Hybrid Help?

Well if it helps:
Mad Duck Adventure sells nice Mad Duck logoed Jerseys is big sizes
http://madducksports.com/site/intro.cfm
Aerotech sells special big people sizes of jerseys, shorts, and stuff
http://store.aerotechdesigns.com/index.html
I got lucky and got a big size 47 (size 12-13) pair of road shoes, on sale
cheap at Specialized's web store front
http://www.specialized.com/SBCUSHome.jsp?minisite=10080&rccmd=atj the road
shoe is really nice and it fits OK too.
Sometimes http://www.bikejerseys.com/ has jerseys that fit, but you have to
look hard as the different brands have different sizes and they only stock
them in big sizes intermittently.
http://www.zyflex.com/store/productDetail.asp?id=31&cID=9&sID=6 has big
sizes in from time to time.
These guys have nice wool jerseys too http://www.boure.com/8556.html in
bigger sizes
http://www.performancebike.com/ had a few big shoes that fit me on sale,
plus they had some extra big bib knickers too.
http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your feet cycling
shoes. These are really nice shoes too.
Well worth the money spent. It's like getting dress shoes custom made in
London, they fit perfectly.
9.5 EEEE is going to be a killer www.rocket7.com may be the only game in
town. I'd look for the "Spinning" or "Mountain Bike" shoes as a possibility.
My first 12 size success was a spinning shoe and mountain bike shoe from
PerformanceBike.com

"geemike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"The vast majority of bikes are made for people that are 5'5" in size
and
140 pounds tops". That is just plain silly, not to mention wrong.

It isn't when you go to the bike shop looking for apparel and special
clothes and the shops only have those sizes on hand, and they are
reluctant to order "big" sizes for you as if it doesn't fit, then they
are stuck with the item(s).
It's really irritating to see a jersey marked XXXL and it really is for a
5'9" skinny person.
Or riding shorts with a 30 inch waist marked as being XL.
Then there are the shoes, when is the last time any bike shop ever had
real

Like I said, if there isn't a web site offering bike wear for the obese
there should be one. It's damned embarassing to go to the bike store to
try to find spandex stuff when all the help is, well, "intimidatingly
fit". It would be cool if you could pop off some measurements to an
online shop with a reasonable chance of success of having them fill the
order.

Quoted message said:

American size 12 shoe in stock?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe. Haven't looked
yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

Finally, I want to thank those who have responded to this thread. No one
has come out and screamed that the Trek Pilot 2.1 is likely to be a poor
value or is unlikely to stand up to the riding I will do.
This would be my fourth bike purchase from this bike shop, so I can wiggle
a bit of a discount out of them. If it seems to fit me well, I think I'll
buy it.

Mike G

Quoted message said:

It isn't when you go to the bike shop looking for apparel and special
clothes and the shops only have those sizes on hand, and they are
reluctant to order "big" sizes for you as if it doesn't fit, then they are
stuck with the item(s).
It's really irritating to see a jersey marked XXXL and it really is for a
5'9" skinny person.
Or riding shorts with a 30 inch waist marked as being XL.
Then there are the shoes, when is the last time any bike shop ever had
real American size 12 shoe in stock?

I dunno about that... we order heavily in larger sizes, and sell quite a
bit. Most jersey manufacturers, it seems, are actually making looser fits
for a given size these days. Shorts are another matter; it is difficult
sometimes to find larger shorts, but not impossible. Shoes? We try to stock
up to size 50 European, which should come out to about a 13-14 American.

The really big size jerseys don't sell as well as the stuff that fits
somebody 5'10 and 165lbs, but they still sell well. I don't see why a shop
would ignore such a big market. Sorry, couldn't resist.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"The vast majority of bikes are made for people that are 5'5" in size and
140 pounds tops". That is just plain silly, not to mention wrong.

It isn't when you go to the bike shop looking for apparel and special
clothes and the shops only have those sizes on hand, and they are
reluctant to order "big" sizes for you as if it doesn't fit, then they are
stuck with the item(s).
It's really irritating to see a jersey marked XXXL and it really is for a
5'9" skinny person.
Or riding shorts with a 30 inch waist marked as being XL.
Then there are the shoes, when is the last time any bike shop ever had
real American size 12 shoe in stock?
I wind up having to mail order everything and hope for the best as the
returns are a real hassle.
Obviously the companies aren't putting out a lot of stuff that would work
for "bigger" people, including the road bikes.
It makes you wonder as to how well or long would a road bike would hold up
under a big person.
But then maybe big people aren't supposed to ride.
Of course there are a few gems every now and then that show up. 🙂

"Jeff Starr" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

araby said:

I think you should check your math -or gearing. According to my calcs,
assuming a 48/13 top gear ratio (SC30 on Raleigh website) this gives 96
gear
inches. If you spin at say 100rpm -fastish but lot excessive, this
translates to 28.6 mph. I would think that 96" is just about right for
the
bike.
Conversely your 16 mph will be attained with approx 55 rpm which is a
very
low cadence.

