Suggestions needed for a fat person :)

I need to lose allot of weight so part of my plan stop driving to work (desk job) and start biking..
roughly ~20km each way and going off-road on trails on the weekend with my buddy. Since I know
_NOTHING_ about bikes your opinion is valued greatly! first off I'm 6'3 and 300lbs (told you I was
fat ) I want something that's not going to crumble underneath me when I over some bumps, and I want
some stopping power when going down hills. I plan to spend 1500$ Canadian. I know that's not allot
of money but I'm fresh out of college with allot of bills.

so what should I look for? what make/models anything is helpful

Thanks. Jeff T. [email protected]

 

oh maybe I should add this I had surgery on my knee from a sporting accident. Is biking is easier on
the knee then walking? I did allot of walking last year and lost 100lbs (was 350 down to 250 back up
too 300 with the new desk job) however walking was kind of painful after an hour into it..

"Jeff T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I need to lose allot of weight so part of my plan stop driving to work
(desk
> job) and start biking.. roughly ~20km each way and going off-road on trails on the weekend with my
> buddy. Since I know _NOTHING_ about bikes your opinion is valued greatly! first off I'm 6'3 and
> 300lbs (told you I was fat ) I want something that's not going to crumble underneath me when I
> over some bumps, and I want some stopping power when going down hills. I plan to spend 1500$
> Canadian. I know that's not allot of money but I'm fresh out of college with allot of bills.
>
> so what should I look for? what make/models anything is helpful
>
>
> Thanks. Jeff T. [email protected]
>
>

 

Jeff, I'm also very big guy ;-) 300lb. I joined the YMCA an work out 3 times a week 30 minutes on
the treed mill & 20 minutes on the bike the rest of my 2 hours in the gym I do low impact weights. I
ride a Kona Nunu Bike & a Cinder cone both are very well made and are great bikes. I see you are in
Canada so maybe look at an Oryx bike T-line 125 model and up, the frames are all the same right to
the T-750 which is the race bike. they have a life time warrenty on the frame and there bikes are
very light. starting at about $900.00 & up. I was looking at buying one this year but now I'm
looking for a Homegrown ;-) for a custom build. anyways like I said I'm a big guy & the Kona is an
Excellent bike and they have a good resale value to. you can get a Kona Nunu for a $1000. or a very
nice Cinder cone for $1149. or Caldera bike for under $1400. see links.

PSS try to get a good bike with deore line of parts or better for starting around $900. - $1500.
for XT parts.

www.oryx.ca www.konaworld.com

"Jeff T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> oh maybe I should add this I had surgery on my knee from a sporting accident. Is biking is easier
> on the knee then walking? I did allot of walking last year and lost 100lbs (was 350 down to 250
> back up too 300 with the new desk job) however walking was kind of painful after an hour into it..
>
>
>
> "Jeff T" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > I need to lose allot of weight so part of my plan stop driving to work
> (desk
> > job) and start biking.. roughly ~20km each way and going off-road on trails
on
> > the weekend with my buddy. Since I know _NOTHING_ about bikes your opinion is
valued
> > greatly! first off I'm 6'3 and 300lbs (told you I was fat ) I want something
that's
> > not going to crumble underneath me when I over some bumps, and I want some stopping power
when
> > going down hills. I plan to spend 1500$ Canadian. I know that's not allot of money but I'm fresh
> > out of college with allot of bills.
> >
> > so what should I look for? what make/models anything is helpful
> >
> >
> > Thanks. Jeff T. [email protected]
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

 

Jeff T wrote:
> oh maybe I should add this I had surgery on my knee from a sporting accident. Is biking is easier
> on the knee then walking? I did allot of walking last year and lost 100lbs (was 350 down to 250
> back up too 300 with the new desk job) however walking was kind of painful after an hour into it..

I don't think there is an easy answer to your knee question, I've problems with an ankle and a knee
and have difficulties with running and jogging. But find cycling long distances no hassle at all.
Start by consulting your doctor or a physiotheripist who understands the damage to your knee and go
from there.. You might be better off with aqua-aerobics or similar although in my own non-medical
opinion I find cycling quite low impact on joints.

Gyp

 

Jeff T wrote:
> I need to lose allot of weight so part of my plan stop driving to work (desk job) and start
> biking.. roughly ~20km each way and going off-road on trails on the weekend with my buddy. Since I
> know _NOTHING_ about bikes your opinion is valued greatly! first off I'm 6'3 and 300lbs (told you
> I was fat ) I want something that's not going to crumble underneath me when I over some bumps, and
> I want some stopping power when going down hills. I plan to spend 1500$ Canadian. I know that's
> not allot of money but I'm fresh out of college with allot of bills.
>
> so what should I look for? what make/models anything is helpful

There're lots of good bikes out there that'll handle your weight. I started off at 300 lbs about 3
years ago and lost 80-90 lbs my first year. I started with an old (used) steel frame GT and moved on
to a Cannondale CAAD4 aluminum when I found that the GT just wasn't cutting it.

But, go to several bike shops. Talk to the sales people about what you want and how you ride.
Compare their answers and see which ones are trying to work with you vs. trying to sell the stuff on
the floor / giving you hype instead of experienced answers. Ask about after sales support: free
tune-ups for how long, free installation of components that you buy from them, priority treatment
when you bring your bike in, etc. Ride lots of bikes. See which ones fit you and feel good. Ride
bikes over your price range to see what you're missing and or to get ideas on a couple of things the
you might want to upgrade at the time of the sale. Choose the bike the fits the best from the dealer
that seems the most likely to work with you and give you good after-sales support. Decide what
components you want to upgrade (typically the seat and to a stem that fits you, and maybe a seatpost
suspension), and what other add-ins you want (helmet, water bottles, hydration pak, small emergency
trail tool kit, tire patch kit, pump, presta adapter, lock...). You can usually get a better deal on
these at the time of the sale (ie, you can usually get a good discount to close the sale).

Enjoy your new ride David

 

RE/
>Is biking is easier on the knee then walking?

It can vary depending on setup and riding style.

Get you saddle position/height somewhere close to correct and keep the rpms up and I'd say it's a
lot easie on the knee than walking. My knees are history and I can bike with no problem except when
I try to do more than a few miles on my rigid utility bike - which is set up wrong. On my 2 "real"
bikes, there's no problem as long as I don't try to muscle up hills in too high a gear.
-----------------------
PeteCresswell

 

Jeff T wrote:
> I need to lose allot of weight so part of my plan stop driving to work (desk job) and start
> biking.. roughly ~20km each way and going off-road on trails on the weekend with my buddy. Since I
> know _NOTHING_ about bikes your opinion is valued greatly! first off I'm 6'3 and 300lbs (told you
> I was fat ) I want something that's not going to crumble underneath me when I over some bumps, and
> I want some stopping power when going down hills.

So, a steel or Ti frame and disc brakes..... easy

> I plan to spend 1500$ Canadian.

That's like what? $500 us?-(

well I was gonna point you to here: http://www.habcycles.com/mtbdiscprice.html Perhaps Mark( or is
it Steve that does the actual build-ups) could build something up around a nice Ti frame w/ avid
mechaical disc brakes and a lower grade component group, get good frane amd brakes, upgrade to
better bits as they break.wear out.

 

Jeff T wrote:
> oh maybe I should add this I had surgery on my knee from a sporting accident.

join the club http://www.shavings.net/kneescope.htm

> Is biking is easier on the knee then walking?

most definately!

 

ClydesdaleMTB <[email protected]> spoke thusly...
> Jeff T wrote:
> > Is biking is easier on the knee then walking?
>
> most definately!
>

Unless you ride like me... (though my knees don't hurt, yet)
--
~Travis

travis57 at megalink dot net http://www.megalink.net/~farmers/

 

Filter out "Supabonbon".

Bill "hurry, before it's too late" S.

 

Jeff T wrote:
> oh maybe I should add this I had surgery on my knee from a sporting accident. Is biking is easier
> on the knee then walking? I did allot of walking last year and lost 100lbs (was 350 down to 250
> back up too 300 with the new desk job) however walking was kind of painful after an hour into it..

I have bad knees and I need to do the following:

Make sure that youre seat's at the right height to slightly too low. Too high and you'll overextend
your leg every time you pedal.

Learn to spin. I read someplace a long time ago that keeping your RPM above 60/min (one rev a
second) helps the knees a lot. I've gotten my pedal rate to 95-100 RPM and never have any problems
-- and I sometimes do 100-135 mile rides.

Make sure that your seat's comfortable. When I'm constantly shifting around trying to find a
comfortable position, it seems to wear on my knees.

David