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
--
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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.
easyracers.comeasyracers.comOpen ↗

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?

members.aol.comfoxcondorsrvtnsOpen ↗ (Colorado
rental condo)

members.aol.comdnvrfoxOpen ↗ (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. chapmancentral.co.ukchapmancentral.co.ukOpen ↗

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

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

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!