Bike for a larger person

[East Hill]

Yes, encourage your friend to take a look at the BF Clydesdales forum, and then see if he'd like to come on a ride with us one day . There's always Interurban/Green River for a start.

East Hill

[SalsaMTB]

We've had some bigger guys come into the shop who wanted to get into road riding. I'm not sure how large your friend is, but we've never had a problem putting someone on a road bike. If he's concerned about a durable wheelset, the shop could build him up a pair of super durable wheels (we've done this for people).

One thing I would also recommend...we had a bigger guy have problems with getting flats. So, we gave him stronger tires and thorn resistant tubes. These tubes are really thick and he hasn't had a problem since. It was tough putting them in, but they work!

[rivergrl]

Giant makes a great bike and their comfort bikes are really sturdy but light in my opinion which makes them easy to ride, which is important in encouraging people to KEEP riding. I started out with one of those bikes and it was really easy to ride compared to the bikes people sometimes buy at Wal-Mart which can be extremely heavy. I found that the heavier the bike the less I wanted to ride it. I got a Giant and my journey into cycling began. I started on the comfort bike as a heavier person and I moved to a Giant road bike and I've never felt like I was too big to ride on my Giant.

I got tired of seeing cyclists pass my office window every day. I had the desire to do what they were doing but I was bigger and my fear of being made fun of was huge. Finally I just did it and it's wonderful. I figure I'm going so fast that nobody really is paying attention to what I'm wearing or how big I am. I'm just out having fun and getting healthy. The hardest part is to put away fear and get out there with the rest of them. Good luck to your friend.

[teigyr]

rivergrl - that's very insightful. What model did/do you have? I don't know Giants at all but I believe they are reasonably priced. I also think comfort would be good, I want this to be a positive and fun thing.

[Rosie8]

The Clydesdale/Athena forum at bikeforums.net is a great one. I enjoy reading about people, their problems and triumphs. The Historian -
http://historian2wheels.blogspot.com/
has a neat blog about his weight loss journey. He started at 385#.

I second rivergrl on the Giant bikes. I bought a Suede 7-speed for $340. It is a totally comfortable bike with pedals set forward like the Electra Townies so you can put your feet on the ground while stopped at a light. Trek Pure also has a similar model which I've ridden - very comfortable and lightweight compared to Xmart bikes. My handlebars are adjustable in angle so I can sit upright or bend forward more if it's windy. The bike looks like a cross between a cruiser and mountain bike. I can ride through sand, gravel, up hills, etc. and smile all the while.

[rivergrl]

I bought a Sedona but the Cypress (the model names may be different now) but the Cypress has thinner tires so it rides a bit more like a road bike, you can get a little more speed up on the Cypress but the Sedona I have is great. I still ride my Sedona when I ride with someone who doesn't have a road bike. It's just a great riding bike and comfortable for long Saturday rides.

[rivergrl]

Here is the link to the bikes on the Giant web site.
http://www.giant-bicycle.com/en-US/bikes/lifestyle/

I highly recommend the Cypress or the Sedona for your friend. My LBS was fantastic and they deal with just about every brand and they recommended the Giant for getting into the biking thing. The LBS recommended I start with this type bike because they are easy on the knees and are easy to ride. I started with this bike and I was hooked. I rode it for a year before buying a Giant road bike. I couldn't bear to part with the Sedona so I kept it and I ride it more casually. I also bought a trainer and put the Sedona on there. It works great for rainy days!

Good bikes aren't cheap but if you really want to stick with something like cycling then spend the money to get a good bike. It will last longer and be easier to ride. In the end it will be well worth the money.

[East Hill]

teigyr, have you talked to your friend yet? Have him look at this link:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=320748

I know we can tell your friend all day about the benefits of riding a bike, but this is a great story. We can't all hope to achieve this, but we can all aim for that same goal--to help ourselves get more fit, and to help beat diabetes.

East Hill