Help choosing a bike for a heavier set guy.

ok i have been prowling the forums for a while looking at what bikes intrest me. My uncle is into road bikes and going on bike trips and this all intrest me. Also i like to hit the trails once in a while. Now i have searched those hybid bikes & they all seem to be more exspensive than either of the other two types. with that said i made my main focus on the road bike because lets face it, what am i usually riding on? my price range is from $200 to about $400 US. (i did work on my friends car & he said he will buy me a bike, but maybe he can pitch in for a really good one so he doesn't waste his money) so $400 is the most i really want to spend.

But my biggest concern is the type of bike for me. i'm about 6' - 6'1'' & around 280 - 300 lbs, even though i dont look that big. but seeing those little itty bitty tires scare me...

I plan to ride the bike proble every day. For an example how much I used to ride my other mountain bike about 10+ miles a day and i felt better about myself and loved getting around. Then I went to get it serviced & never got it back. Thanks Sports Authority. So here I am. What do you all Think?... Should I just go to a LBS?
Thanks,
Jared

I'm 5'10 and about the same weight as you. My bike has those super skinny tires and it's held up just fine.

why didnt you get your mountain bike back? seems odd...

im 5'8 220lbs and my skinny 700x23c tires on my specialized allez triple hold up just fine. The wheels may run out of true eventually, but right now they are ok i ride my road bike very easily...

for your price a hybrid/comfort bike might be a good idea. they give a very comfortable upright ride, but have 700c tires for faster traveling/less resistance. I bought my girlfriend a trek 7100 wsd for 319.99 good deal on a solid bike. the 7200 i believe is closer to 400, and probably worth the extra money, as it has some better parts, but my girlfriend likes what she got and she cant tell the difference in parts like I can...

just ride easy on your bike, dont do jumps or drops and try to avoid potholes as much as safely possible and you shouldnt have any problems. bikes are built very strong...especially triple triangle designs

thanks for all the input.

today i actually went to an lbs & the owner recomended me a 56cm frame, but i dont understand that when i hear that 58 to 60-61 should be more comfortable for me. i'm sure there are more variables in than just hight, but he was explaining to me that there should be a slight bend at the knee when fully extended... (i was on the trek 1000) & unfortuanatly it was raining so i couldn't test the bikle out but i will go back there when it is a nicer day... he wanted $700 which seems up there, but i heard that it would be a good/great entry level bike

So i went to test out the trek 1000 yesterday.

& wow. what a bike. the seat wasn't too comfortable which i was exspecting, but it rides smother than anything i have ever had before. Now i haven't been on a bike in years, & it felt great. I cannot wait to get it so now all i am doing is seeing if i can find it at a cheaper price than $700 but it doesn't seem so. so here wee go... 2 & 1/2 months of saving.

Gotta be honest, you're going to pay between $500 - $700 for a decent entry level bike. You can go to Walmart and buy something for around $250 - $300 but I wouldn't trust it.

Listen, I am 6' 3" and I weighed right around 300 lbs when I bought a Giant OCR3 for $650 two years ago. I'm now at 220 lbs (wanting to get to around 180) and am riding a 2005 Specialized Tarmac Comp - carbon fiber. I probably wouldn't have bought the Specialized if I hadn't gotten such a great deal on it. Either way, I am advising you to spend the extra money and get a decent bike. You won't regret it and more than likely will enjoy riding the bike more.

Rob

I'm definatly going to get the 100, but i wanna see if i can get it at a lower price... i found one place by me that is selling it for $649 or 59 other than $699. & the shop that i went to says they will beat any price in the area. so i am hoping i can get the 699 down to 639 or something... and then of course i will be getting a helmet & a cheap computer to get me through so i know how far & whatnot... i will probly get the cateye 8

The 1000 is a fine bike and I am sure that you will enjoy it a great deal. Plus it comes in a couple of colors to choose from.

Rob

Well here is an update... My uncle is lettimg me use his old bike... In 1990 he baught a new Schwinn Traveler... it weighs about 28 lbs & would be great to start out to get the feel of the road stule bikes... Also he has clipless pedals on them & also gave me the regular pedals that came w/ the bike which is what i will be using...

I'm not going to give up on the trek 1000, but i am going to i guess u can call it "train" on this while i continue to save the money...

I also got in my bike computer. Its made by Fizler and the model # is a dB4LW-C... its pretty nice. It was $37 shipped and the speed/distance unit is wireless & it has a wired cadence sensor with a whole bunch of extra goodies...

now this has nothing to do with biking, but i also scored free tickets to the warped tour that i went to today... freaking awesome... i loved it... all in all.... one hell of a weekend
Jared