What types of bikes should big people use?

[shedevil999]

I am trying to find a bike i can use but people say I dont need a bike because iam overweight at 260. But i want to use it to loose weight, and help my health out. I dont know which type of bike should I start off with? Can anybody help me at all? I really would apperciate that.

 

[Cod]

Welcome to cycling!

Don't worry, most normal bikes will handle someone of your size without any danger.

Your best option is to buy a cheap used mountain bike or hybrid (Mountain bike/street bike) for as low a price as you can get. Your local bike shop may have used bikes or take a look in the local classifieds. Don't worry too much about components or brands at this stage.
The bike should have 21 to 24 gears; 3 chainwheels in front and 7 or 8 cogs on the rear wheel. This is adequate to get started.

Make sure the bike is the correct size, i.e. you can stand over the crossbar with one inch of clearance with your feet flat on the floor. Check that it steers straight, and that the brakes work before you buy.

Once you start, it's important that you wear a proper cycling shorts so that your butt doesn't get too sore as this will put you off biking. You can also buy padded inserts for shorts if you can't find suitable cycling shorts.

Once you start to get fit, you'll outgrow your first bike and gain knowledge about what type of bike is most suitable for you long-term.

Don't forget to take it easy: fat only gets burned at 65% or less of max heart rate, this is less than the rate at which it becomes difficult to carry on a conversation. If you cycle on your own, sing a song as you pedal, and if you become breathless slow down until you can carry on. It's also a handy way to practice your party piece
Best of luck,

 

[Hidden1229]

My wife is about 305lbs and she uses a trek 1000 women's. She has no problems and loves the bike.

I am trying to find a bike i can use but people say I dont need a bike because iam overweight at 260. But i want to use it to loose weight, and help my health out. I dont know which type of bike should I start off with? Can anybody help me at all? I really would apperciate that.

 

[MLove]

A friend of mine is looking for a bike. She's about 350 lbs. Does the same apply to her or would she need something more sturdy?

 

[Cod]

A friend of mine is looking for a bike. She's about 350 lbs. Does the same apply to her or would she need something more sturdy?

Most reputable bikes are made to withstand well over the usual range of body weight so Iwouldn't see a problem. Make sure she gets wide tyres otherwise she could be uncomfortable over rough roads/bumps etc.

 

[rkokish]

>>fat only gets burned at 65% or less of max heart rate<<

It's true that the human body metabolizes the highest PERCENTAGE of fat at 60-70% of maximum heart rate but the situation is far more complicated. We actually metabolize significant amounts of fat at least until we worki hard enough to become anerobic and metabolize muscle tissue we metabolize in the higher heart rate zonesnis replaced from stored fat for several hours after excercise stops. (That process is often called "afterburn")

Bottom line - it's okay to excercise moderately and certainly better than not excercising at all but in fact, the harder/longer we excercise the more weight we lose, provided of course, we don't also increase food intake the the number of calories burned during excercise.)

A good site for learning more about what our bodies do in the various heart rate zones is polar.com

 

[WaltInTx]

I am trying to find a bike i can use but people say I dont need a bike because iam overweight at 260. But i want to use it to loose weight, and help my health out. I dont know which type of bike should I start off with? Can anybody help me at all? I really would apperciate that.

Speaking from experience (I started out on a bike at 285, and am at 245 now) you shouldn't have any problems getting a bike to support you.
I got a KHS Flite300 that's made of aluminum, and it's been great.
(Of course, once I DO drop all of my weight, I'd like to get a lighter bike)

Hope this helps.

Walt

 

[bluboy4_us]

I am trying to find a bike i can use but people say I dont need a bike because iam overweight at 260. But i want to use it to loose weight, and help my health out. I dont know which type of bike should I start off with? Can anybody help me at all? I really would apperciate that.

A lot of these people have mentioned heart rate. I would also be good for you to buy a heart rate monitor. You can find some good inexpensive ones for around $40. the brand that I've always used is Polar. Timex also makes a good one that uses a digital transmitter and receiver so that there won't be any signal interference from other monitors and power lines. 60-80% is a good comfortable rate. Don't try to go hard until you've got at least 1000 miles in your legs. Then you'll be able to start doing hard efforts known as intervals. www.polar.com has a lot of training info on those.