Regards,

Roy

I noticed the same thing, him siting a 52-12 getting about 21mph. Well
that would be at a cadence of 61. The other good one was "The
vast majority of bikes are made for people that are 5'5" in size and
140 pounds tops". That is just plain silly, not to mention wrong.

For the Op, remember that the advice on these forums is free and often
what you get for free is worth nothing. So, remember to do your own
follow up research. I can tell you this, The advice you get from Mike
Jacoubowsky will be thoughtful and helpful. Mike doesn't sell online
and I don't believe that he posts for selfish reasons.

The bike you are considering is not a hybrid, but that is fine. I
think with a proper setup, you will find a road bike will suit your
needs better, as you ride more.

What you want, is a bike that inspires you to ride. I got back into
riding three years ago, after not riding for about 25 years. The first
year back, I replaced tubes, tires, and saddle on my then 26 year old
French 10-speed. I then rode that bike a little over 700 miles. After
getting back into reasonable shape, my usual ride was 14 miles. The
following year[2003] I stuck some money into upgrading the "Champion
Du Monde". In July I was having recurring problems with the headset
loosening. I took it back to the LBS and almost on a whim,helped by a
big sale, I bought a new 2002 LeMond Tourmalet. At that time I had 599
miles on the Champ. The new bike inspired me to ride and I finished
'03 with 2086 miles. Up until that point, my LBS had been doing all my
work.
I wanted the Tourmalet to be the best it could be, that I could
afford, personalized and I wanted to learn about doing my own work. I
shopped around, bought a few things on Ebay I ended up upgrading
everything on the bike, except the fork, headset, and brake calipers.
Everyhing component wise, other than the cassette and pedals was
changed to Dura-Ace 9-speed triple. I already had the Ultegra SPD-SL
pedals and the Ultegra 14-25 cassette. The bars and seatpost were
changed to Easton carbon fiber, and I had a set of wheels handbuilt by
Peter a Vecchio's.
None of the upgrades were necessary, but they taught me a lot about my
bike and now, even more than before, the bike sreams "RIDE ME". I rode
3174 miles in 2004, with my ride average being 20 miles.

Don't let anyone tell you, that your old bike is good enough, if you
don't think so. As I believe someone else mentioned, allow in the
budget for a good saddle, some riding clothes,a computer
w/cadence[Cateye Astrale 8], and eventually clipless pedals with the
necessary shoes. The clothes aren't necessary, but as you ride more,
they will improve the overall experience. Of course that is my
opinion.
Riding is some much fun, it's good for you, and compared to many other
hobbies, and interests, it is not that expensive. It can be, but
doesn't have to be.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Quoted message said:

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe. Haven't looked
yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

*That* is going to be a tough one. You might get a recommendation for a good
local shoe repair place, find a shoe that's closest to fitting, and bring it
to them and ask if they can do something to make it fit you better.

Quoted message said:

Finally, I want to thank those who have responded to this thread. No one
has come out and screamed that the Trek Pilot 2.1 is likely to be a poor
value or is unlikely to stand up to the riding I will do.
This would be my fourth bike purchase from this bike shop, so I can wiggle
a bit of a discount out of them. If it seems to fit me well, I think I'll
buy it.

Rather than try to get a discount out of them, why not try to convince them
to attend the DC Bike Summit, where industry people get together and lobby
to improve things for cycling? Here's the info you can give them-
http://www.bikeleague.org/mediacenter/medprs120104.htm.

It will cost them a bit of money, but it's all about the future... trying to
get kids off their butts and onto bikes, maybe riding to school, fewer SUVs
on the road, designing roads ahead of time with bikes in mind, etc. They
should consider it "customer insurance" meaning that, if they don't go, bike
riding might become a thing of the past, or an elitist option enjoyed by
dwindling numbers.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

"geemike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"The vast majority of bikes are made for people that are 5'5" in size
and
140 pounds tops". That is just plain silly, not to mention wrong.

It isn't when you go to the bike shop looking for apparel and special
clothes and the shops only have those sizes on hand, and they are
reluctant to order "big" sizes for you as if it doesn't fit, then they
are stuck with the item(s).
It's really irritating to see a jersey marked XXXL and it really is for a
5'9" skinny person.
Or riding shorts with a 30 inch waist marked as being XL.
Then there are the shoes, when is the last time any bike shop ever had
real

Like I said, if there isn't a web site offering bike wear for the obese
there should be one. It's damned embarassing to go to the bike store to
try to find spandex stuff when all the help is, well, "intimidatingly
fit". It would be cool if you could pop off some measurements to an
online shop with a reasonable chance of success of having them fill the
order.

Quoted message said:

American size 12 shoe in stock?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe. Haven't looked
yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

Finally, I want to thank those who have responded to this thread. No one
has come out and screamed that the Trek Pilot 2.1 is likely to be a poor
value or is unlikely to stand up to the riding I will do.
This would be my fourth bike purchase from this bike shop, so I can wiggle
a bit of a discount out of them. If it seems to fit me well, I think I'll
buy it.

