My buddy has been told by his doc to get a bike to help his recovery from hip surgery. He’s 6’3" 300 lbs, any ideas on a quality bike for say $1k?
Cross check?
It’s gonna be hard to find anything off the peg at any price that’ll fit someone 6’8"… I suspect you may be looking at a custom frame being required, unfortunately.
Anyways, I vote for Surly Cross Check, but even the 62cm size is most likely going to be too small for him.
I was gonna say Bianchi Volpe, but 61 is the biggest size, and 6’8" probably needs something bigger than that.
Maybe 64+ frame off ebay and spend some money on high quality handbuilt wheels (36h xt/delgado or something).
eerrrrr typo. He’s 6’3" So the cross check should work
Hah, I was wondering about that.
So, I am 6’3" with short legs and long torso and love the 60cm Cross Check. When I started riding it, I was about 255lbs., now I’m 210… it’s worked great the whole time and I am growing ever more fond of it. One of the most versatile bikes anywhere, you can literally set it up to do almost anything, it’s very well thought out.
There are cheaper steel frames out there if you just want a fixed gear (i.e. BikeIsland), and there are frames around the same price made out of slightly snazzier tubing (i.e. Soma), but there are not many / any frames that’ll let you setup the bike as geared or fixed, run wide tires with mudguard clearance, pretty much any size chainrings whether single, double or triple, 130mm road hubs or 135mm mountain hubs, rack brazeons, etc. The Cross Check does all that and does it well.
I would save some money for better wheels no matter what you settle on. At 300lbs. the frame isn’t going to be the limiting factor.
Just adding my voice to the Cross-Check chorus. Also, if he explains his situation to the shop he’s buying the bike from, they may work with him to gert some 36-spoke wheels on there.
dont get radial laced
In the grand scheme of things, the extra 100 pounds isnt a huge deal. Lots of guys I know tour on 28 hole wheels and weigh an easy 220 plus their gear and dont have problems.
Yeah, 32 is probably ok as long as you have the shop check the tension before they go out the door then again after a break-in period.
if your shop is a good one, they should give you at least 6 months of service after purchase, so take it in and ask them to check the wheels for tension and true because the rider is a big dude.
Another vote for the Cross Check, although a Trucker may have more appealingly stable handling for a noob and considering it’s built for loaded touring might handle the weight a little better.
As for the wheels, I think this is a sensible upgrade to make at the time of the purchase. A cool shop should be willing to offer some credit on the unused stock wheels towards a handbuilt 36h set. XT hubs 3x to Salsa Delgado Cross rims would be a bombproof and pretty affordable setup.
You know fuckall, GTFO.
Probably, there’s not anything better available than the Cross Check for <$1k. One potential option is a 27" frame off craigslist and then build it up. I’ve seen a few nice >60cm bikes around here that have been relatively cheap. For wheels, 36h in the back would be very strong, an off-center rim like synergy or aerohead would make for a bulletproof wheel.
Pake C’Mute?
On One Pompino? (ss or fixed only)
IRO Rob Roy? (discontinued)
Salsa Casseroll?
I might want to add that since he is pretty heavy and probably not fit, a triple up front may help him stay motivated to ride.