strong bike for a big boy

dominic.birch

hi,

first time ever on a forum so apologies if i've posted in wrong place or info elsewhere

long and short is serious back probs for past 5 years which i've used as an excuse to get fatter and fatter

now seeing a doc and he assures me with weight-loss/excercise, injections, physio and pilates we'll start sorting probs and if they don't work he'll operate but he WILL be able to get me on a bike

so here's the bad news - 6'2" tall but 146kg's........ I know - bad, bad and bad. but am desperate to start country lanes and fireroads to start shedding the pounds before "proper" off-road

can you recomend a strong, tough bike and any essential upgrades. have looked at kona hoss and orange crush so far (don't want double bouncer - way above my needs) i.e. do i have to get strengthened front suspension or new coils or whatever it is within them??

also i'm in maidenhead - any local dealers that could be recomended??

really, really grateful for any help

cheers

Anonymous

budget?

*maybe* a carrera fury and buy some hard or x-hard springs for the rockshox toras.

<div align="right">my msisle</div id="right"><div align="left">my msn: orange_boy125@hotmail.co.uk</div id="left">

flyingmonkeycorps

Marin B17 might be worth a look too, they seem to be pretty bombproof. You'll want something with meaty brakes and coil shocks I guess, with a hard spring in there.

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steelo

Any decent frame will handle the weight, i'm a big guy myself, about 110kg. I have a Specialized Rockhopper Disc (œ650) and with the factory fitted Rock Shox Tora front fork its fine. For heavier riders you can get stiffer springs which I think are about œ15-20 and the bike shop should fit them for you free of charge when you buy the bike.

The only real issue might be the life of the components on the bike, the bottom bracket or crank would probably be the first to go as it would be under the most stress from weight transferred through the pedals. But as anyone will tell you, components are always breaking and being replaced, a decent crash could break a rear deraillieur!

Also, the frame for the rockhopper has a lifetime warranty so if you break it specialized will replace it with the latest style frame.

Essentially the more money you can afford, the better the bike will cope with your weight.

lacuna

Mythic Scirocco www.freeborn.co.uk


<center><b>Mythic Meg</b></center>

rubber side up

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by lacuna</i>

Mythic Scirocco www.freeborn.co.uk


<center><b>Mythic Meg</b></center>
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

thats frame only.

<hr noshade size="1"><center><blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by EvilAlex</i>

Something round here tastes bad. Could be plain old bad taste.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"></center>www.mtb-bitz.co.uk - Bitz for you & your mountain bike. pinkbike

dominic.birch

hi and thanks all thus far......

should have clarified budget on reflection........happy to spend approx ¶œ1k or even ¶œ1.5k

thus far i'm not getting much "warmth" for the hoss or crush!?!?

Anonymous

wow nice budge. you could get some rockshox pikes they'll be nice and stiff as they utalise a 20mm through axel. if i were you i'd look at a custome build

maybe a sc cameleon frame

mavic xm321's on pro 2's
shimano xt cranks
juicy 7 brakes
tompson - stem and seat post
easton bars.

<div align="right">my msisle</div id="right"><div align="left">my msn: orange_boy125@hotmail.co.uk</div id="left">

gungun24

Erm I am 6ft 4 and 150kg, and I had stiffee with pikes and i used it for everything, if you want more info about stuff which is strong just send me an email gungun24@hotmail.com and read this topic of another forum.

http://www.whatmtb.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22383

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rideitgood

Jeez, that's a nice budget to start out on, like orangesrule said you can get a nice custom built jobbo for that. The Santa cruz is what I'd suggest as well, and a similar build to OR.

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flyingmonkeycorps

If you're spending that much money I'd look at a custom Cove Stiffee or Santa Cruz Chameleon. Both extremely versatile bikes that'll take one hell of a beating. Leisure Lakes do a built Chameleon, but you'd probably get a better spec doing it yourself.

<hr noshade size="1"><font size="1">We live in the unhappy shadows of skyscrapers freight trains and malls</font id="size1">

Lukeee

As i said in the other topic i'd go for an Orange crush out of the two you picked. The Hoss isn't great value for money.

Any decent Trail/Freeride hardtail will take your weight all day long. I weighed 22stone back in October , now down to 19.

Good luck chief! :-)

dominic.birch

thanks EVERYONE

as usual too much info and i'm panicking!!

am confident I can lose 3 stone in couple of months - new regime starting of calories counting (horrific - reckon between 4000-6000 a day!) and then the harder slog of losing weight will kick in. never gonna be 14 stone but reckon i can get down to 16 stone eventually - did it before; approx 7 years ago!!

if i go for the crush should i be asking for any upgrades or fettling of the base model?

cheers again!

gungun24

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dominic.birch</i>

thanks EVERYONE

as usual too much info and i'm panicking!!

am confident I can lose 3 stone in couple of months - new regime starting of calories counting (horrific - reckon between 4000-6000 a day!) and then the harder slog of losing weight will kick in. never gonna be 14 stone but reckon i can get down to 16 stone eventually - did it before; approx 7 years ago!!

if i go for the crush should i be asking for any upgrades or fettling of the base model?

cheers again!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Don't go with the orange crush, for your budget, and requirments, I would either go for the stiffee or the cameleon with pike coil forks with the extra hard spring and lock out (poploc), you want a thompson seatpost, i would go for mavic 719 rims, hope hubs, xt brakes, r mech cranks, then something like easton ea50 stem bar combo, fsa pig headset, shimano dx pedals, a saddle you find comfy, etc. then as you get more money you can upgrade the parts.

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dominic.birch

crikey??

all right - I do it your suggested method..........who on earth do I go to, to get it specced up and built as such??

doing it this way gives me more for my bucks then?

cheers

gungun24

Yes doing it this way gets you more bucks for your money. if you email me i can give you more detailed help.

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Brighty

1.5k is a hell of alot to spend on your first bike when you don't even know if you'll like it or stick with it.

Might be an idea to buy a cheap 2nd hand bike for now and run it into the ground for a few months, by which time you'll be a few stone lighter so that won't be so much of an issue, plus you'll have a better idea about what you like and dislike in a bike and be better placed to make a 1 to 1.5k decision.

I'm just down the road from you in Cippenham and can recommend the flood relief path as a nice flatish ride with a bit of scenery you may enjoy, ideal for a beginner who's not too fit, i make it into a 17mile loop with the thames path as a quick weekday evening blast. Shopwise, the only one i've been to is Stows in slough high st opposite the library, got my missus her bike from there and they seemed helpfull enough.

Brighty

flyingmonkeycorps

You need to talk to some people locally and find out what's a good shop, then go in and tell them what you want. I can't help you there 'cos I'm in Hull!

<hr noshade size="1"><font size="1">We live in the unhappy shadows of skyscrapers freight trains and malls</font id="size1">

Tartanyak

I think I'd second the idea to buy a cheaper second hand bike to begin with. If you're going to lose that much weight in such a short time, what's the point of hammering stuff that then won't be suited to you? [:)]

Hell, maybe start with a speccy hardrock rigid! Cheap, good resale, tough and you don't need to worry about spring weights and the like. Then, once you're down a bit and ready to take it more off-road, spend the rest of your budget on something that you'll really enjoy. [:D]

Sadly, even though I used to live in the area, I don't know any decent shops there [:(] Good luck with it all though mate! Tell us how it goes.

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