On Feb 9, 8:33*am, " wrote:
On Feb 8, 7:26*pm, Paul wrote:

Hey Everybody, I'm definitely a non experienced cyclist and have
signed up to do the AIDS LifeCycle bike ride from San Francisco to Los
Angeles to raise money for HIV/AIDS. I dont really know what I got
myself into. I am 6'7 220 lbs with a 36 inch inseam. I thought I would
be able to borrow a friends bike for the ride but unfortunately the
largest I found is a 20 inch frame. I'm looking to spend as little as
possible (under 500 if possible). I do not plan to continue cycling as
a sport. I just want to find a comfortable bike that fits me for this
6 Day trek. Any recommendations on where I could buy a 24inch/61CM
bike for my price range or better yet find someone who would be
willing to help me help others by lending me a bike?

Again, I am fairly new to this and any info would be greatfully
appreciated!!!

Well... you'd probably be better off de-signing. If you're not a
cyclist now, and don't want to become one, that is. In order to get
ready, you'd have to immediately adopt a "cycling lifestyle", to a
fairly strong degree at least. Meaning, spending lots and lots of time
on the bike, and probably some in the gym to get "toughened in". Long
rides on weekends or "off" weekdays, and lots of idle time for sleep
and recovery. There's an expression:
"bike bum" g. *"Roadie syndrome".

That's a "trek", all right, and you'd be hard pressed to get ready to
do that ride by early June. Ready = able to ride it and not hurt
yourself, perhaps somewhat seriously. Unless you are pretty athletic
and in pretty darn good shape right now, and even then, a tough
proposition.

I mean, one day or even two riding a hundred miles, not so bad. But
six? For someone without a lot of miles in their legs (someone who has
ridden some number of "centuries" over a period of time, some
recently), that's a pretty tall order. For newbies, and others who
don't at least somewhat regularly ride 100+ mile days, there's a
"wall" out there at about 85 miles or so (from what I've seen and
experienced myself) and hitting that six days in a row? Ow!

Bad enough if were all on flat roads, for a big guy like yourself.
Climbing hills is going to be extra hard on you.

Getting a suitable bike for an outlier like you isn't as easy as it
would be for a small or average-sized person, either. Not to say it
can't be done, by any means, but for instance, the selection among
"good used" is probably going to be slim pickings compared to common
sizes.
--D-y

I agree with everything you said, except 6'7" and 220 lbs. sounds like
he's actually fairly slim, more so than YT at least.

I'm one of those guys who looks at the height/weight charts in the
dr's office and starts spluttering "that's BS!" I'd look anorexic if
I actually met my "ideal" weight (I think according to the charts it's
around 150 or so, I think I hit that around age 12...)

nate