[font=Arial]I am a 43 year old overweight ex first [/font][font=Verdana]class rugby player, I played at prop and am therefore not built much like Lance Armstrong. I have rather[/font][font=Arial] foolishly agreed to ride london to brighton and oxford to cambridge this year and do a triathalon next year.
[/font][font=Arial]As a result of this startlingly absurd act of bravado in October I bought a [font=Verdana]Cannondale bad boy [/font]and starting commuting to work. I am now doing around 80 - 100 miles a week and rather worryingly seem to enjoy this, is it a latent masochistic tendency I was before unaware of?[/font] I would like to buy a road bike for use at weekends , I weight around 280 llbs and am in pretty good shape considering . I am looking at Ti I think material wise although have ridden some carbon bikes and enjoyed them. My thinking at this stage is either the Litespeed Tuscany or Sienna or the serotta concourse any thoughts?
how much difference to comfort / performance would complete custom build as opposed to custom
1) no light weight wheels. 32 spokes front and rear
2) think about your pedals. Some of the little funky ones like the egg beaters have weight limits of around 180 lbs
3) As far as I know there are no weight limits place on riders. It really depends on how you ride the bike.
4) If you are having trouble finding a good strong frame think about a cyclocross bike. Just swap out the tyres and breaks (trust me on this one, canti breaks suck but then you are not really supposed to stop in cyclocross) and you will be good to go. I have raced on the road with my 'cross bike, its heavy but no problem.
[font=Arial][/font]how much difference to comfort / performance would complete custom build as opposed to custom
Normally there's not much difference. If you're concerned about strength though, a full custom builder (like Seven) can help you pick out an appropriate tube set for your weight. As for the rest of the build, just follow Rob's advice and stay away from the weight weenie stuff.
