Bikes for Big Blokes

wheelbuckler

Hi everyone, first timer so go easy.

I've been out with a few mates recently who ride a fair bit and i'm hooked, trouble is my bike at the minute is a crappy halfords special and its just not up to the job so i'm on the lookout for a decent beginners bike. The trouble is i'm a big guy, 6 foot 5 and a whopping 20 stone.

Is there a bike thats designed to cope with bigger riders or will a standard off the shelf do? As i'm a total novice i'm only wanting to spend between 250 -350 quid for a first time bike and i'm looking for a cross country/all mountain hardtail.

Any help would be great.

nicklouse

sounds like need to talk toGT Destroyer he is of a similar stature.

mr_hippo

I am a bit shorter than you but a bit heavier. May I suggest the Trek 3900 22.5" at about £250. I've been using mine for about 2 years now with no problems!

wheelbuckler

Cheers mr_hippo, just for a bit more info can I ask what kind of riding you do on it, I want something that will cope well off road, planning a trip to lakes in summer and want to make sure it will cope with the terrain

GT Destroyer

nicklouse wrote:

sounds like need to talk toGT Destroyer he is of a similar stature.

Here I am!

Hi there - I am 6ft 7inches tall and about 18 1/2 stones in weight, so Nick is quite correct.

I started out on a XL framed GT Avalanche 1.0 disc. Now that bike retails for £500 or just under for the 2007 model. The thing here is that the frame worked OK-ish for me, I did manage to crack the frame of an '06 model BUT thats because we weren't really using the bike for its purpose.

What riding do you and your mates do? If its mainly XC, just riding along footpaths/trails etc then you should be OK with an XL version of a bike from the GT range, some of these do fall into your price range.

If its more aggressive stuff then you need to dig a bit deeper into manufacturers like Orange/Kona/Giant?

The first question should really be what you use the bike for?

wheelbuckler

I think general trails and paths for the time being until I get to grips with my riding, occasionally I might do something a bit more adventurous but not on a regular basis.

I was looking at a GT avalanche 3 disc, as a shop near me is selling the 07 model for about 260 quid I think(can't remember exactly)

Cheers for the advice

batch78

Morning I'm 6'1 15stone and also had GTs until now, no problems at all with frames (medium size with long seat post) but wheels on the cheaper models could be your downfall depending on how smooth you ride possibly worth looking at skimping on these now especially as the weathers horrid and upgrading next year or when you break them!

papasmurf.

I started on an Avalanche i'm 6"4 and 16 stone it was fine, though i ground the BB bearings to dust and the saddle rails bent big time..but thats stuff that can be sorted by upgrading. I was impressed with the Kona Hoss in the Alps, but its just to expensive for the fork and kit for me to recommned unless you get one in the sales.

pemsey

You could also consider the Giant Yukon 2007 - I'm on a large frame and they go up to XL. It's taken quite lot of use and abuse from me and seems plenty strong. I've had it loaded up with me (16.5 stone at the time) and about 3 stone of stuff on the panniers and still felt stable.
Components are OK for the price - and touch wood - the wheels seem to be strong. Not even needed to tweak spokes yet and the bikes been used on tracks, rocky bridleways, bouncing kerbs and roots etc.
Seems to be a good frame that can last a while with upgrades as stuff wears out.

big_southern_jesse

Hi, I'm 6'5" and vary from 16 to 17.5 stone depending on fitness and pie consumption.

I use my bike for road touring too, so wanted something comfy for long distances in the saddle, so went with Giant so I could get a 23.5 inch frame. Fab bikes and a really good build quality.

I can barely believe it but Wiggle are currently selling a Giant Terrago for £275, which is astounding. Comes in a 23 inch frame.

100 mm forks, hydraulic brakes etc, seems pretty good to me!

Anonymous

hi buckler, welcome. Due to the nature of the sport you will find there is plenty of kit available for the fuller gentleman. i weigh in at a solid (flabby to be honest) 19.5 stone and have never taken that into consideration when buying any of my bikes.

i have riden the giant terrago in the previuos post and its a pretty good bit of kit for the price, well worth a look. i would highly reccommend getting discs as a big bloke takes more effort to stop plus, an upgrade to discs is quite expensive ifyou were to do it after market.

Anonymous

sorry, i just looked at wiggle and the giant comes with v brakes (theyre fine but discs are miles better) so i think you were right on the mark with this