Big girl looking for bike to hold her goodies! Any suggestions on bikes 4me

[KnottedYet]

I have been considering turning the Kona into a Kona Xtra someday.

[Bikingmomof3]

Welcome to TE. You have received some wonderful advice. I wish I was as tall as you. I suppose it is too late for me to have a growth spurt.
Enjoy bike shopping, it is a lot of fun and addicting. Happy Belated Birthday!

[Bad JuJu]

Happy birthday and GOOD for you! You seem to have the perfect setup to start bike-commuting--manageable distance, plus lockers, showers, rack at work--what else could you ask for? Oh yeah, a bike.

As someone who did NOT start out on a hybrid, I'd suggest seeing if you can find a touring bike to start on. Touring bikes are road bikes, not hybrids, but they generally offer greater durability and comfort than road bikes that are built more for speed. The glitch is that most bike manufacturers offer lots of fast bikes and hybrid bikes and mountain bikes, but usually only one or two touring models, if that. So this will take a little research, but I think will be worth it in the long run. A good tourer will take you through your commute on the weekdays, into fitness rides on the weekends, and even into beginning club rides.

Do some reading, research, and educate yourself so you can shop wisely. Make sure you go to a shop that will spend some time fitting you properly.

And definitely post back and let us know what you get and how you're doing. Welcome aboard!

[lauraelmore1033]

Ive been meaning to ask the ladies of the forum this very same question myself, so I can only offer advice of the don't-do-what-I-did variety. I am not quite as tall as you are and am a bit heavier, and had experienced a problem with spokes breaking on my DiamondBack hybrid once I began consistently riding more than 75 miles per week. I'm guessing that means a road bike would be out of the question- in my case anyway. The first repair shop assured me that my weight was not an issue since it was a hybrid bike, and hybrid bikes are supposedly designed to withstand tremendous forces. Perhaps they were being diplomatic. The second time it happened, I limped back to a bike shop quite luckily located near the trail I was riding and was told that I needed a much more sturdy wheel, and they produced a nice hand built, double walled mountain bike wheel and popped that sucker on right then and there. I've ridden 500 miles on it with nary a problem. So definitely spend a little extra making sure your back wheel is nice and sturdy.

[eclectic]

Okay, okay, before everyone starts cracking jokes about my bike not having a fork, I meant to say suspension fork.

As I was reading I was trying to visualize what a bike would look like without a fork and thought "Whoaaaaa pretty amazing, I've got to surf, find and take a look at one of these contraptions" Thanks for the clarification - saved much web time

[Tuckervill]

I have a Trek 4500 WSD mountain bike. I really love my bike, and it fits me well and it gets the job done.

One thing though...It developed a click in the bottom bracket. Every time my right foot went over the top, a couple of clicks. I took it to the LBS and he took it apart. He said there was 2-3 tablespoons of water in my bottom bracket.

WHa...??

He said, "This bike's been left out in the rain a lot."

Uh. No.

We did get caught in a rainstorm when the bikes were on the rack, though. So kept the bike and he did something to the bottom bracket and I couldn't hear the click anymore and I took the bike to New Mexico.

About halfway down La Bajada Hill (the old one, not the one on the freeway), here comes the click again. :P

Here's the confession:

I think I'm too heavy for my bike. I weigh about 195. I think the increased pressure of my weight hitting rocks hard and bouncing over basalt is straining the bottom bracket and knocking it out of whack.

Now I can't really blame Trek for not making a mountain bike (a WSD bike, mind you) to handle a 195 lb. 44-year-old woman cranking around ancient petroglyphs. Heck, most people don't believe I even CAN do that. But I wish I had taken into consideration my weight versus my bike.

I hope you do, too.

Karen

[HipGnosis6]

I have been considering turning the Kona into a Kona Xtra someday.

I'd like to do the same to my Sirrus. Someday I'll be able to afford a road bike, and then the pavement bike can become the SuperSirrus.

[DarcyInOregon]

Hi Darcy!



I can't believe this would be true. I have a hybrid as well..... When I ride 20 miles on my Gary Fisher Nirvana --- that's exactly what it is -- "20 miles". It's not equivalent to 40 or 50 miles -- it's equivalent to 20 miles!

I wonder why your lbs said that pedaling 20 miles on your Trek Navigator is equivalent to pedaling 40 - 50 miles, if you were on a road bike????

