A new method of travel

It may be more than you want to spend geting started, but plenty of frame will sell you a complete custom geometry bike, be it mountain, road or cross. A cross bike actually might be the best thing for you. You can use knobbies or larger volume tires than standard road bikes use without peddling unneccessarily big and heavy mountain tires. Pedddling a mountain bike on roads sucks. But if you feel you need a mountain bike for your large size look into 29" bikes. They are ideal for very tall people. Fisher and Niner bikes specialize in 29ners. You should be able to find some more on MTBR.com.
If your bike comes with 2.1" wide tires you should be able to easily go to a 2.3 without clearance problems. Anything wider is going to be for downhill bikes, you wouldn't want to peddle anything heavy like that. Don't worry though, your weight is NOT going to bust a quality poperly inflated mountain tire. I would recommend a 32 or 36 spoke wheelset though, like a Shimano Deore hub on Mavic rims. Good luck.

I weigh over 300 and ride a Giant Sedona DX with Serfas Drifter 1 & 1/2" tires.

People will point you to custom frames and custom built wheels, but if all of your riding is on pavement, a bike like mine will be fine. I have 1900 miles on the 2003 bike with no mechanical issues except for a bad tire caused by under-inflation.

If you go with a tire that has a higher pressure than the stock tires, you should get some good rim tape due to issues with spoke related punctures.

Any quality comfort bike leaning toward mountain bike with 36 spoke wheels should do you well. If it has a front shock, make sue it is adjustable, and adjust it as stiff as possible. I would avoid rear suspension.

If you do want something with drop bars, and your gut doesn't get in the way (like mine does) then I would suggest a touring bike that is built to carry the weight of a loaded tour... it will allow you to ride without too many issues. In the spring, I plan to start riding an old Cannondale touring bike I bought recently. I expect it to do just fine.

The bottom line is to avoid the things that other cyclists covet, like the extremely light frames and components. Otherwise you will likely do just fine without investing a fortune for a custom heavy duty bike.

Oh, and make sure the bike as very low gears if you might ride any hills, as it takes some serious work to drag 300 pounds up hill.

Also, keep your usual cadence up to over 60 rpm to avoid leg problems.

Your height is going to be a bit more difficult to accomodate than your weight. A good sturdy mountain bike that fits well will be fine with the stock tires, but you may have to search around a bit to find one that fits well. And stay away from bikes with low spoke count wheels - you'll want at least 32 spokes front and back.

Riding in traffic is a skill, read up on it and gain confidence gradually and it won't seem so scary.

dgregory57 said:

I weigh over 300 and ride a Giant Sedona DX with Serfas Drifter 1 & 1/2" tires.

People will point you to custom frames and custom built wheels, but if all of your riding is on pavement, a bike like mine will be fine. I have 1900 miles on the 2003 bike with no mechanical issues except for a bad tire caused by under-inflation.

If you go with a tire that has a higher pressure than the stock tires, you should get some good rim tape due to issues with spoke related punctures.

Any quality comfort bike leaning toward mountain bike with 36 spoke wheels should do you well. If it has a front shock, make sue it is adjustable, and adjust it as stiff as possible. I would avoid rear suspension.

If you do want something with drop bars, and your gut doesn't get in the way (like mine does) then I would suggest a touring bike that is built to carry the weight of a loaded tour... it will allow you to ride without too many issues. In the spring, I plan to start riding an old Cannondale touring bike I bought recently. I expect it to do just fine.

The bottom line is to avoid the things that other cyclists covet, like the extremely light frames and components. Otherwise you will likely do just fine without investing a fortune for a custom heavy duty bike.

Oh, and make sure the bike as very low gears if you might ride any hills, as it takes some serious work to drag 300 pounds up hill.

Also, keep your usual cadence up to over 60 rpm to avoid leg problems.

Why do you suggest i avoid rear suspension? what if the bike i like doesnt have an adjustable front suspension? just leave it how it is? The weight of the bike doesnt bother me i am pretty fit and lifting weights alot, i have just read from a reply that they make 29" bikes, now i am thinking of building my own frame!!!

veryverytallguy said:

Why do you suggest i avoid rear suspension? what if the bike i like doesnt have an adjustable front suspension? just leave it how it is? The weight of the bike doesnt bother me i am pretty fit and lifting weights alot, i have just read from a reply that they make 29" bikes, now i am thinking of building my own frame!!!

Since you want to go cheap (per your OP), any suspension you get won't be much good... and could be a liability.

Nothing wrong with 29" wheels or the bikes made to use them, but they're not the standard so they'll likely be more expensive.

Building your own frame would be an interesting project for a welder or brazer skilled in other areas, again, not likely to be cheap, could be a lot more than you bargained for.

veryverytallguy said:

Why do you suggest i avoid rear suspension? what if the bike i like doesnt have an adjustable front suspension? just leave it how it is? The weight of the bike doesnt bother me i am pretty fit and lifting weights alot, i have just read from a reply that they make 29" bikes, now i am thinking of building my own frame!!!

Rear suspension on a cheap bike, if ridden on the road saps a lot of energy. If your ride is too rough on your behind then a suspension seat post would probably do fine for that without the penalty of rear suspension.

If the front suspension doesn't adjust, be sure to give it a good test ride to make sure it feels right to you. With the extra weight, my adjustable feels mushy unless I have it stiffened as much as possible. I do appreciate the isolation from road vibration, but I also like a relatively solid feel for peace of mind in bike handling. I especially noticed not liking a softer suspension when I was doing some pretty sharp and/or fast cornering. I am considering moving to a solid front fork on my comfort bike... and definitely would if it were my only bike.