UPDATE: Reviews section refreshed, redesigned, searchable: Go take a look
just had a big birthday so maybe gonna treat myself to a new mtb. main target is comfort for long steady rides.
last time i owned a FS bike was over 15 or so years ago. back then as a heavy rider, you had to choose what you bought with a bit of care. a lot of bikes were pretty rubbish when ridden by a heavy rider.
i choose wisely back then, with a Ventana el capitan 29er. i spoke to the bike designer prior to buying, telling him my size, weight, intended use. he recommended the el capitan specifically. also he recommended a shock to use with the frame.
mated with some pike air forks, the whole thing was fantastic. something i would love to replicate.
so, as a 20 stone older bloke, looking for day/multiday comfort can anyone recommend something that may be suitable, or worth trying.
thank you.
20 stone!How tall are you ton?
Shocks are generally better for big lads now, the Float X on my trail bike has a max 350 psi compared to 200/250psi max for shocks of old
Generally, you want to avoid a bike that's asking a short stroke shock to deliver a lot of travel
Like - my bike has 130 travel from a 52.5mm stroke shock - so that's about 2.5:1
But a bike getting 160mm travel out of a 55mm stroke shock - that's almost 3:1 - is working the shock a lot harder, because of a higher leverage ratio, so much higher pressure needed - generally better off as a big lad to have lower leverage ratio
They have a GT Force Carbon Pro in XL at Paul's Cycles.Much change left over for upgrades as well.
Or one of their Rayond Trailways if you fancy a bit of motorised assistance!😉
Might be worth factoring in a custom tuned fork and shock?
About 10 years ago I was not far from 100kg and found a custom tuning helped put the dampers into their normal operating region (as apposed to being towards the heavy end) and I got better performance out of them.
They weren't terrible and I had head room to add more air for a heavier rider. So I think something off the shelve will work for you. Just that I felt the suspension performed better after the tune.
lots of bikes are rated to 130kg, which you are under.
Forks have got thicker stantions which really helps. Frames aren’t chasing light so much. Lots of bikes are engineered for stiffness and strength now.
But i can’t recommend a specific bike.
So not an ebike? You mentioned those before
Trek top fuel 5 available at the bicycle chain at £1599 in your size.Good all day bike I should have thought.Intense Tracers at RM cycles a steal to.
I wouldn’t be too worried, maybe if you want to ride an xc bike hard but most bike I don’t see it being an issue. The energy the suspension has to deal with scales with speed squared, but only linearly with weight. So those xc World Cup whippets probably work the suspension harder than you will unless you are seriously rapid!
With the advent of e-bikes, you probably aren’t particularly heavy for a rider of your height.
I was up around 130kg for a few years and my Bird Aether 9 coped with it well. I've done over 4000km and 10000m of climbing on it and only replaced one set of bearings.
Outside of the weight issue, not many bikes are actually big enough for 6'4"+ riders.IMO
Santa Cruz do XXL frames and I'm on a Hightower in that size and finally on a bike that fits (I'm just over 6'3"). Trek do some stuff in very large sizes as well, though it's debatable whether any shops have stock in extra large sizes....
6'5" here and weighing 14 stone.
Got one of these and happy with it, especially as it's now been reduced by another £200.
https://www.rmcycles.co.uk/bikes/mountain-bikes/gt-sensor-carbon-pro-le-sea-green-2024__23304
Stock wheels are crap but other than that good to go. And with the savings you can get some nice wheels.
I've a mate who's your size and he's always had Commencals with Ohlins ... although he's moved to Amflow recently.
The Genie shock on the Stumpjumper 15s might be worth researching. Either side of 3k you can get an alloy comp with the regular Genie shock or the alloy Evo with the reservoir Genie shock. I imagine you could set them up pretty well for your requirements.
Wasn’t there a tread recently with a boutique full susser in xxl for reasonable money?
