what to look for in frames for big guys

[big Pete]

Hi all,

I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the material).

Thank you very much

Pete

P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on me.

 

[Zog The Undeniable]

big Pete wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> material).

Frames rarely break. It's the wheels you should be worried about. Have
no fewer than 36 spokes per wheel, and get someone who knows what
they're doing to build them. Forget about 400g rims!

 

[daveornee]

Hi all,

I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the material).

Thank you very much

Pete

P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on me.

Then maybe you mean break!
Yes, design and how the design is carrier out makes a big difference.
Aluminum in frames by Canondale and other manufacturers have been tested to hold up well to heavy riders.

 

[tooly]

"daveornee" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>
> big Pete Wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> > should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> > real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> > brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> > bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> > material).
> >
> > Thank you very much
> >
> > Pete
> >
> > P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on me.
>
> Then maybe you mean break!
> Yes, design and how the design is carrier out makes a big difference.
> Aluminum in frames by Canondale and other manufacturers have been
> tested to hold up well to heavy riders.
>
>
> --
> daveornee
>
> Bicycling 1/2 century
>

Ah...but the wheels. I'm starting to throw spokes every few times out now.
My bike shop 'expert' more or less told me something I have to live with at
my size if I choose to ride a true performance bike. Otherwise, he tried to
sell me on some sort of 'tank wheel'...reinforced, 32 spoke, heavy gauge
etc. Sort of defeats the 2+ grand I forked [no pun] out for the aerospoked
high performance.

 

[scottt]

big Pete <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi all,
>
> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> material).
>
> Thank you very much
>
> Pete
>
> P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on me.

Pete,

I'm close to your weight and have been pushing the bageebezzs outta my
Cannondale R1000 for two years without any problems whatsoever. Try
one I think you will love it, but remember to buy your steed based on
comfort and fit not just a name...

Scott

 

[Tim McNamara]

"tooly" <[email protected]> writes:

> Ah...but the wheels. I'm starting to throw spokes every few times
> out now. My bike shop 'expert' more or less told me something I
> have to live with at my size if I choose to ride a true performance
> bike. Otherwise, he tried to sell me on some sort of 'tank
> wheel'...reinforced, 32 spoke, heavy gauge etc. Sort of defeats the
> 2+ grand I forked [no pun] out for the aerospoked high performance.

32 spokes is not a "tank wheel" by any means. It'll hold up to a 220
lbs rider but not a whole lot more. IMHO a 250 lb rider should be on
36 spoke wheels, built 3x with 14/15 gauge swaged spokes. You know,
that's only a few grams heavier than 32 or 28 spokes. Not enough to
worry about, and a non-broken wheel is much faster than a broken one.

 

[Mark Hickey]

"tooly" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Ah...but the wheels. I'm starting to throw spokes every few times out now.
>My bike shop 'expert' more or less told me something I have to live with at
>my size if I choose to ride a true performance bike. Otherwise, he tried to
>sell me on some sort of 'tank wheel'...reinforced, 32 spoke, heavy gauge
>etc. Sort of defeats the 2+ grand I forked [no pun] out for the aerospoked
>high performance.

There's no reason in the world why a well-built pair of 32 or 36-spoke
wheels wtih light rims won't remain true and straight - other than the
fact the wheel is underbuilt.

Properly tensioned, well built wheels should never flex enough to
unload any of the nipples. If the nipples are never unloaded, they'll
never back off, and your wheels won't ever go out of true.

OTOH, if you're riding on some chichi botique wheel, you may well be
over its design load. Fewer spokes mean higher spoke tension - often
near the rim's ability to prevent nipple pull-through.

If you're worried about "performance", you might be surprised just how
poorly some of the "hot wheels" perform relative to something much
simpler and more reliable (like a deep rim with 32 butted spokes).
Often you improve the aerodynamics, shave weight, and save a lot of
money going to "normal wheels".

