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not asked about what bike for a long times, but this place comes up trumps mostly.
so, a bike suitable for a 300lb rider for normal days out in the hills.
fulll suspension, NOT hardtail.
any ideas greatly appreciated.
Cotic Rocket? Love my Solaris, sturdy as hell yet comfy, but you did say no hardtails...
had a quick spin on the Rocket and had a bit of pang but I've put it out of my mind 😀
As a 250lbs rider, the main thing you'll find problematic is air shocks on a FS bike.
Most are only rated 'just....' up to my weight, so probably tough to get working properly at 300lbs.
COil sprung bike might be the best way to go. This does add cost as an aftermarket upgrade, but there are coil options for trail bikes right from the go. I'm riding a Specialized Coil Stumpjumper, which, with a spring change from the stock is running sweet.
Some might suggest tokens for the fork and shock, but they're very much sticky plasters over a larger problem for the larger person.
SC alloy 5010 with a coil shock would be my suggestion from anuva big bruva.
Geometron? More so for the support from Chris Porter in getting the rear shock working correctly.
As a fellow big lad, most frames are fine for you … it's just the shock as folk have pointed out above.
Some frames have a lower leverage ratio, which really helps with air shocks but that doesn't seem to be something lots of them talk about in their blurb. I could be wrong but, I think that the longer your shock is for the amount of travel the frame has, the lower the leverage ratio, the better performance you're going to have as a big lad.
I've got one bike with a Cane Creek dBair (not inline) that more than happily caters for my weight and one with a Fox DPX2 that frankly struggles a wee bit (although the DP that was on it previously was fine). I've never had a coil shock as all the faff of getting the right spring just seemed to be an expensive route to go down. Also, like most big folk, I do have my Belinda Carlisle moments when I drop a bit of weight (different shock pressure with an air shock) and then put it back on again. Air shocks works better for me that way.
I would definitely recommend the Cane Creek shock though. It is super good.
You're going to be restricted on certain bikes due to your weight especially as some brands are speccing shorter stroke shocks on their bikes now(specialized🙄)
Find one you like and then do a quick calculation of the leverage ratio like this
Amount of travel divided by the shocks stroke(not eye to eye length)
Eg my g160 has 160mm travel and 63mm stroke which gives a leverage ratio of 2.53
The lower the leverage ratio the less air you'll need to support your weight which puts less stress on the seals of the shock.
As long as you aren't running over 2.8 or so then it shouldn't matter what brand of air shock the bike has... As they can be tuned a certain amount anyway.
transporter13 i know from previous posts that you are a big bloke too.
you once reccomended a spesh camber to me. i didnt go for it in the end.
but that is the type of thing i am looking for.
any specific reccomendations?
I'd be talking to Chris Porter about a Geometron
Custom tuning on a coil would be ideal for a big lad like you.
Belinda Carlisle moment? Circle in the sand? Heaven is a place on Earth?
Leave a light on!
Ton.. Depending on what type of bike you're looking for I'd say you'd be hard pressed to look past the whyte s120 tbh
But its only any good if 120mm travel is enough and if you want 29" wheels.
Also depends on what you want to spend but based on your history on here, I'm gathering you're not fussed😉
I have an older g160 which is a riot downhill but id happily swap it for an s120 myself after a decent test ride on one
transporter13
120mm will be ideal. i want the bike for comfort, and days out in the hills.
i dont want something for bombing downhills on, and the wheels wont be leaving the ground.
to be honest a 100mm xc bike would be nice, if available.
thanks mate
In that case mate.. Have a look at guy kestevens YouTube channel and search out his view on the whyte s120... He seems to love everything he tests so watch it with a bullshit filter on but id agree with a lot of what he says about it
Ton, what would stop you going back to Ventana? An El Rey might fit the bill nicely, and Sherwood would I am sure talk to you about custom options if you wanted to tweak things.