Rider weight

Rockhopper

I've been a mountain biker for years but I've recently been thinking about getting a road bike as well.
My question is when I'm looking for my new bike should i be taking my weight into account? I'm around 16 stone and 6'3" tall.
I'm not looking to spend a huge amount of money, under £500 if possible.
Having looked at a few bike in my local shop they just look so fragile compared to my mountain bike.

John Stevenson

rockhopperwmb wrote:

I've been a mountain biker for years but I've recently been thinking about getting a road bike as well.
My question is when I'm looking for my new bike should i be taking my weight into account? I'm around 16 stone and 6'3" tall.
I'm not looking to spend a huge amount of money, under £500 if possible.
Having looked at a few bike in my local shop they just look so fragile compared to my mountain bike.

You'd be surprised. A mate of mine is your size and the only problem he has had was with low-spoke-count wheels. (There's a reason why pro teams stop using hype wheels[1] when wheel durability really matters, such as at Paris-Roubaix).

Get yourself a bike with old-fashioned wheels, and swap the tyres for 25mm or 28mm rubber and you'll be fine.

If you're coming over from mountain biking you might also find you're more comfortable on the widest handlebar you can find.

[1]Any wheel that doesn't have 32, double-butted stainless steel spokes holding it together

Zendog1

Have a look at this thread.
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12521964

Road bikes are a LOT tougher than they look.

postman

Please let us know what bike you buy.I am 6-4, and 16 stone inside leg 34''.Iride a dawes galaxy 64 cm.But would like a bike to increase my speed on and lighter.Alittle more sporty if that sounds correct.

fossyant

Please don't worry too much about road bike toughness - many are stronger than most MTB's.

For wheels, then don't go for ultra light ones, I myself prefer strong reliable ones, with good bearings etc. For racing, then light weight ones are fine, but for training/commuting etc, then strong ones are preferable given the state of our roads.

I'm using Aksiums on my best bike (good wheels and got them as a present) and custom built 32h Open 4 CD's (earlier versions of the Open Pro) on my training bike.

miketherower

if you wanted some bling wheels, fulcrum 3's are as tough as old boots. I've done about 3k miles on them so far (all on 23s) and am now down to about 16 stone from 17+. They havent needed truing once.

And you dont need a big, heavy touring frame either, I've got a lovely carbon race bike which is absolutely fine. The funny bit is reading the instructions for the campag kit which give a max rider weight (for everything) of 80kgs.

SteveR_100Milers

I wouldnt worry about spoke counts....I am 6ft 1 was 17 stone, now 14.5 stone and race and train on 28 spoke FSA's. Not the flashiest or best made by some way, but have never broken a spoke, and only needed trueing up once.

Steveorow

Ive heard the wisdom behind the 32 spoke wheels; I currently use Mavic Aksiums on No2 bike and Mavic Ksyrium Elites on No1 bike on 25c and 23c tires . Ive never had an issue re rider weight ( around 15.5 stone ) the Elites are 18 front and 20 rear spokes . and have stayed true over some doggy road surfaces .
Same with frames Aluminium for No2 and Full Carbon for No1 . The carbon one ( Cannondale as their warrany doe snot stipulate any rider weight either unlike most of the BS from the european manufacturers ) . I even hit the ditch on the carbon frame couple of weeks ago at 25mph not even a scratch on the frame ; me thats another matter

Smeggers

Same here

Am 6'2" was 17 stone (15 now ) and ride on Campag Vento Wheels with the G3 spoke pattern.

No problem whatseover.

Rockhopper

Thanks guys.

I was thinking of a Specialized Allez as I've always been a Specialized fan and there are some good deals around at the moment on that model.

Double or tripple chainset though?

Paul.

andy66

I bought a Roubaix with a compact chainset and it's perfect for my kind of non -competitive road riding. If it's a standard double or a triple i'd go for the triple.

Andy

Rockhopper

Tell me about compact chainsets then? I'm guessing they are similar to MTB ones with a smaller big ring instead of a 52 or 53? Part of the reason why i don't want to put slicks on the MTB is that i can spin out the 42/11 quite easily.

GentleGiant

Compacts usually come with a 50 outer and 34 inner. I wouldn't bother unless you live in a hilly area. You'll be spending all your time on the big ring. I've got a triple but hardly ever use the granny ring. For flat road riding I use 39 x 14,15 or 16 most of the time. I'm no Lance armstrong either.