bike advice needed for clueless girlfriend

[stu1903]

I am planning on getting my OH a bike for his 30th, which is coming up quite soon. To some extent I want this to be a surprise.

I know what he wants a bike for; I would say a mixture of road and off road cycling, and he'll be taking our 2 dogs along with him to.

Now my problemo is, my OH is a big lad, 6'4 and weighs around 20 stone.

What should I be looking for? I really like the look of the Ridgeback Voyage... is this a good bike to be going for?

Any advice gratefully received

To be honest I would consult your OH as everyone has their own riding style and preferences. It's a great / lovely idea to get him a bike but it will only be a great / lovely gift if it's one that he likes and feels comfortable on.

 

[Norm]

Don't be too worried about his weight. I'm around the same weight and have done well over 1k miles on each of my bikes (road, CX and hard tail MTB). The only wheel issue I've had was hitting a huge ridge on the road bike, something which took about 5 minutes to sort

I'd also say take him to choose the bike. Some don't like riding on roads, some don't like leaving them and £1k is a lot to sink into the wrong ride.

 

[Scoosh]

'Give' him a Membership [Login Name and password] to CC

...

... along with a few pics/brochures/links to/of some of the bikes mentioned here ...


... and a cheque

Then have a good talk with him, based on all the info on this thread and see what he wants.


Then (it is his birthday, after all

) waltz him down to a few bike shops to start talking/ trying bikes.


Trial rides are very important. What may seem like the best spec, value etc sometimes just 'doesn't fit right'. Bikes are a personal thing - a bit like clothes ...


... which leads us on to .... Nah, we'll stop there !

 

[HLaB]

Florence, I'm a bit of a stick insect but going by some of the stories on here, weight isn't too much of a problem and a decent frame and hand built wheels will easily handle it. The amazing shrinking gaz, aka 39 stone cyclist, ak gb155 has a great story