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Bikes for the bulky?
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gandbergFull Member
I’m after a full susser mountain bike again having ridden nowt but road for the last 5 years. Budget is £1500-£2000. I will never be first uphill so a bike more for going down is what I’m after. It also needs to be strong. I’m fairly fit but also fairly heavy at 130kgs (!) so the forks and shock need to be able to cope reliably with taking a battering. Any pointers for 150mm bikes are welcome. My last mountain bike was a scott ransom 30 – much fun but the shock was annoyingly unreliable. Cheers.
mrmoofoFull MemberMy advice would be don’t go full suspension. I am a similar size to you ( but the painful get yer shit together started Jan 2nd) – I had an orange patriot but I don’t think rear suspension works for us chubbies.
You are working at the extreme end of the shocks capability. If sprung, it is difficult to find one where you are in the sweet sport. If air sprung you are 150 PSI upwards.
And then there is the flex you cause on the swing arm ….Stick to a HT, it will work better for you and fail less often
nicolaisamFree MemberFor that money i would be looking at the new Bird Aeris.
150mm travel and has a lowish leverage ration on the rear.
Set of Pikes with 3 or 4 bottomless tokens fitted will be good aswell
Tom_W1987Free MemberMy advice would be don’t go full suspension. I am a similar size to you ( but the painful get yer shit together started Jan 2nd) – I had an orange patriot but I don’t think rear suspension works for us chubbies.
You can have shocks retuned for rider weight, forks as well. A coil shock is probably the best option at that weight though.
I’d get something relatively heavy duty with a meaty head tube. You want something with a stiff beefy swingarm with as few bearings as possible in it as well. Although I guess a link actuated single pivot might help with shock wear.
Could you afford to go to 2.5k? Then later on down the line get the fork reshimmed and a custom tuned coil shock.
Your old scott was probably unreliable because the shock was crap.
mildredFull MemberI’ve currently got a virtually mint Nicolai Helius ST frame for sale. It’ll cope with your weight easily; travel is adjustable between 140mm – 230mm depending on which shock you fit (can be 215×64 or 222x70mm shock). In the shorter travel settings the shock ratio is very low (about 2.2:1) so you don’t need huge shock pressures or too heavy springs.
When I had it built as a trail/Enduro style bike (Bos forks & shock, 1×10 gearing & a reverb) it weighed about 32lb, so not ridiculously heavy but VERY capable.
I you want some pics or further info’ Just email me on:
mark2404 AT icloud DOT com
MbnutFree MemberAs Nicolaisam and Mildred have mentioned, a low leverage ratio is the answer re the rear suspension.
Forks can have air volume reducers fitted now so controlling the air spring shouldn’t be a problem.
SuggseyFree MemberOrange 5 AM with CCDBA and Fox 36 added to a decent stiff stem and non flexing bars and don’t worry about flex anywhere else! Flex stops snappages IMO.
I am with riding pack still over 18 stones and although built with heavy brakes Hope Tech Evo V4s and dual gloating 203mm rotors it’s great.
Equally as much fun though is a last of the RAD tubing Cove Stiffee with Revelations 140mm travel, some Fulcrum Red Zone UST wheels and a dropper post with again good stiff stem and bars.
Fork flex/brake flutter and wheel flex and bar stem flex will be your biggest thing to overcome in my experience of being heavier than Joe Average.chrism110Free MemberOrange five with ccdb on here, I was 19st 6 when I bought mine down to 17 now and it’s looked after me well!
Tom_W1987Free MemberI would say that maybe a 5 MIGHT be a little to flexy for the OP, unless they have significantly beefed up the swingarms of the newer ones.
A low leverage ratio won’t be the only cure, factory shocks are tuned for your average rider – not those at either end of the weight distribution curve. He will really benefit from a custom tune.
If you build a bike up from scratch try getting hold of some second hand Fox 36s, they were a fair bit stiffer than even my Lyriks.
Bars? Maybe try some 35mm diameter bars, I can actually see a use for those here. Brakes? Zees, V4s, R0s. Wheels? Flox EX’s at a minimum I would say.
SuggseyFree MemberI must admit mine has Maxle rear end too which obviously reduces the swing arm flex and I run Mavic SX wheelset.
Whatever OP dies don’t go 29er……..there is stacks of flex in my hardtail……but then the seatstays are designed with flex in mind but I’ve already done one rear wheel in less than two months!SuggseyFree MemberMy CCDBA I fitted all the volume deuces to get the sag required at 200psi which is well within any tolerances of maximum pressures. The Maxle really reduces the rear end wavering at all along with the stiff wheelset.
Done Alpine trip using it no issues as well as a few UK uplift days and techy XC/ trails. Seen many big big guys on older 5s too.luffy105Free MemberFellow bulky cyclist here on a full suss Canyon Nerve AL+.
The fox air can was no good for me as the bike kept bottoming out even after getting it tuned twice. It just couldn’t handle my weight. Changed the shock for a coil sprung fox van rc that was tuned and it has been faultless for two years now.
Now it’s helping me lose weight… Slowly
chakapingFree Membermega looks like a beefy bike – frames are a bargain price at crc
dunno about the leverage though, sorry
extremenikFree MemberHi,
I too are heavy and come from a Dh background, everyone says air shocks dont work on heavy guys but they can when tuned properly.
I have a Trek remedy with the DRCV rear shock it has been PUSHED by tftuned and i use a small volume reducer. Up front i have pikes with 2 1/2 spacers.Without the push tune on the rear the compression offered no support and blew through very easy, the Push stopped that plus the reducer helped, the larger one made it very harsh on the bottoming out so i went for the smallest.
I run 270 psi in it. The front has 2 1/2 Spacers with the pressure 110psi, i found 2 not enough support and 3 to harsh, so i played and cut one in half – Don’t forget with the higher pressure you need less rebound damping!
As for the rest of the bike i have hope hubs on Mavic EN521 rims, Easton Havoc bars and ride all over uk including Bike park wales + 2 weeks a year in Alps and have never snapped anything or even had a puncture. Did kill a front wheel once on the DH bike but that was my fault riding like a clown!
gandbergFull MemberThanks for the helpful replies guys. I’ll take a while to check out your recommendations. I went to bike park wales last September and rented some kind of trek remedy. Loved the uplift service and the trails were fun too. Wasnt as slow as I feared I would be too, which was nice.
I used my ransom at la clusaz for a few days which did well aside from breaking a couple of spokes. Boiled the brakes a few times though!
mcnultycopFull MemberNerve AM for me. I’m a big unit and whilst the shock was OK (RP2) when it went in for a service Mojo did some magic for me (FF tune from MM previous) and it was miles better. I had issues with pedal strikes on technical climbs and now get these much less frequently. Do probably run it with propedal on more than most though.
trevron73Free MemberI went for a Cotic Bfe with some 32mm forks , i went down from 130k to 110k and put some crank brothers wheels on makes me ride like a ballerina ?
gandbergFull MemberBikes I like the look of: cube stereo 160, some canyons, a norco, a trek fuel. there is plenty of quality choice available. I’m going to email a couple of suspension tuners too, to get an idea of what it will cost to get a bike properly set up. Right, the turbo trainer is calling.
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