Mike G

In article <[email hidden]>,

Patrick Lamb said:

Back to the earlier point about high stems. Ride 'em!

Of course you should use whatever setup is comfortable to you.
However, IMHO a too tall stem could be very inefficient or unstable
when going up or down steep hills.

In article <[email hidden]>,

geemike said:

Quoted message said:

American size 12 shoe in stock?

That's my next problem, where to find a 9.5 EEE bike shoe.
Haven't looked yet. Anyone have any suggestions?

That's exactly my size, too. IIRC Euro size 44 comes
close for width, but there'll be a lot of empty space
ahead of your toes. And of course there can be a lot
of variation in different shoes of the same size, so
try 'em all on. And hope the pair that fits best isn't
the least appealing.

Just finding street shoes in 9.5 EEE is tough enough;
I usually end up settling for 10 D. Shoe trees might
obviate those ugly creases that inevitably occur in
the uppers, if I could be bothered with using 'em :-)

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

geemike said:

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

Hi, take a look at the Sidi shoes,they offer narrow, regular, and
mega widths. The good thing is that a lot of shops sell them, so you
should be able to try a pair on.
http://www.sidiusa.com/index.html

Life is Good!
Jeff

"Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

snip snip

The really big size jerseys don't sell as well as the stuff that fits
somebody 5'10 and 165lbs, but they still sell well. I don't see why a shop
would ignore such a big market. Sorry, couldn't resist.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Yes I agree, I have no idea why none of the shops around my area don't have
anything.
One basically has to mail order (internet order) just about everything.
I was just at one of the really big stores today, looking at jackets. Yup,
everything was too small like usual.
Even their store branded jerseys were too small, a XXL would fit my son OK
though.
Plus all the salespeople look like Pro Bike Racers, and they are all a good
head or so shorter than I am.

Those SIDI shoes are neat, but the shops around my area that sold them,
didn't seem happy about special ordering a pair for me.
They would but they sure seemed to be reluctant to do it.
I can't tell how narrow their 12 size would be though. Some of the other
brand 12 size shoes (size 46.5 or 47) are incredibly narrow, so narrow I
can't even
get them on my feet.
I guess everything's mass marketing nowadays. only the stuff you can sell
easy get's stocked.

"Jeff Starr" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

geemike said:

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >

http://www.rocket7.com/ can make up a custom made just for your
feet cycling

Gads, $559 to have them make a pair of shoes. I tend to buy nice
shoes, but that's way out of the budget.

Thanks for the other sources as well, I'll have to check them out.

Mike G

Hi, take a look at the Sidi shoes,they offer narrow, regular, and
mega widths. The good thing is that a lot of shops sell them, so you
should be able to try a pair on.
http://www.sidiusa.com/index.html

Life is Good!
Jeff

"Earl Bollinger" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Those SIDI shoes are neat, but the shops around my area that
sold them, didn't seem happy about special ordering a pair for
me.
They would but they sure seemed to be reluctant to do it.
I can't tell how narrow their 12 size would be though. Some of
the other brand 12 size shoes (size 46.5 or 47) are incredibly
narrow, so narrow I can't even
get them on my feet.

In addition to EEE width, I have an extremely high instep. Tassel
loafers? Forget it. Anything made by Nike, Adidas etc, no way.
One with Fred Flintstone feet must learn to worship brands Allen
Edmonds and New Balance.
I went to the SIDI web site and had a look. I can walk into a
Nordstroms and pretty much tell without trying anything on which
shoes will fit me and which wont. From the pictures, it doesn't
appear that any of the SIDI line will cut it for me.

Question: Could one somehow attach the guts of a clipless fitting
onto the sole of say, a pair of cross trainer shoes?

I know there are some important design advantages built into
specialty bike shoes, but right now things aren't looking too
promising for me to locate any that will fit me. Maybe I'll have
to get creative and come up with a short term fix some how.

Mike G

C said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Patrick Lamb said:

Back to the earlier point about high stems. Ride 'em!

Of course you should use whatever setup is comfortable to you.
However, IMHO a too tall stem could be very inefficient or unstable
when going up or down steep hills.

I'm really not sure how to answer this broad brush. If you've got drop
bars, get in the drops -- so much for inefficient. And I'd rather be
riding an inefficient bike than watching it slowly rust in the garage
anyhow.

Unstable? Just what does "unstable" mean? How high do you think
handlebars should be? Used to be, standard fitting advice was to get
the bars within an inch or so of the seat, instead of your choice of 4"
or 6" below the seat. That's where our (3) bars ended up. I know
they're comfortable, and we don't fall over because of the bars.

I've had or heard long (and sometimes loud) arguments over swapping a
stem to get the bars up. (Mike J's shop is, IME, highly atypical.)
I've even heard a sales clerk tell a customer he would have to pay to
install longer cables if they flipped the headless stem. It sounded to
me like that shop couldn't sell that customer a bike that fit.

Pat