My old bike is about to become a huge money pit (advice for large rider?)

Here's my problem, and I'm wondering if any of the experts here could offer an affordable solution?

I'm a big guy. Really big. 6'3" and a little over 400 lbs. big. I have a Giant 18 speed mountain bike that I have used for almost 12 years with only minor repairs and replacements needed. A couple sets of pedals, rear axle hub, about 7 or 8 spokes, and a new seat every 2 or 3 years.

I am now in the position where nearly everything on the bike needs to be overhauled or outright replaced, and I don't want the same consumer-grade parts that I've had until now. I need parts that can withstand the stress of a large rider plus saddle bags and a backpack when the wife and I go out shopping, plus I want to be able to exercise with it and not have to worry about safety. My tires are dangerously dry rotted, cables are all going bad, rear derailleur has been whacked with a laundry cart and is permanently a bit out of true, rear wheel is a goner, etc....

Obviously, I'm thinking that at this point, buying all the parts I need would cost just as much as a much nicer new bike that would have the benefits of 12 years of technological advances. But I realize that I can't buy just anything. A while back I was made aware of a blog started by a guy who was over 600 pounds and who started riding a Kona Hoss for weight loss. That looks like a beauty of a bike, and if it can support him with no major problems it would be a cakewalk for me. Of course, the thing costs well over $700 and with any modifications could come to more than that. Is there any other manufacturer which could provide me with what I'm looking for, and could save me some moolah? I'll go with the Kona or equivalent if I have to, but any leads that could cut some off the price without sacrificing much in the way of quality would help me tremendously.

I really would appreciate any suggestions or help with this.

I was reading theirs, or a Campy-owners website, that said that the equipment is not for heavy riders. That probably means heavily laden touring, off road or tandem, is out. Campy only makes high speed gearing, anyway.

Let me give you my opinion. I think Giant makes good products and if you wanted to rebuild "everything", you have a good, strong frame to start with. I might suggest going to Lickton's and asking them to specify a set of equipment that would meet your needs. www.lickbike.com . Lickton's commonly specs a complete setup for people building their bikes from scratch. I hope you are up to the technical challenge. I would recommend the Bicycling Magazine maintenence book or the book called "Zen and the art of bicycle maintenence" or something like that. The ultimate resource is the Sheldon Brown articles at www.harriscyclery.com . Sheldon is the oracle of the DU bicycling forum.

Nice to hear from you. I am sure you will get more good ideas here.

you can get bikes for that price and under, but how long the parts last is questionable.

Kona is a great brand for heavier riders, they have a lot of R&D for "freeriding/freeriders" which is fairly hard/destructive on bikes and their equipment.

I know I am not much help, but if it were me I would save up the money and get the new bike with good/better parts like the Kona you referenced. Anything else as far as replacing will be costly/take up time and almost never goes right the first time due some "tech spec/ issue" this can be most frustrating.

You seem to like riding your bike and since you have had this one for 12 years it may be time to get a new one.

...to replace the frame. The weld quality problems that aluminum bicycles had was pretty much fixed by 1994, but there is always that long term fatigue problem in aluminum. I understand that they just "fail without warning".

I was leaning to the new bike, but now that you have brought up the fatigue factor I would say that new bike is the only way to go. ;)

I have had a great deal of use out of the Giant, but to replace damn near everything on it piecemeal would come to over the $900+ (not 700) that a Kona would cost. And then there is that possibility that the frame will fall apart from under me when I'm going downhill at 30+ with the wind at my back. :scared: The Hoss Dee-Luxe is $1150 and now that I can start expecting monthly bonuses at my job I think I will go all-out. I know I won't be sorry! ;)

Now Aluminum does have a problem with Fatigue, but it is do to how predicable it is to break. Unlike Steel (Which has a nice stable use/breakage curve) the same line is a Straight line for Aluminum (This you never know when it will break). On the other hand most aluminum bikes are so over built that you will NEVER reach that line (The best example is the old DC-3, made of Aluminum and the FAA has ruled that since they have NEVER approached the break line they are good forever unlike more modern Jets that undergo strain every time the Jet compartment is pressurized and un-Pressurized every time they are used).

I hate to say this but I believe you are OVER CONCERNED about the fatigue problem. Unless you are taking the bike up and down perfectly good mountain sides (off Road not on Road) the frame like the DC-3 should last forever (And if the frame does break in the Future you can use the parts after getting a new frame, Nashbar sells them for less than $200 a pop).

As to parts I think you are better off rebuilding the bike with new parts then buying a new frame. The main reason you can get the parts you want. For example when I purchased my Bike I just brought the Frame and built onto it with the parts I wanted (I actually started with Junk parts and slowly upgraded as I Saw the advantaged of the better parts).

For example, I purchased two wheels for my bike from White Wheels out of New Hampshire. I did so for I wanted a Schmidt SON front Hub generator to run my lights. THe SON replaced the Front Axle and acts as both the Axle AND a Generator to operate my lights (Which I also obtained from White Wheels).