Most important, if you're riding in a group, don't be afraid to get left behind. That can happen at first but as your fitness improves so will your speed and climbing ability. It'll be more fun as it gets easier. Insist on riding at the pace that the heart monitor dictates. You'll discover that buying a heart monitor was a good investment.

Also, buy an inexpensive cycling computer. Those can be found at around $10-20. It would also be a good idea to have a training schedule. www. bicycling.com along with the polar site have suggestions for those. Good luck and have fun because if you don't enjoy it you'll be less likely to do it again.

Last but not least, ride defensively! There's a lot of igorance on behalf of both the cyclist and the automobile concerning where a bicycle belongs. Learn the laws of your area concerning bicycles so that if you're ever in an accident, you won't be at fault providing that you were riding within the law. The motorist may still be ignorant but at least you'll have done your part.

 

[usasportstrain]

I would suggest going with aluminum, steel, or Ti since most carbon fiber bikes tend to have some flex and could be bothersome for a heavier person.

The metals of steel and titanium have a good fatigue life, so you may get a better lifespan of the frame.

In the meantime, it's great that those of us that are relatively heavy (or not) are out there biking!

Here's a book on cycling and one's heart rate https://www.usasportstraining.com/shop/cycling-books_12/heartzonescycling_47.html

 

[Tecumseh]

Hello all. I am new myself and am overweight. I weigh in at 350 lbs. myself. I am currently riding a 2007 Trek 7300. I had the rear wheel rebuilt (not sure what that means exactly) so it would support my weight.

I purchased a cyclometer and some lights for my bicycle. The bike is nice and I felt like a kid again the first time I got on it. I usually ride for a few miles everyday. I try to go for at least 5 but if I have time to kill I will get in a quick ride.

I have put 30 miles on it since last Thursday. The weather had been pretty crappy as of late so I try to get as much riding in as I can.

I dont think I would ride if I didnt have my Ipod. It really helps me to drown out the world when I am riding. I just hit play and let the real world slip away.

I am finding that I enjoy cycling a lot. I want to lose weight myself and that was my main motivation to purchase the cycle. Either way I would suggest going to a shop and talk to the people there. Find a shop that everyone seems to recommend and go from there.

 

[Mike Jacobs]

No problems!

I started again when I hit 260 lbs and bought a hybrid with racing wheels.

The rear wheel kept going out of true and I thought it was my weight. No, turns out there was a manufacturing defect. This is apparently not an uncommon problem, because I found many posts on this subject alone.

As far as losing weight, I find that I lose more weight at a recreational level (daily casual spins for maybe 30 minutes to an hour) than "training" 100+ miles a week at 16 mph average). Why? I think it is because itis easier to overeat in the "training" metabolism. The brain does NOT want to allow you to starve, and it is easy to maintain weight - and gain - using only sports drinks and an occasional power bar. At a recreational pace, with no other changes to the diet, I think I naturally stopped eating so much because (a) I felt better and (b) moderate exercise just reduces my appetite for some reason.

Buy a bike! Choose a bike for your expected riding profile and not your weight.

 

[Tecumseh]

No problems!

I started again when I hit 260 lbs and bought a hybrid with racing wheels.

The rear wheel kept going out of true and I thought it was my weight. No, turns out there was a manufacturing defect. This is apparently not an uncommon problem, because I found many posts on this subject alone.

As far as losing weight, I find that I lose more weight at a recreational level (daily casual spins for maybe 30 minutes to an hour) than "training" 100+ miles a week at 16 mph average). Why? I think it is because itis easier to overeat in the "training" metabolism. The brain does NOT want to allow you to starve, and it is easy to maintain weight - and gain - using only sports drinks and an occasional power bar. At a recreational pace, with no other changes to the diet, I think I naturally stopped eating so much because (a) I felt better and (b) moderate exercise just reduces my appetite for some reason.

Buy a bike! Choose a bike for your expected riding profile and not your weight.

There is a local author who rides a lot. He was overweight and lost a lot of weight. He told me that the rear wheel kept going out on his bike and that is why they suggested reinforcing the one I have now.

