Any Tall guys 6'4 and over care to share your Touring bike setups

lacofdfireman

Adventurer
My boys have expressed some interest in doing some bike touring or multi day rides. So I'm currently looking for a bike under $1500 that I can do this on. The issue for me is I'm a very big guy at 6'5 and 260lbs. One of my concerns is I don't have a great back and for me fit on the bike is very important. I currently ride a Scott Genius Mountain bike and just bought a 2017 Giant TCR Advanced Pro Disc road bike. I've always loved to ride and am just staring to get back into it. Right now I'm able to only ride about 30-40 miles on my road bike before I start having some sore neck and lower back issues. One of my biggest problem on all bikes is my seat height to bar height is a pretty good drop. Most touring bike setups look to have the bars either level with the seat or sometimes even the bars higher than the seat so your riding more upright. Unfortunately for me that's not a possibility with an manufactured bike unless I went custom. I can't imagine riding 8-10hrs a day with a somewhat aero position.

Also not sure if I'd be better off buying an Cyclocross, Gravel or Mointain Bike style bike for what we want to do. We don't want to do single track type touring but more Backroads and fire roads, dirt roads type stuff. I've been searching google to try and get better insite on how to do this but am kinda stuck at the bike part. Also we wouldn't pack super heavy. Would probably even do some hotel camping along the route. No more than 3-4 days or maybe up to a week long ride at the most.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a photo of my new road bike showing my seat height compared to bar height and why I don't think it would be comfortable for long multi day rides.

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Sisyphus

Adventurer
You should have no problem finding a well fitting touring bike at 6'4. The trick to getting a good fit is spending time at a trusted LBS with an experienced bike fitter. Seat height, layback or straight post, the sweep of the handlebars, frame geo, stem angle, and bar height all play a role in the fit.

If you didn't get fitted when you bought your bike, I suggest you do so.

If you did, and still suffer from back and neck issues, I seriously consider looking into recumbent bicycles. They may not be sexy, but they are easy on your body, and a lot of tourers seem to love them.

Good luck and happy trails!


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 

lacofdfireman

Adventurer
Back injury is due to work related injury lifting heavy patients at a train accident. Never been the same since. I just started riding again and can only stand about 30-40 miles on my bike which is about 2-3hrs. After that I'm toast. That will not work for touring where you could be riding 6-12hrs per day. I hate to say it but I couldn't bring myself to riding a recumbent at this point in my life. Just not my style. Nothing against them but just not "My" cup of tea. One day maybe but not now.
 

jayspies

Adventurer
If you can find a frame that fits you, 29+ on the wheel size is probably going to be your best friend. Once you load up yourself, all your stuff, and hit the road, a traditional road bike or skinny tired touring bike is probably going to be at or above max load capacity, especially if you hit any rough roads. If you can find the right size, something like a Salsa Deadwood might be right up your alley.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
A MTB/gravel/CX 29'er can have geometry compensated for front suspension. Even if you don't run a shock having a suspension corrected (say 485mm crown height) fork will raise the front end and with a positive rise stem you could get the bars considerable higher than with your road bike.

The Deadwood is a great example of this geometry, the stack height on the XL is 678.5mm (with a 483mm crown-to-axle fork) compared to the Giant TCR at 595mm in the XL. That alone is 3-1/4 inches taller before you factor in a taller tire, some steerer shims and stem rise.
 

p nut

butter
You don't need a custom bike. A good hardtail bike with a rigid fork is what you need. You can set the bar height however you want. You should be able to get something for less than $1,500.
_
This might also be a good time to look at fat bikes. I've not taken my fat bike down to So Utah yet, but it would be super fun down there. There's a Moonlander on KSL for a decent price (I think $1k or less is more market value, although it looks pristine).
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=218&ad=41803594&cat=&lpid=&search=surly &ad_cid=6
_
Or Blackborow
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=42043311&cat=&lpid=2&search=salsa&ad_cid=4
_
Good thing about fat bikes is you can outfit it with regular 29er wheels or 29+/27.5+ wheels. Very versatile platform.
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
As for fat bikes for extended touring just make sure it fits your bottom half. The Q-factor for me is a no-go, the bottom bracket and cranks are just too wide for my hips to ride for any length of time. The upside is the versatility like p nut says and more room for a frame bag without rubbing your heels and knees. I just couldn't see spending hours per day over the span of week or more on one, though. A 27.5+ would be a very possible option, though a true tall 29 would probably be the best fit for a tall dude.

I'm just north of 6'0", 34" inseam and my REEB is a 19.5" frame, stand over of 33.6", stack of 25.7", 528mm (540mm actual with a 130mm FOX 34 Factory) crown height with a zero rise, 90mm long stem and about 25mm of spacers puts my handlebars just slightly higher than my seat nose.

With the stem slammed to the top of the headset the bars are just below the seat nose so a 20mm rise bar has my hands level with my saddle.

IMG_0839_mid.jpg

IMG_0900_mid.jpg
 
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Tried and true, still made for sub $1500 is the Trek 520. A true touring bike.

There are a million others, that's just one you can walk into your LBS, buy, ride, no muss-no fuss. Not shiny or the coolest looking rig, but I think it even comes with racks.
 

p nut

butter
As for fat bikes for extended touring just make sure it fits your bottom half. The Q-factor for me is a no-go, the bottom bracket and cranks are just too wide for my hips to ride for any length of time. The upside is the versatility like p nut says and more room for a frame bag without rubbing your heels and knees. I just couldn't see spending hours per day over the span of week or more on one, though. A 27.5+ would be a very possible option, though a true tall 29 would probably be the best fit for a tall dude.

I'm just north of 6'0", 34" inseam and my REEB is a 19.5" frame, stand over of 33.6", stack of 25.7", 528mm (540mm actual with a 130mm FOX 34 Factory) crown height with a zero rise, 90mm long stem and about 25mm of spacers puts my handlebars just slightly higher than my seat nose.

With the stem slammed to the top of the headset the bars are just below the seat nose so a 20mm rise bar has my hands level with my saddle.

Very true about the q factor. I haven't been on multi-day tours on the fat bike yet. Just a quick overnighter.
_
Some companies do make fat bikes with narrow q factor, but they're custom. Perhaps a 29+ bike would be best if the fat bike doesn't work out. But it sure would be nice down in So Utah with all that sand and loose terrain.
_
Nice Reeb, by the way. I ride a SS 29er myself, welded by a local builder. I'm faster on it than my geared bikes.
 

toddz69

Explorer
Unless you find one used, it'll be tough to find in your price range, but I'm also 6'4" and I ride a 64 cm Rivendell Atlantis. The stem height and seat are almost parallel (stem just a bit higher). I have 700x38 tires on it - great for a lot of dirt and gravel roads. I have mustache bars, which might not be great for longer rides, but I find it to be a very comfortable bike - far more sleek on the road than my mountain bikes but not so high strung as a typical road bike. I can hop curbs with aplomb. Years ago I really liked the Bridgestone XO series and then discovered while looking for a used one that they didn't make a frame size large enough for me so I went with a Rivendell -the company founded and owned by Grant Petersen - who was behind all the awesome Bridgestone bikes of the late 80s/early 90s. And you'll love the q-factor on a Rivendell type bike too. I haven't heard q-factor mentioned for many years!

Todd Z.
 

Klierslc

Explorer
Just get an early 90s/late 80s steel framed bike on CL for 200 dollars and spend the rest of your budget on gear. Those bikes are relatively easy to find in the 63/64 cm range, usually have rack eyelets already, are easily upgradeable to modern components (if you don't like down tube shifters) and can accommodate 32mm tires.

Look for any old trek, specialized, bridgestone, miyata, centurion, Fuji, or Raleigh. I'd stay away from cannondale as most of their stuff was aluminum by then. You'll want quality tubing, and a decent drivetrain if you are not in a big hurry to upgrade.

https://stgeorge.craigslist.org/bik/5807229925.html

Needs drop bars put back on and a different stem, but this is a sweet bike!
 

spacer

Observer
For a good bike, on a budget, Surly seems to have been a good bet for me.

While I rode all my Centuries and event rides on my Kona Jake-the-Snake (2000 model), after a long hiatus along with weight gain, I racked Jake on the wall for later and picked up a Surly Long Haul Trucker.

I'm 6'4" and 350 at the moment, and scared every time I get on the bike (watching too make "bike fail" videos on Youtube...) but the LHT seems to be doing just fine. I just need to get back to riding on a more regular basis
if it's gonna do me any real good.
I'm also building a fully rigid bike on an old Cannondale M500 frame, with some (I hope) super strong wheels, downhill crankset, and a trekking bar. This one will live at the office, and I hope to use it for some lunchtime rides, and maybe (as in... I really need to...) before-work rides, especially as the Summer warms up.

Saddle is a Brooks B17, by the way.
 

zimm

Expedition Leader
6-4. 36 inseam.

2013 salsa muckluk with a little rise on the bars, a dropper post, growler bottle holder, and rack for panniers, otherwise stock. 40lb dry, but i use it to run single track in the laural mountains. keeps one in shape.
 

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