Are There Any Plus-size Ladies Out There?

juliebenac

Hey Everyone!

I am a new cyclist, from Michigan, and I was just wondering if there are any full-figure ladies on this board who are also dedicated cyclists?

I ride about 10 miles a day, nothing very serious, but just enough to keep me hooked and addicted to my bike! I have a lot of issues that have to do with being a larger-sized woman, and I wondered if there were any others on the forum like me..taller, larger, and curvier than most women!

I am a plus-size clothing designer, and I am working on new designs for plus-sized women's bike jersies. There is NOTHING out there for us...unless someone out there might know of a good source? I get my gear at Aero-Tech, and I've loved everything so far. But I know I can come up with something better...

Looking forward to talking with you all!

Julie Benac

ladyicon

I also find that womens cycling jerseys are all made for skinny people with no boobs. I have finally lost enough weight to fit into some xlarge womens jerseys.
i still find it frustrating though.

surgtech1956

wishes

Most cyclists who are really into it, to the point of spending a lot of money on gear like that, are usually not 'big' girls. Its just logical

But if they have a major problem with it, they could just loose weight (its not all that hard - especially if they're cycling!)

__________________
Homepage
Weightloss & Cycling Blog

skbullock

I am very new to cycling, and I only have a 1.5 mile commute to work, and I pull a bike trailer with my 16mo old son for the first .5 mile and drop him off at daycare and leave the trailer there. So I don't really work up too much of a sweat either way. I am hoping to work my way up to longer rides for fun, with or without my kids! I am a size 14 and weight 212lbs. That being said, I have found the Nike workout suits to be comfortable, however I think they would be too hot for the longer treks such as yours. I don't know your size, but I would recommend looking for the plus size gear from Nike such as tshirts and capri pants. My favorite is a lightweight zipup jacket and capris, its perfect for the morning ride when it is still chilly. I also bought some padded bike boxers from REI online in XL. Those are helping ease my butt into the cycling LOL. Just from browsing online when I first started I didn't see too many plus sized selections either, so maybe you will be able to help us out in that area! On the other hand, the first week I lost 6lbs just doing my little 3miles roundtrip each day, so maybe I wont need plus size too much longer?! One can only hope!


Sarah

BellaBeauty

Im not considered overweight, however I do weigh more than I would like to, considering I just had my daughter 4 months ago!

I am still thick in areas, especially the bust, I worry too that the jerseys will fit too akwardly. I think if you are riding for the fun of it, and you are comfortable where you are at in your weight....dont lose the weight just to fit into the clothes. I think they should make clothes to fit every body type.

__________________

trigalplus

Julie,

Hi. I bike about 15-20 miles a week getting ready for the Danskin triathlon to be held here in Seattle in August.

I totally agree that there needs to be more plus-size cycle clothing. I dare anyone out there to show me bike shorts for plus-size women that have the padded gusset! Is there some mis-conception that just because we have extra padding in our bodies that we don't need a padded gusset when biking? I've wanted to start my own plus-size sportswear company myself as I don't believe that what is out there is enough or fun enough.

I disagree with the gal from NZ. Just because you bike doesn't mean you will get small enough to fit in the trendy bike clothes. Just because you don't bike every single day, doesn't mean you don't want to look good when you bike and, newsflash, losing weight is not easy and I don't recommend judging the plus size community or lumping us all into one category. If cute sport clothing will encourage someone to go out in public then hoorah, lets encourage that!

To answer you question on where to find what is out there, I have found pretty decent stuff at teamestrogen.com and junonia.com (they have cool swimsuit stuff too).

Anyway Julie, I would love to discuss this further with you as I have alot of ideas.

rahallahan

Hi, I was just reading through all your posts, and I agree with you all. I am also a larger lady. I don't know if I'm plus size, but I'm definetely not a skinny mini like all the clothes I find for cycling. I also run, and weight train too, so I have all kinds of problems finding cute things to wear.

Ok, well the point of my reply was to tell you all that I actually found a site that sells cycling shorts and capris, with the built in padding, in sizes from S - 4x I am going to put the link up here. Teamestrogen.com Check it out, lots of sizes, lots of adorable clothes, plenty of good stuff, not horrible prices either! Hope this helps girls!!!

nowellco

Losing weight is VERY HARD!!! If it weren't, everyone would be thin and the diet industry wouldn't be a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry. But that's another forum. Cycling is a great way to focus on exercise and health for folks of all sizes!

That's great, Julie, to design clothing for plus-size women. Longer jerseys would be very helpful. And please no horizontal stripes.