I then purchased Shimano XTR parts for the bike (I now believe this was a Mistake, given that I am overweight XT parts would have done just as Good, the XTR costs twice as much as XT and while superior are NOT twice as good as XTs). Today I would opt for SRAM High End parts, not because Shimano parts are bad, but SRAM are almost as good and many are made in the US (I try to buy US whenever I can).

My Wheels cost me over $600 dollars (Including the SON Hub and an XTR 9 speed rear hub). The running gear you can get for under $300 if you opt for XTs. The Front Suspension (if you decide to have one) is another factor. I opt NOT to have one for I found a good set of Aluminum front fork someone had traded in to my local bike shop for a Suspension fork (Unless you are going off-road, suspension is over rated).

Thus while I agree with you that the Kona would be Cheaper than replacing the parts on your Giant, my question would it be better?

White Wheels:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/

Harris Bicycle (A good source for Information of Bike Parts):
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/index.html

The Large Bicycle Parts Stores:

Nashbar:
http://www.nashbar.com/

Performance:
http://www.performancebike.com/

Cambria Bicycle:
http://www.cambriabike.com/

...to your last question.

I only know what I would like a bike to have (rear cluster with a wider range of gears than the 6-speed one I got with the bike, low-friction yet durable tires, wheels - especially the rear one - which can withstand high stress, good brakes and comfortable handlebars, pedals and seat). I'm rather unschooled as to what is better than what, or is the best value for the money, however. :(

So, here are links right off the Kona website to the Hoss and Hoss Deluxe. They don't seem to be too unreasonably expensive and the components sound great on paper. Let me know what you think in terms of value for the money, and I'll decide from there. Also, keep in mind that my bike mechanic skills are a bit... um... limited, so that a bike shop would be getting a pretty phat labor charge out of me for putting the new parts on my existing bike.

The prices for each are given in the links too, by the way.

The Hoss:

http://www.konaworld.com/shopping_cart/FrontEnd/Products/product_detail.aspx?productid=101&parentid=182

The Hoss Deluxe:

http://www.konaworld.com/shopping_cart/FrontEnd/Products/product_detail.aspx?productid=359&parentid=253

Let me know what you think, guys! :yourock:

Which is the Fourth tier on the Shimano system for Mountain Bikes (Behind XTR, XT and LX Components, through technically XT and LX are "Deore", the proper name for each is XTR, Deore XT and Deore LX and then Deore without any lettering).

Now in the Shimano Listing they mention Saint and the Hone but these are for heavy duty racing MTB, so I do not count them among the "tiers" of Shimano Mountain Bikes Components.

For Shimano list of Mountain Bike Components:
http://bike.shimano.com/catalog/cycle/products/category.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302039898&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181419&bmUID=1150509453900

Now one of the Complaints against Shimano is that they change they product on a regular basis, more to make old systems obsolete then any real improvement (For example Shimano just announced it has completely re-did its XTR line). This constant replacement regime is why a lot of people stay away from the high end XTR components, but the system does tend to work to slowly improve the parts.

Anyway back to the KONA, except for one Shimano XT part (and that is in the Deluxe version), the parts are just Deore (Not even LX).

Now on the Deluxe model the hydraulic brakes are Haynes, and that is one of the top makers of Hydraulic Brakes. The problem is will you need Hydraulic Brakes? Hydraulic Brakes came out of the need for Mountain Bike Racers to stop dead in the deepest mud. Hydraulic brakes are thus not affected (or more actuarially. much less affected) by Rain. Thus if you are going down a steep embankment and have to make a sharp turn at the bottom of the hill if it is raining cats and dogs, you will notice that the hydraulic brakes will slow you down almost as fast in the rain as in dry conditions (unlike conventional Brake that are affected by Rain in that it often takes a while for the Brakes to dry off the rim to slow down the Wheel during heavy rains).

On the Hoss itself, it has Shimano Non-Hydraulic Disc Brakes. These are NOT as good as the Haynes Hydraulic but do you need disc brakes? Let me give you couple of Example. I often peddle with a trailer that has 50-60 pounds of Camping gear in it. One of these days I will go bike Camping but I have Not done so yet. Anyway back to the subject, I have had NO problem hauling this wait and stopping this rate in my Home Town of Johnstown Pennsylvania (and that includes going up and down the various hills in this area, I notice the weight when I am going uphill). The only problem I have ever had was last year when I took my bike and Trailer down Chestnut Ridge in US 22 In Westmoreland County Pennsylvania. I had NOT check my brakes prior to the trip and after hitting the brakes for about four solid miles downhill they started to wear out (I Should have replaced them BEFORE that Trip). Even then the brakes had slowed me down enough WITH THE TRAILER BEHIND ME, that I could stop the Bike with my Foot and check out the brakes. It is the only time Disc Brakes would have been better than regular brakes (and I checks the brakes, realigned the pads and continued on my way).

