Heavyset 245 lb 5'7" woman, and scared to mount my road/mountain bike!



Tara Brown

New Member
Nov 6, 2013
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I have been reading and watching videos on the stats of how high my seat has to be on my mountain/road bike, and it scares me. I am going to have to end up raising it almost 6 inches in order for my legs to be aligned as they should. The bike I have came from Walmart for $85, Roadmaster Granite Peak, 26" women's road/light mountain trail bike. I can't afford anything more pricey right now. I know if I could get up on that bike and get confident I would have a source of exercise that is cardio. I cannot walk or run right now for a nerve injury in my foot that radiates down to my toes. So biking is going to have to be it for me; at least until I lose weight. It could be that my excess heaviness is aggravating my foot problem, which is a result of flatfoot syndrome. Can I expect to fall of the bike entirely when trying to mount it correctly for the first time? If I do, how do I catch myself? The thing will probably tip over when I try! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 
First, set the seat so you feel comfortable and confident. Bring the right pedal up and a little forward of the top of the stroke. Make sure the bike is in a low gear, meaning the front gear is in the smallest of the rings, and the rear is one or two sprockets from the largest. With clear, safe road ahead, just get up and start pedaling. Watch where your going as the bike will go where you look
 
Originally Posted by Tara Brown
I have been reading and watching videos on the stats of how high my seat has to be on my mountain/road bike, and it scares me. I am going to have to end up raising it almost 6 inches in order for my legs to be aligned as they should. The bike I have came from Walmart for $85, Roadmaster Granite Peak, 26" women's road/light mountain trail bike. I can't afford anything more pricey right now. I know if I could get up on that bike and get confident I would have a source of exercise that is cardio. I cannot walk or run right now for a nerve injury in my foot that radiates down to my toes. So biking is going to have to be it for me; at least until I lose weight. It could be that my excess heaviness is aggravating my foot problem, which is a result of flatfoot syndrome. Can I expect to fall of the bike entirely when trying to mount it correctly for the first time? If I do, how do I catch myself? The thing will probably tip over when I try! Any help would be greatly appreciated!
As Mr645 suggested, you want to set the seat height where it is comfortable ...

But, what he did not say is that what is comfortable you today, tomorrow, or for the foreseeable future isn't necessarily the height which you ultimately have the saddle's height set at AFTER you are actually comfortable riding your bike ...

And, you may want to begin & end with your RIGHT foot on the ground rather than the left (as he suggests) ...

So, for the time being, forget about the projected seat height position & set the saddle height where you feel comfortable ... where you feel comfortable today.

If that means that you will make it low enough so that you can plant both feet flat on the ground while you are seated, then THAT is what it will be, initially ...

  • What you simply need-or-want to learn to do is to LEAN the bike to one side when you-and-your-bike are stopped ...

  • the foot which is on the lowered side of the bike will be on the ground
  • I opted to make my RIGHT foot the one which I set on the ground OR on a curb (when in an urban area UNLESS you are in a country where cars drive on the left in which case you will, indeed, probably want to get in the habit of leaning the bike to the left) ...

Now, there COULD BE a small problem because of the pain which you are currently experiencing in your right foot, but it will be momentary ...
So, what I recommend you do before taking your bike onto the street is to take your bike into a hallway or any space where you can place the bike which is about 4+ feet wide (basically, slightly narrower than your two arm's width wide) in your house/apartment and (presuming you can easily straddle the bike with BOTH feet flat on the ground) ... Set the bike so that your LEFT shoulder is less than an arm's length away from the wall ... the object is to provide yourself with assurance that you can't actually fall over to the left AND/OR that you can brace yourself if you do tip over to the left ...

While engaging the LEFT (front) hand brake, lean the bike to the right ...
With your RIGHT foot on the floor & your LEFT pedal at the 6 o'clock, place your LEFT foot on the left pedal ...
Now, put your weight on the left pedal & MOMENTARILY raise the bike to-or-toward the vertical position ... AND THEN, let the bike lean back to the right & place your right foot on the floor ... REPEAT, Repeat, repeat ....

Repeat until you feel that it becomes second nature to lean the bike to the right WHEN you have brought the bike to a stop.

Then, while repeating the process, go so far as to momentarily sit on the saddle and then dismount, etc. ...
Again, repeat until you feel that it is second nature for you to dismount by weighting the left pedal while leaning the bike to the right, and setting your right food on the floor (... the ground, or a curb).
When you are ready to propel yourself forward then you will want the left pedal to be between the 12 o'clock position & about 9 o'clock (when you look at the bike from the left side ... that is, the forward position). Ride slowly at first UNTIL you are comfortable slowing down, stopping, and dismounting. Ride at the pace at which YOU are comfortable ...

And, only on streets/paths/roadways where you are comfortable.
You will know when the pedaling with the too-low-saddle becomes too inefficient (it could be after the first ride, of course!) and you subsequently raise your saddle toward whatever becomes the eventual, ideal height for you. You may fall, but you certainly do not have to ... BTW. If you DO fall, while it may-or-will be counter-intuitive, you will probably better off if you can keep BOTH hands on your handlebar's grips because if you don't know how to "catch" yourself then you may end up with a broken collarbone, a shoulder injury, or other "arm" injury. Wear a helmet ... Wearing "cycling" gloves ("gardening" gloves are fine, too, since the weather is cooler, now -- really, anything which does not impede your use of the bike's brake levers & shifters) is a good idea, too. BTW2. Of course, you can do a FULL dismount by swinging one (right) leg back & over the saddle while the other foot is on the (left) pedal ... standing on the left pedal while coasting just prior to coming to a stop, and then setting your right foot on the ground AFTER you have come to a stop ... remount by pushing off with your right foot (while "standing" on the left pedal) & (after a couple of pushes & you are rolling at about a walking pace) swinging your right leg over the saddle (i.e., horseback style) ...

situate your right foot on the right pedal ...

and, pedal.