire to be faster in traffic, so if you stick to wider tires (still run them at the highest pressure you can), your rims and spokes might actually last a while. Still, if you have repeated problems, there's no shame in going to a 40h or 48h out back if you're going to have to have a custom wheel built anyway.

The best money you can spend is good wheels, though. Second best is a good chain and sprockets. Those things make all the difference in the world.

I like your plan of fab'ing fork legs to replace the telescopics, but keep a close eye on the crown. Some of 'em are cast, and even the forged ones aren't always the strongest metal out there. Without the suspension, the crown will see a lot more stress. Spring for good steel and go really thin on the wall of the tube you use in the legs. A little flex there will actually help the ride and probably keep the crown together longer. It might be worth buying braze-on prethreaded lugs for the brake mounts, too. That saves a lot of time on what's apparently a surprisingly fiddly part to make. [EDIT TO ADD:] Since your legs won't be welded in place, get a brake bridge to keep them in alignment. At one point, I was running two on my mountain bike, one ahead of the arms, one behind. Looked stupid. Really decent braking, though. [/EDIT] Also remember to take into account the shortening during preload when you set the length. You can usually go a little shorter too, since a front end set up for suspension has completely different geometry than one set up for a rigid fork.

Glad to hear you're going acoustic though, or at least giving it a try. It will suck at first. Then it'll really suck. Downshift and keep spinning. You beat up your legs by trying to muscle it out; spinning faster in a lower gear will get you in shape. Keep pedaling, too. Coasting too much just makes the workout less effective. Eventually, it will get better, and you'll be able to cover quite a bit of ground quicker than you might expect.

Those are just my ramblings, anyway. Hope there's something useful in there.