My point is Hydraulic Brakes for most people are NOT worth the extra expense of such a brake system. Furthermore Disc brakes (Both Hydraulic and non-hydraulic) add wait to the bike that by itself makes the bike harder to peddle (and this is from a person who has front and rear Panniers on His bike, you add weight you will notice it peddling). As a whole I do NOT think Hydraulic Brakes are worth their cost FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT RACING OR GOING UP AND DOWN MOUNTAIN SIDES ON PATHS (not roads) In Deep Mud, during Heavy Rains etc.

As to the front Shock it is also a Name Brand. They web site follows:
http://www.marzocchi.com/spa/mtb/?LN=UK&Sito=mtb

On that site the Shock is about half way through the list, so it is not the latest Cutting edge, but it is an effective shock. The issue on Shocks is where are you raiding? Off-road? Then a Front shocks makes sense as you hit rocks, stubs and tree roots, but if you plan only to go on paved roads the extra weight (and costs) of the Shock makes no sense. The few potholes you will hit with the bike just do not (in my mind) justify a Front Shock. FOr example I took the Shock off My bike and replaced it with an Aluminum front fork, a lot lighter than the Shock it replaced) for I saw no benefit to it if I stayed on Paved Roads or Bike paths. Saying that it looks like a very good shock for someone who wants a Shock but plan to stay on bike paths and paved roads (Please note the shock adds about 2 inches to the front end of a Bicycle and most modern Bicycles are designed around a shock on the front, thus if you opt NOT to have a Shock you may have to get an adjustment to raise the handlebars the two inches missing when you replace the Front Shock with a Non-suspension Front Fork).

I do not want to belittle the bike, but you asked for comments, both good and bad. You might still like the KONA for the price and then upgrade the components later on, but the Components are NOT the best for the Money (The XT series is in my opinion the best for the money) but they are NOT junk either, they are GOOD COMPONENTS. The real issue will you be happy with a Ford, when for just a few dollars more you can have a Mercury? (For you GM drives out they, Will you be happy with a Chevy when you can have a Buick for just a few dollars more). Notice I did not say Lincoln or Cadillac (that is the XTR and it is over priced for its limited improvement over the XT series). The XT and even the LX series of Components are just so much better for just a limited increase in costs that, In my opinion, upgrading to the XT Components may be the better option.

One last statement. Remember you are a consumer, sometime you want something new, even if rebuilding what you have would be the better choice. If you THINK the KONA is the better choice than upgrading the Giant, I would tell you to go with the KONA. If you opt for something you dislike, you will dislike the choice no matter how much "better" it was. Keep that in mind when you decide. What would make you more happy? That is a more important question then what would be the "right" choice.

http://www2.sjsu.edu/orgs/asmtms/artcle/articl.htm

The only experience I know of aluminum frame failure was a friend whose bike's seat tube developed a longitudinal crack, starting at the clamp for the front derailleur. This rider was using one of his racing team's "team bikes", which was a high performance, optimized frame (optimized for racing). He had done a lot of miles on this bike before it failed. that would suggest it reached the fatique limit.

I know some physics (stress & strain) and strength of materials, but I really don't know the length of the fatique question.

I read it when you first posted it and liked what I read and I wanted to read it again but found the Cite gone. I thus had to look elsewhere ont he net and found these two cites which basically say the same as you old cite (and the second one may be a copy of your cite, I can NOT remember all of the Article but I thought the Cite you posted was more technical than these, but I am going by memory):

Article by Sheldon Brown
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-materials.html

Article by Scot Nicol (Ibis founder):
http://www.bohemianbicycles.com/materials%20science.htm

I found a cached (google) version of part 2 of his article that was linked in my post in June. You can have a look here: http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:nqsoWgdgcjkJ:www.sjsu.edu/orgs/asmtms/artcle/steel.htm+bicycle+metallurgy+site:http://www.sjsu.edu&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1 . I am surely going to copy the whole article you found and put it into a Word Document on my PC.

The wheels are the weakest link, a set of tandem wheels are designed for the weight of two people. (I've seen some heavy couples on tandems). The brakes stop that weight as well
A good source is http://www.tandemseast.com/

The owner is a great guy, who I know will be understanding and helpful and may have some great ideas on how to deal with the extra weight. His knowledge and experience would supersede the theories of those of us who are not as poundage endowed.

I know it's more than what you wanted to spend, but you can look at the specifications for ideas.

http://www.co-motion.com/mazama.html

I have their Nor'Wester Co-Pilot touring bicycle, and I absolutely love it. They custom built my bicycle, because nobody makes bikes large enough for women who are 6'1" tall (I'm proportioned like a woman, not a man, so I couldn't just use a men's bike). It took me over a year to save up the funds for it, but it was absolutely worth it in the end.

Good luck in your quest, and no matter what, keep riding! :hi: