Midtown

Hey Gang,
I have a good buddy who hasn't ridden in awhile and is looking for a bike for paved roads and maybe a bit of gravel.
He's 57 YO, 6'5" about 300 lbs.
He said he'd like the bike to have bigger tires but not a fat bike.
Any recommendation would be greatly appreciated.
Budget about $1500.
Thank you.

bassjones

That's a substantial budget. I'd recommend he go to a Surly dealer and check out a Long Haul Trucker or Disc Trucker. The pre-built bike is quite nice and they come in sizes up to 64CM. If he doesn't like the idea of drop bars and barcon shifters, they have other models as well that would work well for him.

Kobe 

If he is looking at road\cross bikes he is probably going to want something with at least a 64cm frame. Drop bar bikes that are around your budget that will accept 40+ tires would be Surly Straggler,Surly Crosscheck and LHT. Soma Double Cross in disc, or a Black Mountain Cycles Monster Cross in canti, but these you will need to get built up.

The other option is a flat bar road bike. Do you know which one he prefers?

Midtown

My guess is a flat bar with a comfy saddle.

bassjones

He won't need a 64... I'm that height and can ride 60-62.

Joe Minton

I ride a mountain bike with street tires every day. It is comfortable and very smooth. I have a road bike (Cannondale Synapse) that is faster but it is also less comfortable. I don't mind giving up an mph or two for the greater comfort.

Joe

Midtown

What kind of mountain bike Joe?

99Klein 

I have a friend who's put about 10,000 miles on a Specialized AWOL that is as tall and was a bit heavier when he started. Had to upgrade the wheels after a few thousand miles but that's it.

hesk

Someone has already mentioned the Black Mountain Cycles Monster cross frame in 64cm which I'll second. I've attached a pic of mine which I've attempted to build up. For reference I'm 6'4", 37" inside leg and have a saddle height of 84cm.

Mike Varley, owner of Black Mountain Cycles, can also build out the complete bike in addition to just selling the frame so worth a conversation?

Attaching pic for reference (I hope).

Cheers
Simon

hesk

Sigh. Soz about the rotation.

bikingshearer 

Maybe, maybe not. A lot depends on whether one is particularly long-legged, particularly long-torsoed, or somewhere ion the middle. (Of course, that applies to top tube length as well.) I'm 6'3" and ride 62cm to 64cm frames. You are 6'5" and like frames about an inch shorter than I ride. I'm not suggesting you are riding frames too short for you - I have no way of knowing that - just that two people of equal height does not automatically they should be riding the same sized frames.