6ft 5 - 17st - budget £2k to £2.5k- road bike

Bigphillyb

Hi guys,

New to this, just getting into cycling, any recommendations based on my size and budget?

Thank for any help
Phil

sloppyschleckonds

Cannonade Synapse
Allocate £300 for some wheels with lots of spokes.

kajjal

The main thing is to check the manufacturers weight limits. Lightweight components and wheels will generally not last as long for stronger, heavier riders. This is especially true for wheels with low spoke counts. You may need to get some stronger wheels made to be sure.I am 6ft7, about 16 stone in the winter, and a stone less in the summer. Due to this I bought a Trek 1.5 which has a weight limit of 19 stone and I have had no problems at all over the past couple of years. The roads our way are fairly smooth and not covered in pot holes.

When it comes to sizing the bike I have a relatively long body so fit fine on a 62cm Trek frame. Depending on your proportions you may find you need something different.

The final thing you might want to think about is rim brakes are not the best at stopping heavier riders, especially in the wet so you may want to look for disc brakes which are more powerful and have more control over braking. My next road bike will definitely have hydraulic disc brakes once the prices come down a bit.

izza

All Giant wheels are rated up to 130kg so look at the Defy/Propel/TCR options based on your flexibiiity and intended riding schedule.

timothyw

I am of similar size and would echo that the key thing that you need to budget for is handbuilt strong wheels - a minimum of 32 spokes on the back, you might get away with 28 on the front, but talk to a wheelbuilder and they will advise you. You can offset the cost of this by selling on any lightweight stock wheels that you might get with the bike you choose.

Disc brakes are a definite bonus for reduced stopping distance and speed control - if you ride in a group you will soon notice that other people don't descend quite as fast as you do ;-)

Unfortunately when you combine the above two you hit a slight snag as not many disc hubs are 11 speed compatible yet, and many of the new road bikes with disks use a mess of standards - bolt through from mountain bikes instead of quick release etc.

Do you have ambition of racing at some point or is this just general recreational riding?

If the latter I'd suggest you take a look at the GT Grade 105 models - the Alu one in particular at £1000 seems like great value to me:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec070839
but closer to your budget is the full carbon GT Grade 105:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec070837

If you get them both in for a test ride you'll be able to see and feel what difference spending the extra £1k makes - (Fully hydraulic brakes and full carbon frame in this case).

By getting an adventure/cyclocross type bike you're going to be getting something with a bit more strength built in, whereas if you go for a full on race spec machine the risk is that some of the components might be found wanting. I can assure you (as someone with both a heavier disc equipped bike and a racier carbon fibre one) that in the real world you'll see very little difference in speed.

lostboysaint

TimothyW wrote:

I am of similar size and would echo that the key thing that you need to budget for is handbuilt strong wheels - a minimum of 32 spokes on the back, you might get away with 28 on the front, but talk to a wheelbuilder and they will advise you. You can offset the cost of this by selling on any lightweight stock wheels that you might get with the bike you choose.

Disc brakes are a definite bonus for reduced stopping distance and speed control - if you ride in a group you will soon notice that other people don't descend quite as fast as you do ;-)

Unfortunately when you combine the above two you hit a slight snag as not many disc hubs are 11 speed compatible yet, and many of the new road bikes with disks use a mess of standards - bolt through from mountain bikes instead of quick release etc.

Do you have ambition of racing at some point or is this just general recreational riding?

If the latter I'd suggest you take a look at the GT Grade 105 models - the Alu one in particular at £1000 seems like great value to me:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec070839
but closer to your budget is the full carbon GT Grade 105:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/gt/ ... e-ec070837

If you get them both in for a test ride you'll be able to see and feel what difference spending the extra £1k makes - (Fully hydraulic brakes and full carbon frame in this case).

By getting an adventure/cyclocross type bike you're going to be getting something with a bit more strength built in, whereas if you go for a full on race spec machine the risk is that some of the components might be found wanting. I can assure you (as someone with both a heavier disc equipped bike and a racier carbon fibre one) that in the real world you'll see very little difference in speed.