The bike technician said the same as well. The person who referred me to them also said that they would build a tire for me.

 

[Relser21]

Im a 22 year old male, 330lbs and lookinng start cycling to help lose weight. i was wondering what kind of bike would be strong enough to hold my weight and wanted to use for daily use. what do u recommend?

 

[Ruedy]

If you're in it for the weight loss, be careful of becoming consumed with your weight. Don't worry so much about how much you weigh day to day. That can be a discouraging influence.

RIDE for the sheer joy of riding! Eventually, you will surprise yourself to find you are doing more miles than you thought capable. Eventually also, you will naturally without even having to think about it, you wil naturally start eating foods that improve your cycling.......It happened to me.

I got lucky and found a used Trek MTN bike, 40 bucks! Was up to 210 lbs and in less than a year was back down to boot camp weiht of 160.

Point is DO IT FOR THE JOY OF IT!

 

[Yojimbo_]

The post directly above is good advice.

It took years for you to put the weight on and it's not suddenly going to disappear just because you've started riding a bike. It'll take years to come off so don't get discouraged.

You can help it come off faster by making small changes to your lifestyle and diet. Walk to the store instead of taking the car, walk up the stairs instead of taking the escalator - those sorts of things.

Short bike rides aren't going to use many calories so you have to keep at it and not get discouraged.

I think weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise and you have to address both if weight loss is your goal.

 

[blazingpedals]

Good advice above on losing the weight. I'll add a few more tidbits.

If you want to weigh 200 pounds, eat like a 200-pounder. If you want to weigh 150 pounds, eat like a 150-pounder. You'll get there. If you eat like a 250 or 300-pounder, you will weight 250 or 300 pounds. I'm talking about a life-style change, not a diet.

I've found that I'm more successful at weight loss if I ride at an easy pace. Your body burns fat all the time, but riding hard depletes your blood sugar, which makes you hungrier. Riding at an easy pace lets you keep your blood sugar more 'normal' and helps avoid triggering an eating binge after the workout.

As far as equipment, I'd go with a low-end mountain bike. Steel is the best choice, with heat treated aluminum as a back-up. In aluminum frames, ALL flex is FORBIDDEN, because unlike steel, aluminum work-hardens when it flexes, and eventually embrittles to the point where it spontaneously cracks. If you get aluminum, make sure it's overbuilt. Also, whatever frame material you get, make sure you have strong wheels. Until you lose some weight, 36 or even 40 spokes would be a good idea.

 

[kdelong]

Regarding choosing a bicycle based upon the intended riders weight, the only real concern is the spoke count of the wheels. Most frames are designed to hold a lot of weight because they are normally subjected to tremendous loads during everyday riding over curbs and potholes. The wheels, however, are another matter. A radially spoked wheel with few spokes is not going to be as sturdy as a cross 3 spoked wheel with a high number of spokes. Therefore, we recommend that riders over 220 lbs use wheelsets with a minimum of 28 spokes on the rear and 24 spokes on the front.

 

[VadarStrikesBack]

Big ones.

 

[youthfulgeezer]

New to the forum - JUST signed up. Thinking of starting to ride also. Have gained a TON of weight as I got older. I used to ride 300 miles every week (on a road bike) - until I crashed and shattered my collar bone and left knee. That was back in 1983. I have since bought a GT Timberline bike (probably 10-12 years ago). No suspension, etc - just an average mountain bike.

I weight in at about 330+ or so now, have arthritis in my left knee, but need to lose weight badly. Would HATE to be on a ride and have the bike break beneath me (wouldn't that be embarrassing).

Want to try to get healthy again - I now have a new granddaughter. Cant keep up with her (shes only 15 months old) - and that's a drag.

Think its safe to start with small rides - without worrying about the bike breaking to pieces beneath me?

 

[Bigonabianchi]

I bought a Dawes Galaxy touring bike when i was seriously overweight because I figured if it can carry loads of bags and a tent it can carry my bulk...which it did for several years before I lost weight by riding it....then I road it across Europe & America. A tourer like that is a great road bike just designed to carry weight..JMHO.