Big Guy

Kenneth,

Go to a local bike shop and explain your concerns. But be aware that most
bicycle are designed for some theoretical 'average weight' rider. Us big
guys can expect to break stuff.

I have a friend who started out at about 330. He dieted and exercised his
weight down to about 230, but broke nearly every component on his bike while
doing so. He still replaces handlebars about once a year as they fatigue.

--

alan

Anyone who believes in a liberal media has never read the "Daily Oklahoman."

"Kenneth Akehurst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male.
Would like to ride with my wife!
Thanks, Ken

On Sun, 04 Jul 2004 17:10:21 GMT, "alan"
<[email hidden]> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Go to a local bike shop and explain your concerns. But be aware that most
bicycle are designed for some theoretical 'average weight' rider. Us big
guys can expect to break stuff.

Make sure you have the wheels retensioned by hand, that should prevent
broken spokes.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

"Kenneth Akehurst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male.
Would like to ride with my wife!
Thanks, Ken

Consider a recumbent.

If you want a conventional bike, what will matter most is the wheels. You're
asking for trouble riding on stock, factory-built wheels at your weight.

No offense, but since you weigh as much as two "average" riders, wheels made
for a tandem would be appropriate. I would go to a bike shop and discuss
having a set of wheels built, with heavy-duty rims and 40 or 48 spokes each,
and then discuss what sort of bike to mount them on.

Avoid springs. Nothing with a suspension fork or rear suspension or
suspension seatpost.

But give up on the "entry bike" idea. A cheap bike will be dangerous.

RichC

"Kenneth Akehurst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male.
Would like to ride with my wife!
Thanks, Ken

I started riding about a month ago, I was 290. Now I am 265.

I purchased a 600$ bike (canadian) and had to replace the rear wheel because
it was
not strong enough. I suggest to replace that to start with to avoid the
problems I got.

At 280 pounds, I was breaking spokes on my touring bike and road bike.
I was having seat pain from 18 mile rides.
Bought an EZ-1 for US$504 and nothing has broken and ridden 125 miles
one day.
http://www.easyracers.com

Rich Clark said:

"Kenneth Akehurst" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male.
Would like to ride with my wife!
Thanks, Ken

Consider a recumbent.

If you want a conventional bike, what will matter most is the wheels. You're
asking for trouble riding on stock, factory-built wheels at your weight.

No offense, but since you weigh as much as two "average" riders, wheels made
for a tandem would be appropriate. I would go to a bike shop and discuss
having a set of wheels built, with heavy-duty rims and 40 or 48 spokes each,
and then discuss what sort of bike to mount them on.

Avoid springs. Nothing with a suspension fork or rear suspension or
suspension seatpost.

But give up on the "entry bike" idea. A cheap bike will be dangerous.

RichC

Kenneth Akehurst said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male.
Would like to ride with my wife!
Thanks, Ken

What do you want? MTB or Road bike? Upright or diamond frame?
Recumbent? It's not so much how much you weigh if you get a quality
bike with "good" components suited to your size and girth. what does
your wife ride. Strong wheels built well and good necessories should
make your experience enjoyable. BTW in cycle jargon your would be
affectionately known as a clydesdale FWIW..........

Quoted message said:

his
weight down to about 230, but broke nearly every component on his bike while
doing so. He still replaces handlebars about once a year as they fatigue.

??

Replacing bars every year if you weigh 230?

WOW!

I weigh in that neighborhood and have never replaced bars on any of my bikes in
6 years.

Is he a wild man on a mtn bike?

Is there something I am missing here?

http://members.aol.com/foxcondorsrvtns
(Colorado rental condo)

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox
(Family Web Page)

On 04 Jul 2004 19:52:49 GMT, [email hidden] (Denver C. Fox) wrote in
message <[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Replacing bars every year if you weigh 230?

Quoted message said:

I weigh in that neighborhood and have never replaced bars on any of my bikes in
6 years.

I managed to snap a pair after 15 years, but that was mainly down to
bad technique when hoofing up hills :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at Washington University

Hi. Ken... I'm 57 years old and was 348 pounds as of March 04... I'm now
295... I originally had a 1994 Bridgestone Chromoly frame, standard all the
way and it is still in good shape. I broke 4 spokes in 10 years. I
averaged about 6 miles a day (Spring, Summer Fall and "good days" in winter"

I bought a "Specialized Expedition" in July, last year - 26 inch tires...
comfortable but weighs too much, imo. The seat suspension post didn't hold
up it was replaced with a non-suspension one, which noticeably made the ride
"stiff" I took the bike back to the shop and insisted that I wanted a
suspension post instead of the one they gave me. I'm waiting for that
order to come in at this time. In the mean time, I bought another bike
(last week) It's a "Marin, Kentfield" - bottom of the line ($299), chromoly
frame, 700c wheels, has no suspension forks but does have a suspension
seatpost. I had the shop swap the handlebar stem for an "adjustable."
I've been riding it hard for the past 7 days (12-17 miles a day, which is a
lot for me!) and nothing has broke yet. My local bike shop says, if
anything does break, they will replace the part... it's under warrantee for
on year. I figure, "what the heck" by the time the warrantee expires, I'll
be down to 230 pounds and won't be breaking anything. Frankly, I doubt
that anything will break; I don't "pull wheelies" or jump curbs, just ride
on the street, and a very good 20+ mile bike path.