It was a Nicolia but this website refuses to let me cut and paste either the forum link or the direct link. Helpful! Search tall-paul who was the author. Titles budget full suspension for tall riders (or something like 5hat)
I'm 6'4 and on a XL hello Dave, XL geometron G13 and an v1 XXL geometron G1. I'm 95kg and they have been good for me
Wasn’t there a tread recently with a boutique full susser in xxl for reasonable money?
It was a Nicolia but this website refuses to let me cut and paste either the forum link or the direct link. Helpful! Search tall-paul who was the author. Titles budget full suspension for tall riders (or something like 5hat)
Tall Paul seems to have disappeared.frlmntje forum. He was on a G1 and a custom hardtail
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/bike-forum/bargain-big-bike-for-the-very-tall/
Geometry can be found here.
It has a reach of 550mm which is the same as my XXL v1 G1. I have a very short stem. The newer G1 has a 530mm same as my 2017 g13.
As hionourablegeorge mentions, the important thing is to look for a bike with a lower leverage ratio. I tended to look at the set up guides for bikes and see how much pressure they are recommending for your weight and if it's close to max then IME the shock doesn't work as well especially for small bump sensitivity
I have had a few bikes some with better success than others.
I 6’5” have been 128kg but now down to 120kg.
The best bikes have been
Bird am9 150mm and Bird aether9 130mm both with air shocks and was comfortably within the max air pressure.
I would recommend a piggyback shock as the shock will potentially get a bit warmer if you’re doing longer descents etc, the frame size I run is a xl which gives decent reach I could have easily stayed on the large size if I wanted a slightly smaller frame however I preferred the stability and longer reach.
I would avoid orange, i found the smaller shock size combined with the single pivot couldn’t cope with my weight and the pressure needed in the air shock was near maximum. Also the stage 5 I had after many oranges felt weird after returning to them after riding a transition patrol. Although that may be a personal thing. I do love an orange so this made me very sad to discover.
I also have a levo gen4 in the s6 size, again great geometry. Genie Shock works with the weight fine, I have changed the link to the cascade link for more progression and a bit more travel. I think the frame layouts and suspension are common across their range so may also be an option.
I'm a relative lightweight at 89kg and 6'1.5 (187cm) but being around Geometron forums I'm aware many bigger riders get on well with those. As an all-day rider a G1 might be overkill though. However, Nicolai do another short-travel bike with a similar robust build available in proper big sizes, e.g. Saturn 14 with 130mm rear. That's a great all-day bike IME. They also do a 'ST' version of the frame which IIRC has additional HT bracing.
I'm having issues with the Nicolai website but link here to STW article on my previous bike: https://singletrackworld.com/2024/07/readers-rides-allys-resurrected-nicolai-saturn-14/
215psi was enough in the rear shock for me so plenty of scope for heavier riders, and it's a decent stroke length for the amount of travel (@honourablegeorge makes a great point above). I've now replaced with a XXL Tallboy 5 which is flipping brilliant.
Frame should be fine - it's would be the wheels i'd pay attention to TBH.
DrP
thanks for all the replies everyone. lost to mull over.
got to be honest, i fancy something not to fussy or bling.
the Trek top fuel looks ideal, just need some comfort.
spoke to a Trek dealer earlier. he told me the Top fuel is ideal for a big rider, as are most of their sus bikes. best thing he said was, in the US where claim is king, bikes are built strong to avoid claim issues.
so we will see.
I'm 6' 2" and nearly 18 stone atm. My Transition Spur is ace and copes with my bulk no problem.
I would definitely avoid anything with a clevis/ yoke for the lower shock mount. Rotating the shock eyelet for fitment adds increased side loading and can lead to accelerated wear, especially with heavier riders.
Beyond that as others have said, something with a low overall leverage ratio would be beneficial in terms of shock set up. Most air shocks now do have quite high working pressures, but the stock valving is often less than ideal as you approach max pressure. They also feature larger negative chambers than they once did, which makes them plusher in the initial stage of travel, but also can lead to higher initial pressure requirements to get your desired sag/ ride height.
The current range of Mondrakers is worth a look, they use long shocks relative to the amount of rear travel across the whole line up.
