Bike for a tall 194cm/6'4 friend with cycle trauma!

cormie

Hey folks,
A few of us are thinking to chip in to get a bike for a friend who has had some bad experiences with bikes so far and as a result, doesn't like to cycle. But I'm thinking it may just be down to him never having a decent bike, or one suitable for his height. I've read up and see he should be on a minimum of a 23-25"/61-63cm frame, and chances are he's probably never been on a bike this size as I heard they are very rare. He's also only ever ridden rusted chunky tyre things.

We know it would be a gamble, but we were thinking it could be good to get a 2nd hand bike that would hopefully change his perception. Maybe a road bike with decent tyres like London Marathon so he could ride on green way's and terrain other than roads, without much risk of a puncture.

Budget would be maybe between €150/200. It doesn't have to be anything amazing, just something nice to ride and suitable for his height.

Any suggestions or feedback would be great

TheBlaaMan

Might be better to get him onto a greenway and hire a bike for the day. That way, you get him out and enjoying the experience and you can get a feel for the correct bike (size) for him.....even 61cm is a bit on the large size IMO. At 187cm, I ride a 56/57cm frame.
The demand for bikes of all sizes is so high these days, that you might even struggle to find one, let alone on such a (sorry....) low budget.

The Buster

I'm around 192/193 cm and I ride a 59cm frame for road bike. I find the fit perfect so I dont think you should be looking for any bigger than that

fat bloke

Well, a 150 euro road bike should finish the job and put him right off cycling for life!

cormie

Thanks for all the replies. I know €150-200 isn't much, but for a 2nd hand bike it might be alright I would have thought? I'm not thinking he's going to turn into some lycra clad cyclist. It's really something more just to get around with and not be so put off by the idea of cycling.

Are 59cm/60cm framed bikes still as hard to come by as the bigger ones?

LCD

At that height, even if he is lean he is probably at least 85kg. That is a lot of strain on a bike, especially going over poor road surfaces. He'll be inundated with broken spokes & mechanicals on a cheap bike.

You guys are trying to do a nice gesture for a mate & we're giving you hardship over the cost, apologies!

tampopo

I'm 1.94 and use a 66cm frame. It's great. €150-€200 isn't much it's true.

km991148

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I know €150-200 isn't much, but for a 2nd hand bike it might be alright I would have thought? I'm not thinking he's going to turn into some lycra clad cyclist. It's really something more just to get around with and not be so put off by the idea of cycling.

Are 59cm/60cm framed bikes still as hard to come by as the bigger ones?

You might get something at that price, but more that likely it will either be a bicycle shaped object or uncomfortable for other reasons.

Your thinking is in the right place tho, i.e. would be good to get a proper fitting bike and style of bike.

Get down to a large bike shop when the restrictions ease and try some out together? Sit on as many as possible before trying a test spin? Road bikes with big tyres, mountain bikes, gravel bikes etc

The Greenway idea isn't bad either, but hard to know what the bike quality would be like either.

magicbastarder

The Buster wrote: »

I'm around 192/193 cm and I ride a 59cm frame

tampopo wrote: »

I'm 1.94 and use a 66cm frame.

that's quite a difference in frame sizes for very little difference in height - though with modern frames, it's hard to tell exact size from a simple cm measurement.
manufacturers should really settle on stack and reach much more, as they're far less vague.

secman

Depends if mate is a tall 6 footer or medium 6 footer or worser still a smallish 6 footer.

wersal gummage

magicbastarder wrote: »

that's quite a difference in frame sizes for very little difference in height - though with modern frames, it's hard to tell exact size from a simple cm measurement.
manufacturers should really settle on stack and reach much more, as they're far less vague.

I think a lot of it comes down to legs / torso / arms etc....

There are a few different ways of being 6 foot 4.

Of course your point re sloping frames and different manafacturers having different sizing is valid

wersal gummage

cormie wrote: »

.... a friend who has had some bad experiences with bikes so far and as a result, doesn't like to cycle. But I'm thinking it may just be down to him never having a decent bike,..... get a 2nd hand bike that would hopefully change his perception.

)

Your intentions are admirable and we could all do with friends like you and your group.

I really hate parts of this website (not here) where someone has a question and people come in with negative comments (is that a sufficient prelude to my negative comments....!)......

But yeah just to echo what some others have said, I think your budget is very low and I would worry that a bike in that price could serve to reaffirm your friends negative experience rather than change it... Sorry, I hope I'm wrong and you find something but just as an idea, a decent set of tyres for a bike is probably 60/70 quid and up (I'm guessing as last few were 100+ per pair)

magicbastarder

doesn't state a frame size, but it's not small, at least:

https://www.adverts.ie/road-bikes/peugeot-competition/22997434

also:
https://www.adverts.ie/road-bikes/townsend-vintage-racer-bike/21714948

i suspect that's the sort of vintage you'll get for that price; the tyres will add another 60/70 quid for decent puncture resistant ones.

cormie

Hey thanks again everyone! Yeah, I'm thinking something like the bikes magicbastarder linked to above could be ok. With that in mind, where exactly is the frame measured from to see if it's close to the 23-25"/61-63cm I'm after?

The tyres I guess can wait, he's not going to get a puncture straight away let's hope, so in the time he doesn't get a puncture, let's hope he takes a liking to it enough that if he was to get a puncture, he'd be happy to invest in better tyres himself :pac:

TheBlaaMan

cormie wrote: »

Hey thanks again everyone! Yeah, I'm thinking something like the bikes magicbastarder linked to above could be ok. With that in mind, where exactly is the frame measured from to see if it's close to the 23-25"/61-63cm I'm after?

The tyres I guess can wait, he's not going to get a puncture straight away let's hope, so in the time he doesn't get a puncture, let's hope he takes a liking to it enough that if he was to get a puncture, he'd be happy to invest in better tyres himself :pac:

On the bike in the link, because the tube is absolutely horizontal, the measurement is of this 'top tube' is from the centre-point of the vertical tube that the handlebars are mounted into, to the centre of the seat-tube. On more modern bikes with sloping top tubes, it is more difficult to make this measurement so wht is called an 'effective top tube' measurement is used but Google bicycle geometry chart and you will get more info

cormie

Cool thanks for the info. I'll take all the posts above on board. The idea was to surprise him with it too, so I'm not sure the checking for size thing etc will be possible, but we'll see. Still not sure if we'll take the gamble :pac: