More Bike Questions

[Cheese]

So I asked once on the other place and some things have changed.

This weekend I did the responsible thing and rode a bike with my buddies up to the Brewfest Saturday giving us easy parking and piece of mind getting home. I had my friends girlfriend's Cruiser. It had foot brakes and 3 speeds. For hammering around town, it was sweet. I felt like the bear at the circus.

As such, I am re-evaluating what I think I need. Although it would be great to have a cadilac front suspension bike that would get used hard occassionaly, reality is I already have several big dollar hobbies and prefer running for focused exercise.

This has me looking again, because there are lots of trips during the week that I really should make on the bike to take more miles off the truck. The park is almost 20 minutes of walking, or about 5 on the bike. Riding the bike to the pub or the store would be killer, it is almost always nice here.

For a man at 6'5" and 250, looking for around town use and some recreational path riding, I doubt I need to spend big bucks on any sort of suspension. I would like handbrakes and some gears, but I am not sure how many I need. Getting a cruiser makes me leary of hammering out longer trail rides for conditioning if I were so inclined. Having a 24 speed non-suspended bike makes me feel I may be tempted to ride it too hard. I want something that is nice, but not an uber-trail bike.

Trek Clyde and Trek SU200 are striking me now. Advice, opinions?

[habanero]

Of the two the SU200. The other might be kind of fun and a little novel but s...l....o....w and only comes in a 19, which is what my 5'9 self rides. You'll also find the cruiser isn't as comfortable on longer rides.

Check out a Kona Smoke, too. There's others, the best thing you can do is hit the LBS's and try a bunch of stuff out. What we're comfortable on isn't necessarily going to work for you. Steel will be more comfortable than aluminum, it's got more flex. Aluminum is stiffer and quicker. A bob trailer is great for library and grocery and everything go-getting. As for how many gears, my knees like more. If you're of the personality that might be tempted to ride too hard it won't matter if you've one speed or 27.

[MTL_4runner]

I've never been a huge Trek fan (nothing against them though). I do like the Kona's alot but instead of the smoke, I'd move up a bit to something like a Fire Mountian or Blast which is a hardtail but at least has a front shock. A fully rigid bike with someone big like you or I will just beat the crap out of you offroad (I only knew one guy that used to ride a fully rigid bike on some decent trails and even he eventually caved and got a hardtail with a front shock.....the bigger you are the worse it is). I'd even go with a low end full suspension myself, but you can get away with it by swapping out your seatpost for one that has some suspension to it. On the cheap end you might also look at the Specialized Rockhopper which is another solid bike. I'd be more inclined to get one used but you'll need a pretty big frame (like a 21 or 22) so finding one that size used might be tough.

[callmej75]

I just gotta $53 Walmart special with 15 speeds...works good for me but the seat is a good cause of roids...might wanna look into a good seat.

[Cheese]

Thanks ladies and gents.

I am a person who usually overguns on things like this.

Some have said, as y'all did, that I should get at least some suspension. Others have said, being a big man, I would have to spend some serious cash to get suspension that I won't just eat up.

Potentially, this is a bike that will get some trail time. Reality is it will get ridden daily on trips from 10 minutes to an hour and will likely stay in town on or bike paths.

I understand that specific bikes have to fit me, but I am curious about the rational between cruisers and others.

Again, I appreciate the info.

[habanero]

Sometimes you can add front suspension later, as we did with my Trek Antelope, so the right rigid isn't a dead end if you want to expand. How much shock you need depends on how light or heavy you ride in the saddle.

A cruiser is retro slow relaxed beach vacation cool. The comfort bike is the modern-day version. Personally I prefer something with a bit more versatility and zip. My favorite all-arounder is a hardtail mtb. The only thing it can't do is keep up with my faster roadie friends.

The walmart bike may have it's place in the world but perhaps not under a guy as big as you.

[Cebby]

I felt like the bear at the circus.

Now THAT'S a funny quote!!

I think a hardtail with a mild front shock and disc brakes would be a good option. I'm not up on the latest models. I looked at the Kona Fire Mountain mentioned above and think that would be a good option. Kona has big frame sizes too.

[Euphorickaty80]

I have the $53 walmart special too and its really not a bad bike once you get all the gears fine tuned.....the seat is rather uncomforatble on long rides but all in all i have to say im not terribly dissapointed.

[AxleIke]

If you plan to ride it hard on the trails, spend money and get the good stuff.

If you plan to do anything else, get something with decent components, so you aren't frustrated, but keep in mind that, with anything, riding in town creates the possiblility of stuff getting jacked. I've lost two front tires and a seat that way.

Sounds like you need something in the 200-400 range. Should get you decent stuff, without going top of the line. BTW, my personal experience has been that disk brakes suck cock. I changed out for some conventional pads, and it's been fine ever since. Discliamer there is that i ride hard on the trails around here. Both myself and my brother have ripped head tubes out of 1k bikes (luckily there was a warranty). I've bent more rims then i care to admit. However, the disk brakes seem to warp rotors easily, making them a royal pain. Perhaps the technology is changing.

[habanero]

Were that true, AxleIke, they'd sell a heck of a lot more disc brakes.