Hardtail 29er for large unit

Chizzy82

Can anyone offer any advice...I'm looking for a new hardtail 29er, admittedly I'm a rather large unit at 6ft 3 and 20 stone.

Budget is £800-£1000, I will be using cycle scheme which sadly discounts halfords, a shame as I like the look of the Boardman Pro. Main use will be the Dog and Monkey at Cannock Chase. I'm currently using a spesh hardrock pro, which is OK but the tektro brakes struggle with my mass (May end up upgrading the stoppers as they're still relatively low spec in the price bracket)

I'd discounted another 26er b'cus of my size.

Ideas so far..

Cannondale trail sl1 / sl2
Cube ltd race 29
Rockrider big 8

I'm not hung up any any off my list, so definitely open to ideas please :roll:

benpinnick

On one parkwood.

supersonic

Your size has no bearing on what wheel size will fit you - and in most cases a 26er wheel will be stronger and stiffer. Sure 20stone is above average - but your height only just so, plenty will fit. And you might not even need the largest size ;-).

At that price I'd look for a tough trail/all mountain bike rather than a xc oriented ride as the latter are lighter built.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CBOO456EVO2 ... ntain-bike

rockmonkeysc

What Supersonic said.
You will find 29er wheels flexy unless you spend an extra £400 upgrading them to something seriously stiff.
Im only an inch and a bit shorter than you and have no problems with 26" wheels. It's the frame that needs to fit you, not the wheels. There are plenty of 26" or 650b extra large bikes. That On One 456 Evo 2 is ideal, built like a tank, it can take all the abuse you can give it.