Of course if fashion is the driving motivation, all bets are off.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

 

[jim beam]

Zog The Undeniable wrote:
> big Pete wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
>> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
>> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
>> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
>> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
>> material).
>
>
> Frames rarely break. It's the wheels you should be worried about. Have
> no fewer than 36 spokes per wheel, and get someone who knows what
> they're doing to build them. Forget about 400g rims!

i regularly ride r540's with 16 spoke wheels. i'm 210. no problems so
far in over a year.

 

[jim beam]

big Pete wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> material).
>
> Thank you very much
>
> Pete
>
> P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on me.

go for something with oversize top & down tubes, bigger the better.
nice & stiff, minimal risk of shimmy, a major issue in some larger frames.

 

[David Damerell]

tooly <[email protected]> wrote:
>Ah...but the wheels. I'm starting to throw spokes every few times out now.
>My bike shop 'expert' more or less told me something I have to live with at
>my size if I choose to ride a true performance bike. Otherwise, he tried to
>sell me on some sort of 'tank wheel'...reinforced, 32 spoke, heavy gauge
>etc.

32 is 4 fewer than a sensible wheel for a single rider, so not exactly a
tank. 48 cross-4, that's a "tank wheel".
--
David Damerell <[email protected]> Distortion Field!

 

[Peter Cole]

"big Pete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> material).

I'm sure there are many frames made from several materials that would work for
you. The only real issue with larger than normal frames is lateral stiffness.
Some people are more bothered by flexibility there than others. Aluminum
frames, with their fat tubes, are about the laterally stiffest frames
available. A well-designed aluminum frame should be just as (crash or fatigue)
durable as a well designed frame of any other material. I am 6'10", 235, and
have 3 touring frames -- 2 steel, 1 aluminum. I like the light, stiff,
aluminum frame the best (Cannondale). I prefer touring frames for their extra
wheelbase, which improves stability and handling in large sizes.

 

[Bestest Handsander]

"big Pete" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Hi all,
>
> I am a big (250 pound 6 foot 4 or 5) rider. After fit what fetchers
> should I look for in a frame that I will not brake. I know steal is
> real .... but is there an aluminum frame out there that I would not
> brake? If so what makes it so that I can not brake it. I thought that a
> bike is designed as whole (i.e. the design is more important than the
> material).
>
> Thank you very much
>
> Pete
>
> P.S. when I say brake I do not mean crash I mean have it fail on m

I'm 6'3", 260 (recently down from 280) and have been riding a Calfee Tetra
Pro in 64cm. I can say I'm very impressed. It seems completely nonplussed
by my weight. If I were to do it over again, I'd probably get the "super
stiff" option (larger sizes come standard with Calfee's "extra stiff"
option). But it's not a major complaint.

As far as wheels. I took a chance on another big man's recommendation and
tried the Topolino wheels. They are light (cir. 1400 grams for the pair)
and have held up well. I'll let the company explain why these are the best
"light" wheels for heavy rider. But they been both light and stong for me.

www.topolinotech.com

HTH

 

[big Pete]

Hi all,

Thank you for the good advice. I have some more questions. Some of the bikes I looked at had the front derailleur drilled right into the frame. What is the advantage of this? I thought by putting more holes in the frame it will weaken it.


Pete

 

[nutbag]

This guy designs and sells bikes in Australia. He's also about 6'4", and when designing a bike for himself, this is what he came up with:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=55389&highlight=boyz

The Specs are VERY untraditional - 73º head angle 48mm rake, 71.5º seat, 605mm top tube, 580mm seat tube ctr to top, 435mm stays. Still, it's a big bike ( the equivalent to a 62cm ) but my aim was to have a big bike that didn't look ungainly. Here's the parts Spec -

 

[Peter Cole]

"nutbag" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> This guy designs and sells bikes in Australia. He's also about 6'4", and
> when designing a bike for himself, this is what he came up with:
> http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=55389&highlight=boyz
>
> -The Specs are VERY untraditional - 73º head angle 48mm rake, 71.5º
> seat, 605mm top tube, 580mm seat tube ctr to top, 435mm stays. Still,
> it's a big bike ( the equivalent to a 62cm ) but my aim was to have a
> big bike that didn't look ungainly. Here's the parts Spec --

Looks like a plain old compact frame to me.