Bike Advice for the heavier rider

My Younger Brother (late 30s) is looking to get back on the saddle so to speak.
He’s a big lad (120Kgs), I was going to give him my old Boardman hardtail after the winter is over, but noticed that when he tried the bike the front suspension fork nearly compressed the whole way down.

Any recommendations on bikes/forks for the larger/heavier rider?

Air forks will be best at that weight, look for air charts which shows how much air to put in for different weights, he will likely need to put in close to the maximum.

air fork, something like a pike.

and 10 years since I had a full sus, but the best thing for a big bloke is the suspension set up where the air can sit in line with the seat tube, like this

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=types+of+mountain+bike+suspension&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjjgaSc2_ffAhUEqXEKHZj8BSUQ_AUIDygC&biw=1440&bih=760#imgrc=nytFN_euhf-pTM:&spf=1547827613981

faux bar design.

What’s his budget and what’s he planning to do?

Fellow big unit here and I’d say something solid with decent air forks like a Genesis Tarn or Cotic BFE with tough Enduro wheels but that’s no really relevant if he’s only got £500 to spend.

Were the shock sits is absolutely irrelivant.
Look for frames with a low shock leverage ratio.

Were the shock sits is absolutely irrelivant.

the bloke (Sherwood) at ventana would argue otherwise.

but noticed that when he tried the bike the front suspension fork nearly compressed the whole way down.

Did you put more air in it?

he will likely need to put in close to the maximum.

Close, but there is room to go up – I’m running Fox 32s & a float on my full suss, I’m above 120kgs, especially with bike packing kit loaded and I’m not at the maximum psi yet…

Any bike will do – except some carbon whippet machine which has a maximum rider weight.

I’ve been 120-130kg in my time and there was a noticable difference between horizontal vs vertical shock placement with vertical being far better on the bikes that I rode.

Maybe just coincidence, I don’t know.

as a word of warning – I snapped two Boardman HT’s at the seat tube/top tube intersection. I am 100kg all kitted up tops.

Maybe just coincidence, I don’t know.

ventana are very well regarded as the bike of choice, for heavy (Clydesdales) in the country where the claim is a way of life.
all their sus bikes use vertical shock placement, for a reason

What is that reason?

it’s all about leverage ratios etc rather than the point the shock is mounted to though surely?

Not saying you are wrong though ton! Just I’ve never heard of it before.

I remember feeling that the horizontal positioned shocks deflected side to side during use making them feel crap. The vertical ones didn’t feel like that.

Thanks for the advice, the fork on the boardman is a Suntour XCR fork I think, and I’m sure that it’s a coil sprung job.

So it looks like he’ll need an air sprung fork.
I can’t see him getting “corporate sign off” on new bike from his boss (wife).

I’ll give him the boardman and get him to stick to the towpath/road until he finds something more suitable on eBay

I’d also like to know why the shock orientation matters.

I wonder if Mr Ventana says it’s “better”.

He doesn’t. Ton says 90% here talk pish.
clearly Ton aint in the top 10% ‘imself

I was nearly 145kg when I started riding again. Hardtail was fine for me, a FS was too wallowy pedalling.

Shock position is irrelevant
Leverage ratio is the key here.. The lower the better. At only 120kg he shouldn’t struggle with finding bikes to cope to be honest as most are well within that limit

Depending on what he plans to do riding wise the fork is a different matter.
Id advise to stay away from fox forks as they flex like nobodies business when it gets rough under us heavier folk.
If he’s just xc/canal path type riding then any 15mm axle air fork should do providing it has some sort of low speed compression damping. I personally use yaris as even pikes aren’t quite stiff enough for me at the heaviest end of the scale.

I used to be 130kg, ive used a cube ams with horizontal shock, and a cube stereo with vertical shock, id struggle to say one rode any better than the other apart from the difference in travel.
Id say how it’s made is probably more important than the shock orientation. Ie: whether it’s a burly build or a xc race build probably matters more.
Ive also used rockshox revelation forks, and fox 32, no problems with either. All air sprung.

Something, something LRS.

Merida, Carrera or Centurion (give you a medal if you find a bergwerk).

Really low leaverage ratio (spec epic too) and dirt cheap.

I’d recommend the transmission LRS as it’s decently slack.

Admittedly I only got up to 110kg

He doesn’t. Ton says 90% here talk pish.
clearly Ton aint in the top 10% ‘imself

i am deffo in the 90% group.

but i am also a 120/130kg rider, who has ride most full sus designs.
and the one that worked the best was a ventana.

how much do you weigh geex?

A lot less than you ton.

trust me though. the vertical orientation of your ventana’s shock was not what made it ride nice for you.
The leverage ratio, curve and pivot locations did.

think about you and I on a seesaw. for us to balance you’d need to shuffle closer to me.
Through the frame’s particular linkage design that’s basically all a leverage ratio does. A lower ratio allows the shock to take more weight without needing excessivly high shock pressure/spring rate. You could achieve the same leverage curve and ratio with a shock orientated vertically or horizontally.

thanks for explaining that. every day is a school day. ;o)

i am thinking of buying another full sus frame, now that i am almost fit.

any other suggestions?

Look at the whyte brand ton… I have the 2017 g160 and don’t even need to max the pressure on the rear shock even at my weight… Plenty big enough for you at your height too.

Nearer a hundredweight than a ton.

@geex – pinkbike called and said they lost a child and want you back home.

Is it possible that the vertical shock simply makes it easier to get the low leverage ratio?

Is it possible that the vertical shock simply makes it easier to get the low leverage ratio?

It’s irrelevant to the leverage ratio.

how it’s made is probably more important than the shock orientation

This is the key thing.

Another thing is that the damping of the shock and forks will probably be optimized for much lighter riders (depending on the frame size), so they may need a custom tune to get enough damping to handle a 300 lb rider.