The "Marin, Kentwood" is a nice light-weight bike. I'm using it as my
exercise bike. I put a speedometer on it ($16) and that tells me how fast
I'm going and what distance, as well as some other stats. My "Specialized
Expedition," is set-up for night riding (10 watt, rechargeable light, spoke
reflectors, taillight), and my "Bridgestone Trailblazer" has a milk carton
clamped on a rear rack. I use that for grocery shopping. Who, needs a car?
:o). Good luck!

Glenn

Kenneth Akehurst said:

HELP!
What would be a good entry bike for a 350# male. Would like to ride with
my wife!
Thanks, Ken

Cool! Beats walking. 😄

I don't know what you're wanting to do, but perhaps you're poking around
the neighborhood and going on bike paths like most entry level riders?

Like the others said, wheel strength is really really important. That
said, you can often get away with just ordering a pre-built tandem set
from a mass market place like Performance, Cambria, Nashbar, and the like.
If you've got the dough, and your local shop seems up to it, definitely
spend the extra bucks and have them hand built.

For your first bike, if speed is not a concern, but comfort is, how about
a "cruiser" style bike like the Electra company makes? You can get them
with three and seven speed Shimano hubs, which are NO maintainance, giving
you no excuse for not riding. The saddles are big and plush, the frames
are sturdy with no springs, and the wheels have nice wide tires. You might
have to get a new rear wheel built if you bought one, one with extra
spokes for strength so add a hundred bucks or so. You could probably get
away with keeping the front.

The best thing about a cruiser is that you can just jump on in whatever
you're wearing and not look out of place. It doesn't look like
exercising--you're just going for a cruise with the lady, man. LOL.

They start at around $300 and go up. Not the thing for long distances, but
a great fun toy to get you started. 😄 If you find yourself shedding some
pounds you can add a sportier bike to the stable.

Well, I've convinced my self that I want one at least, but check'em out
yourself here:

http://www,electrabike.com

There are other brands with the same "sensibility" as well.

Let us know what ends up working out for ya.

😄

maxo said:

For your first bike, if speed is not a concern, but comfort is, how about
a "cruiser" style bike like the Electra company makes? You can get them
with three and seven speed Shimano hubs, which are NO maintainance, giving
you no excuse for not riding. The saddles are big and plush, the frames
are sturdy with no springs, and the wheels have nice wide tires. You might
have to get a new rear wheel built if you bought one, one with extra
spokes for strength so add a hundred bucks or so. You could probably get
away with keeping the front.

I am not aware of any Shimano internally-geared hubs that have more
than 36 holes. I have seen old Sturmey-Archer three-speed hubs with
40 holes, but those are 40 or 50 year old bikes (still running though)

-Luigi

Luigi de Guzman said:

I am not aware of any Shimano internally-geared hubs that have more than
36 holes.

You're right on that one. I think they only come in 36 from what I've
seen here and in Europe.

I did ride one of the 7-speed nexus hubs for over
10k miles in urban Chicago, often with 50-75lbs of gear on the back of my
bike, and only trued my wheels twice, for what that's worth. Bloody
indestructable hub. It was built onto a double wall Alex (cheap, cheerful,
and actually decent) rim with straight gauge DTs. I ran 700x32 Michelin
tires @60-70 psi and I weigh 180#. So perhaps doable?

Perhaps the larger "flange" diameter of the hub had something to do with
its unbelievable durability?

Getting a wheel built on a 40 hole SA would be pretty darn cool!
Unfortunately, you'd have to find a bike shop that agreed. :/

Check out touring bikes -- they are often built to handle heavy loads.

I have a Trek 520 touring bike. I weigh about 240 and often carry a lot of
groceries on the bike. I haven't even had to true the wheels.

It has heavy duty rims and a steel frame. I'm not sure I regard it as an entry
level bike, but it's not outrageous, either.

maxo said:

Luigi de Guzman said:

I am not aware of any Shimano internally-geared hubs that have more than
36 holes.

You're right on that one. I think they only come in 36 from what I've
seen here and in Europe.

I did ride one of the 7-speed nexus hubs for over
10k miles in urban Chicago, often with 50-75lbs of gear on the back of my
bike, and only trued my wheels twice, for what that's worth. Bloody
indestructable hub. It was built onto a double wall Alex (cheap, cheerful,
and actually decent) rim with straight gauge DTs. I ran 700x32 Michelin
tires @60-70 psi and I weigh 180#. So perhaps doable?

Probably.

Quoted message said:

Perhaps the larger "flange" diameter of the hub had something to do with
its unbelievable durability?

If anything, it's the fact that an internally-geared hub can be built
without dish, and is thus stronger.

Quoted message said:

Getting a wheel built on a 40 hole SA would be pretty darn cool!
Unfortunately, you'd have to find a bike shop that agreed. :/

....and a suitable hub!

Luigi de Guzman said:

If anything, it's the fact that an internally-geared hub can be built
without dish, and is thus stronger.

Ah, didn't think of that, makes very good sense!

Luigi de Guzman said:

Quoted message said:

Getting a wheel built on a 40 hole SA would be pretty darn cool!
Unfortunately, you'd have to find a bike shop that agreed. :/

...and a suitable hub!

that darn ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=420&item=2254432992&rd=1

😄

Still, kind of a PITA for a guy that just wants to go for a spin with his
gal.

Cool to know there's the option though.

🙂