JBarry

Hey everyone, I'm 29 years old, 6'1" and 289lbs, I've lost about 10lbs so far from dropping sodas and changing some eating habits.

I started cycling around 10 with an Diamondback Response, and I put probably at least 3-4,000 miles on it in 8 years, but I fell out of cycling when I started working full time at 18, and that was about 10 years ago.

It's always been a lack of time and energy since then, but I've started feeling better lately and ended up putting some money down on a new Giant Roam 3 after giving it a test ride, a runner up was a used specialized expedition, but I wanted disk brakes and thumb/index shimano shifters.

Something I'm wondering is, for general on road and off-road riding, will I need different rims and tires for it due to my weight?

And though I'm not use to riding currently, the seat hurt a bit to ride briefly with the stock saddle, so I'm on the fence about waiting til I get it and seeing if I can deal, or if I should look at getting a different saddle.

Hot Potato

At 6'1" and 275 lbs I ride stock aluminum and carbon bikes on stock tires. No mountain bike yet, but I won't worry about that either

snewton

I'm 5'6" and 290 and riding a Trek 8.3 DS. only been on it for a couple of weeks, no problems so far...

IAMAMRA

You SHOULD be fine, mountain bike rims are built sturdier than single walled road rims.

dagray

you are on a mountain bike so your wheels will be fine. But you might want to get a semi-slick tire so that you don't have as much resistance when riding on the street. Slicks also are good in the sand. The knobby mountain bike tires are good for mud and forest conditions.

NZier

Dude, I'm 6'1", 260 and ride carbon fiber bikes. I obviously use a slightly more robust wheel set, but I've never felt insecure in my bike's ability to support the load.

tyrion

You might want to invest in new, stronger wheels. It's hard to tell exactly how strong those wheels are, but I bet they're on the weak side. Something like this

Sun/Shimano CR18 Wheel Set 700c Black

would probably be more rugged. In any case, inspect your wheels before/after you ride and have them trued if they're going out of true. If you ride on them when they're going out of whack, or if there's a broken spoke, they'll degrade quickly with a heavy load and you can ruin them. They'll last much longer with pre-emptive maintenance. With a heavier duty wheel you don't have worry as much.

JBarry

I picked up the Giant Roam 3 yesterday, it's a beautiful bike and I love it..except for the saddle.

Immediately on sitting on the saddle it hurts, I figured okay, I'm not use-to it, but I asked the shop I bought its from anyway only to have the guy roll on the floor and respond with "harden up, pansy!" I didn't appreciate that. They also only had the foot wide granny seats in stock. Don't think I want to go back there again.

Okay, whatever. It can't be -that- bad, right?
I go to ride it down my development and it hurts so badly, it feels like what I imagine sawing into bone would feel like...so tomorrow, I'll call a different shop and see if they have anything, failing that, I guess my 19 year old tattered synthetic bicycle saddle from my mountain bike will be used, it doesn't feel lovely but at least it doesn't make me want to walk the bike back.

chaadster

Yeah, "sawing into bone" pain is bad! Get a new saddle.

Unfortunately, there is no sure way to pick a comfy aside from trying it out, so call around to shops and ask after demo programs and/or if they have a sit-bone width measuring device which can be helpful in understanding which saddles are more likely to work.

Don't put the tattered old saddle on the new bike, at least not permanently; new bikes deserve new saddles!

StoneFence

Look for a shop that carries Serfas saddles. They have a 90 day comfort guarantee.

Congrats on the new ride!

Dennis609

Sweet bike... good choice!

6'1", 230 (down from 260) and riding older, stock aluminum 36H wheels on both my MTB & road bikes. Never an issue.

rgconner

If that was an employee, I would have demanded a refund right there and then.

No rewarding bad behavior!

jdw777

Wow yeh +1. My LBS has some of the nicest and helpful folks, makes a difference.

Peace o/

JBarry

I picked up a Bontrager Boulevard gel seat for now, since the other shop told me they stand by the comfort warranty, now I just need a decent day to ride that's not 20 degrees outside!

I also found out that the seat was cocked to the side, and they didn't put the handlebar on straight...noticed when I put my new seat on, but ohwell, it's fixed now.