Does this sound right to anyone?

Denise

Hi Denise, it is like what others said. My Navigator is real heavy, and the tires are wide. Not only that, I have mud guards on it, a back rack and a pack. It was a good bike on which to start, and I put 1300 miles on the bike this summer. However, it is time for me to move on up and this week the bike shop is selling me a Pilot 5.2 WSD in pearl pink. It is quite fatiguing for me to pedal the Navigator over 20 miles, and I am having to adapt my diet to it, which is causing me some difficulties. I think the comfort hybrid bikes are a good starting bike for a lot of females; it made me love biking as much as I did when I was younger. I believe the LBS when they told me that pedaling the Navigator 20 miles is equivalent to pedaling a road bike 40-50 miles, because I really acquired a lot of muscle density this summer and I went down two clothing sizes. Didn't lose much weight though.

Darcy

[uforgot]

As I was reading I was trying to visualize what a bike would look like without a fork and thought "Whoaaaaa pretty amazing, I've got to surf, find and take a look at one of these contraptions" Thanks for the clarification - saved much web time

Yeah, yeah, I knew I wouldn't get away with that one...

[ace]

Hiya,

I'm the same weight and several inches shorter than you (5'5), been riding a Trek hybrid for years. I regularly go on 40ish mile rides these days. I did start breaking rear spokes this year, partly due to the crappiness of my wheels, partly due to my weight. So I got a higher end rear wheel, and have had no more spoke problems.

For commuting and relatively short rides (under 40 miles), I think a hybrid is the way to go. Mine has been very, very good to me! I have back problems as well as carpal tunnel that makes my hands hurt, so I like the upright position. I'm going to buy a road bike in the spring, and am interested to see if I can tolerate a more hunched-over position.

Have fun!

-Amy

[BeeLady]

As I was reading I was trying to visualize what a bike would look like without a fork and thought "Whoaaaaa pretty amazing, I've got to surf, find and take a look at one of these contraptions" Thanks for the clarification - saved much web time
_____

It's called a unicylce -- not a good starter bike!!!

Welcome to cycling - how about an update? _____________

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lauren...a unicycle is missing a lot of things, but a fork isn't one of them!

[mimitabby]

I agree with everyone who suggests starting with the hybrid bike. That is what I did. I want to mention some additional benefits and that is you will build muscle density faster on a hybrid because it is heavier than a road bike. My LBS told me that the 20 miles I pedal on my Trek Navigator 300 is equivalent to pedaling 40-50 miles on a road bike.


Darcy

This seems to be a bit extreme to me as well. My Raleigh c700 is an aluminum hybrid and although i can't sustain high speeds as well or climb quite as fast while riding it, i wouldn't say that i was working more than 2x as hard while riding it. Maybe 20% more; so 50 miles on the road bike would be equivalent to 40 on the hybrid. And that might even be a stretch!

[BeeLady]

Hmmmm- when I rode my unicycle I always thought I was riding over the back wheel rather than the front one!

But I guess you're right - just hope the new rider who started this thread got off to a good start.

[uforgot]

This seems to be a bit extreme to me as well. My Raleigh c700 is an aluminum hybrid and although i can't sustain high speeds as well or climb quite as fast while riding it, i wouldn't say that i was working more than 2x as hard while riding it. Maybe 20% more; so 50 miles on the road bike would be equivalent to 40 on the hybrid. And that might even be a stretch!

Here is a photo of the Trek Navigator that I had. I looked at the Raleigh c700 on the Raleigh website and it isn't even close to the beast that the Navigator is. I now have a Trek 7.2fx which is very similar in style to your Raleigh, and Trek calls it a "fitness" bike. Let me tell you, that Navigator was a ton heavier, had huge tires and that big suspension fork made it even less hill friendly. I couldn't believe the difference between the fx and the Navigator. I really think the Navigator should be classified as a comfort bike. This year's model even has that weird step through design that has become so popular on the Electra bikes. I also have a Jamis road bike, and I'm gonna go on record as believing the stats the lbs gave her. I've been there and ridden them. If I were to give advice on someone just starting, I'd say get the Navigator type if you are just riding around town, riding trails, stopping at a store, etc, and get the Raleigh c700 or Trex 7.2fx if you want to ride more than 20 miles on the road and then do some rails to trails.

Seems that each company's definition of hybrid varies considerably!