Pretty much that. I started the same size and weight but lost the weight But still hover around the 95-102kg depending on my state of fatness or fitness and, as a consequence run handbuilt 23mm rims with 32 spokes on Miche Primato hubs.

I'm also looking at disc frames for when my Wilier finally gets pensioned off, simply because I much prefer the reliability of stopping power.

cougie

If you're just getting into cycling - I'd not spend 2k on a bike.

Get a cheaper one that will let you see if you like it, and then buy you time to consider your options.

Something like the Boardman Cross bike might be an idea - as it'll give you a good ride and if you want to upgrade - you have a decent winter bike in it. I've seen Halfords saying that all their bikes are OK for riders up to 120kg.

You'll need wider tyres and stronger wheels than most riders though.

And dont forget to keep cash for your clothes - you'll be needing a lot of kit for these temperatures, and then some different kit for the summer.

Bigphillyb

Hi Guys,

thanks for the info, all really useful.

TimothyW - to answer your question i have NO ambition of racing. I live in the York are and would like to join a club and go riding around the dales. so really i am just looking for a bike that will cope with 4 hour rides with me in the saddle :-)

what about the frame size ? and Wheel size ? should i get a bike fitting ? does anyone know a good bike fitter ?

sorry loads of stuff in my head

cheers
p

lostboysaint

Go and sit on a load of different bikes in the £1k-£1.5k range, ride them around a bit if you can. You'll soon figure out which ones feel better than the others. Buy the one that feels the most comfortable. Then spend the saving on the decent handbuilt wheels from someone like Spokesman, Cycleclinic, Ugo (of this parish) so that you get the best strength/performance.

stu-bim

17st should not really be an issue for most bikes, you'll prob find a bike fitting you at 6'7'' a bit more effort

I'm 6'2'' and around 17 st and never really thought much about stronger wheels etc and ride a large Planet X Pro Carbon

Man Of Lard

Bigphillyb wrote:

what about the frame size ? and Wheel size ? should i get a bike fitting ? does anyone know a good bike fitter ?

As another 6'5"er here (I started out at 23st - didn't bother with the "you'll need stronger wheels" - got out there and started losing the lard... now I'm 14-15st) - the answer to "what size?" is always "the biggest one they make" (assumes you have the normal proportions of arm/body/leg length)

lostboysaint

Always interested in the "didn't bother with stronger wheels" thing. When I started riding road bikes I was 115kg and took no notice either. All was fine initially and then as I got fitter (and lighter) and started really generating much more power (standing up on pedals on some hill sections etc.) instead of just spinning gently I started to find spokes popping and wheels deforming (the dreaded brake block rub and even the chainstay in one instance). So despite being lighter I went to a handbuilt option and haven't had any problems since. There is also the added advantage that my handbuilts are stronger for the same weight as the factory options were.

timothyw

Bigphillyb wrote:

what about the frame size ? and Wheel size ? should i get a bike fitting ? does anyone know a good bike fitter ?

Frame size you'll almost certainly want the largest size available - usually listed as '60cm' or thereabouts.

I would suggest that you get your bike and do some riding before you get professionally fitted - it'll take a few hours riding before your body starts to get used to riding and gains a bit of fitness and flexibility (and the likelihood is that you'll lose some weight) and I can't see much point in getting a professional fit before that time.

If you want a good place to start you can use the calculator here:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store ... orBike.jsp

timothyw

lostboysaint wrote:

Always interested in the "didn't bother with stronger wheels" thing. When I started riding road bikes I was 115kg and took no notice either. All was fine initially and then as I got fitter (and lighter) and started really generating much more power (standing up on pedals on some hill sections etc.) instead of just spinning gently I started to find spokes popping and wheels deforming (the dreaded brake block rub and even the chainstay in one instance). So despite being lighter I went to a handbuilt option and haven't had any problems since. There is also the added advantage that my handbuilts are stronger for the same weight as the factory options were.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't for the simple fact that I've completely destroyed two factory rear wheels without any abuse beyond usual road riding within a few hundred miles, where my two sets of handbuilts have given me thousands of miles without issue.