Am I too much of a clydesdale for f/s trail bike

[Birney]

Hello, new to forums and been out of the game for a while. I had Bridgestone MB1 that i still miss that was replaced by pre trek Klein pulse. Rode for many years ad then got married and fat. Looking to get back in the game. As of now i am 5′ 11” and still about 350, but slowly dropping.

I have been reading a lot about air shocks and how they might not be best fof bigger riders.
Is this true? Is there a trailbike out.there for around.2k that would.work.for.me? I wont even buy until I am closer to 300 but been shopping. I was also looking at chromoly 29er like salsa el mariachi or jamis dragon. I loved my Klein, but really missed the cromo feel of my Bridgestone.
Thanks in advance, and i look forward to learning.

[steve32300]

I’m 300 dude,ride a Specialized StumpJumper elite,cost me $2500 and have never had any issues with ether the fork or shock from my weight.As long as you are not hammering the thing on jumps and drops you would be fine I would say.I can pretty much feel my bikes limits when doing small jumps and drops,I refraiin from hitting hard so as to not tweak my bike at my weight,but I do ride technical stuff and its been fine.

[Corey Maddocks ✓ supporter]

A Giant, Kona or a Niner would probably hold up fine as well. At your height I would seriously consider a 29er in general. The 2011 Giant Anthem X 29er 3 is $1800 on clearance and the 2012 Anthem X 29er 2 is $2,250.

[Birney]

Thanks guys. I am def doing a 29er, maybe start with harddtail. I really like the niners and right now 2011 frames are pretty reasonable.

[clydecrash]

Yeah, start with a hardtail. It will probably all come back to you quickly, but HT is the best way to get into, or get back into, riding. But do not be too concerned about whether a FS is OK. Almost all the rear shocks (air and coil) are strong enough, and provide decent performance, for us big guys (I used to be close to 300lbs, now 260). It is the leverage ratio of the frame you need to look at. Do a search here or at MTBR to learn more.

Just FYI, I rented a 29er hardtail a few years ago just to see what it was about. Didn’t seem much different than my 26er HT. Rode OK, just didn’t seem much different. You might want to rent a few bikes just to see what they are like.

Oh, and my first real MTB was a 98 Bridgestone MB1. It finally broke after 10 years, but I cannot bear to let it go. Still thinking I can get a frame builder to just replace the downtube because it is lugged.

[brianW]

I have been eying the Salsa El Mariachi also. Lot of ways to configure or customize your ride.

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