I am not a professional cyclist, cannot even say that I am an intermediate cyclist, but I have owned a Gt avalanche 1.0 mountain bike for a bout six years. I am not a small guy, I am 6' 1" and 290lbs. I bought the illimitate because I knew nothing about bike fitting when I bought the avalanche. I put some really good mileage on the avalanche and was able to drop about 30 lbs in 2 and a half months of getting the bike by just riding everywhere I had to go. No diet changes nothing, just riding. But increasingly I was coming off the bike with a pain in my left side, primarily because I had to raise the saddle too high to be comfortable on the bike. I was not doing any off road riding I changed the tires because I was road riding strictly. But increasingly the discomfort was too much to ignore so as much as I was enjoying cycling and the obvious benefits I put down the bike for over a year. I perused all different brands makes and styles of road bike because I wanted to get back into cycling and also I had packed back on the pounds I had lost plus more. I settled on the illimitate because I found that by comparison it was indeed the best value for the money I was spending. I wanted to purchase the bike from giantnerd.com but because of an issue with my card I made the purchase from Amazon. I bought an XL because I did not want to have anymore issues that would prevent me from riding.
The bike is awesome a little on the heavy side but man it is fun to ride. I have had to get a shorter stem because the XL is for riders 6'2" and up so the reach was a little long, I am looking to change the handlebars because I have extremely wide shoulders and the maximum width of these handlebars are 44cm so a 48 or 50 cm I think would be ideal for me. But he bike handles exceptionally well, the shifting on the tiagra components is crisp and precise. I had to take it to the local bike shop when the bike arrived because I did not get the ready to ride build from giantnerd as I bought the bike on amazon. Because I'm a heavy guy gravity is not my friend when climbing hills, however with the illimitate I even find it to be less of a struggle than with the avalanche which has a wider gear ratio for climbing. The avalanche has better brakes as the brakes are hydraulic versus the mechanical disc on the illimitate. But the difference is nothing for me to quibble over as it still gets the job done even when I am descending a hill at 50mph,yea you read right, with this weight I have reached those speeds in descent many times,gravity and I have an intimate relationship when I'm going downhill. But I have given this bike 5 stars because the cons are too miniscule to be a determining factor. I am enjoying this bike thoroughly and that is a must when you are 40 + and working on a NY exercise rigimen, you have to enjoy it or you will just eventually quit. It is an awesome bike and one that will see me to my weight goal.
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