big guy on a mountain bike

[andrew76040]

Hello,

Long time lurker, first time poster....

A little background then my question...

I own a '97 Trek 6500, aluminum frame mountain bike. When I bought the bike new, I weighed a lot less than what I do now. Over the years, marriage, kids and work somehow got the best of me and I gained quite a few pounds. Step in the Atkins diet and have recently lost quite a few of those extra pounds. At the present, I weigh (brace yourself), 300 pounds. I really want to get back into biking as I used to be really into it. Now, for the questions....

1. Does anyone know if my current weight of 300 pounds is too heavy for my bike (for now, I would just ride on pavement trails, nothing extreme) ?

2. Do you think I could potentially crack the frame with my weight?

I would appreciate any and all advice you all can give.

Oh, one more thing, by the weight I am losing, I should be at 250 pounds by mid July.

Thank you in advance!!

Andrew

 

[Paul Southworth]

In article <[email protected]>,
andrew76040 <[email protected]> wrote:
>A little background then my question...
>
>I own a '97 Trek 6500, aluminum frame mountain bike. When I
>bought the bike new, I weighed a lot less than what I do
>now. Over the years, marriage, kids and work somehow got
>the best of me and I gained quite a few pounds. Step in the
>Atkins diet and have recently lost quite a few of those
>extra pounds. At the present, I weigh (brace yourself), 300
>pounds. I really want to get back into biking as I used to
>be really into it. Now, for the questions....
>
>1. Does anyone know if my current weight of 300 pounds is
> too heavy for my bike (for now, I would just ride on
> pavement trails, nothing extreme) ?

Sounds fine to me. Use the largest tire you can fit and
inflate it to the recommended limit before each ride. You
should probably also make sure your suspension fork is
adjusted to your weight as much as possible. A wheel failure
is a more likely outcome than a cracked frame, and if that
happens just buy a stronger wheel and keep riding.

>2. Do you think I could potentially crack the frame with
> my weight?

Sure you could potentially crack anything but I think your
bike is not so flimsy that you can't ride it on paved trails
(or more). Even if you use up the bike in the process of
obtaining fitness that is much better than saving the bike
by not riding it.

--Paul

 

[Ningi]

andrew76040 wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Long time lurker, first time poster....
>
> A little background then my question...
>
> I own a '97 Trek 6500, aluminum frame mountain bike.

Same bike as me.

> When I bought the bike new, I weighed a lot less than what
> I do now. Over the years, marriage, kids and work somehow
> got the best of me and I gained quite a few pounds.

Same as me.

Step in the Atkins diet

Same as me.

> At the present, I weigh (brace yourself), 300 pounds.

Same as me 18 months ago.

I really want to get back into biking as I used to be
really
> into it. Now, for the questions....
>
> 1. Does anyone know if my current weight of 300 pounds is
> too heavy for my bike (for now, I would just ride on
> pavement trails, nothing extreme) ?

I haven't had any problems with my frame. I did replace both
the wheels with Mavics after the wheels going out of true
too often.

>
> 2. Do you think I could potentially crack the frame with
> my weight?

I doubt it. The frame is pretty chunky.

>
> I would appreciate any and all advice you all can give.
>
> Oh, one more thing, by the weight I am losing, I should be
> at 250 pounds by mid July.

Keep up the good work!

Pete