Body weight and carbon fibre

Andy1969

Hi Guys

Is a carbon fibre frame ok for the "more comfortably built" amongst us? I am 106kg at the moment on a journey to 90kg, down from 125kg. I have a carbon fibre Boardman Team road bike, but usually ride my aluminium road bike due to not being sure about the carbon fibre being damaged by my weight when i hit bumps and potholes etc, the bike is gorgeous to ride and i dont want to damage it. I am entered in this years Dragon Ride and intend to ride it in that but am doing most of my training on my old bike. Anyone got any opinions on this?

Regards

Andy[/b]

alistaird

I'm not aware of any (realistic) weight limit for Carbon frames. I think wheels are more likely to sensitive to rider weight but I could be wrong...

Lucky Douglas

Cannondale publish the maximum rider weight in the little handbook that comes with the bike and is also on their website.
I'm fairly sure it's a great deal more than 106kg.

I guess Boardman will publish their max too.

niblue

I was over 110Kg when I got my team carbon and it's coped fine. It's also helped me drop to under 100kg in the 3 months I've had it.

amnesia

I was also the best part of 100kg when I got my team carbon... got down to 80kg in about 4 months, then put it nearly all back on over winter :wallbang:

So it begins again...

desweller

I would have thought that, unless you're buying an out-and-out race bike (rather than a drop-bar leisure bike) they'll all be designed with the same loads in mind, so frame material shouldn't be an issue in terms of strength.

rake

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.
a lot depends on how you are at seeing and avoiding obstacles and also weather you can unweight the bike or are like a sack of potatoes. a good strong 36 spoke bike will fold up riding over potholes like a sack of spuds.

Berk Bonebonce

Frames these days are all built to the same EN standards and they all fit into the 'overbuilt' category so that they safely meet the needs of heavy riders.

Wheels are different though, and if you are heavy and ride poor roads (which we all have to do in this s**** country) then you want a beefed up pair of jobbies with some suitable tyres.

mallorcajeff

yippee something i can win in the cycling world! im just under 18 stone (down from 25) and ive got a wilier izoard and it hasnt broken yet? Well the gears are 5hite but the bike itself is great. Just dont leave it in the rain apparently they dissolve.

floosy

Mine has a limit of less than 90kg and its an alloy frame...

?

Dave.

smokeysmoo2

My carbon bike is a Focus Cayo Pro, and as a vertible man mountain weight limits were a very real issue for me.
I contacted Focus bikes prior to my purchase and was informed that Focus frames do not have any weight restrictions. Liek another psot mentioned though, some of the components may do. For example my DT Swiss R1900 rims that were standard fit on my Cayo Pro have a weight limit of around 17 stones, however, at 6' 5" tall and built more like Tyson than Contador, I have never been under that limit, and equally have never had an issue with my wheels either!
I figure they must be tested way beyond any publised limit anyway, and as I'm never going to be built anything like LA, I just have to take my chances.
I cannot recommend Focus bikes highly enough, I now own 2, and would simply never again pay through the nose just to have a name like Specialized, Scott or Cannondale on my downtube! At the end of the day, if Focus was good enough for the Milram Pro team, and are clearly still good enough for the Katusha Pro team, and people with Triathlete Stuart Hayes, then I will honestly never do it justice.
I very nearly bought a Felt AR2 a whie back as it was a fantastic offer, but when I contatced Felt they have weight limits, which I seem to recall where around 15 stones, so that idea went straight in the bin, I cannot understand why any manufactuerer would want to alienate a huge percentage of their customer base by including weight limits, at the end of the day, if a frame is made well, and the components are of a decent quilty, ie: no bike hut/no name garbage, then I personally don't see any problems. If a frame has weight limits I'd question the build quality very closely.
If you want serous value for money, take a look at Focus Bikes and comare them to similarly specced models from any other manuacturer and see if you can argue against my logic - I bet you can't

niblue

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.

What do you want us to buy? I didn't buy my bike particularily because it was light, but because it was by far the best bike I could get at the £900 I paid for it.

I've had a cheap, heavyish road bike before and the Team Carbon is much nicer to ride - and because of that I've ridden it a lot more.

smokeysmoo2

niblue wrote:

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.

What do you want us to buy? I didn't buy my bike particularily because it was light, but because it was by far the best bike I could get at the £900 I paid for it.

I've had a cheap, heavyish road bike before and the Team Carbon is much nicer to ride - and because of that I've ridden it a lot more.

Well put niblue, well put. To add another element to this argument, I bought my carbon bike, despite being 6' 5" tall and around 19 stone for one simple reason - because I can!
If i wanted a tank of a bike, perhaps a Surly Steamroller, I'd buy one and save a lot of money in the process, but because I wanted a nice bike, and because I'm fortunate to be able to afford one, I got one.
I also own an aluminium cross bike and an aluminium fixed gear bike, but I will always ride faster and further on my carbon bike, so are you suggesting that I shouldn't be able to do this just because I don't fit your stereotype of a cyclist.
No matter where anyone sits in this argument, the answer has to be a resounding NO!

rake - consider yourself 'flamed'

Peddle Up!

Found this on the US Trek site.

Is there a weight limit for your bikes?

Yes, we do have a weight limit on our bikes and they are as follow:

Rider weight limit of 275lbs
•Road bikes with drop type handlebars

•Triatholon, time trial or speed bicycles
•Cruisers with large 26" tires and swept-back handlebars
•Bicycles that fold

Rider weight limit of 300lbs
•Hybrids bicycles with 700c wheels, tires larger then 28c, and flat handlebars
•City bicycles: hybrids with special equipment
•Cyclocross bicycles: with drop type handlebar, knobby 800c tires, and cantilever or disc brakes
•Mountain bikes of all types including: standard, race, cross-country, heavy-duty, trail, all-mountain, freeride, and jumping bikes of both the hardtail and fullsuspension variety

Combined Rider weight limit of 550lbs:
•Tandem bicycles

rake

smokeysmoo2 wrote:

niblue wrote:

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.

What do you want us to buy? I didn't buy my bike particularily because it was light, but because it was by far the best bike I could get at the £900 I paid for it.

I've had a cheap, heavyish road bike before and the Team Carbon is much nicer to ride - and because of that I've ridden it a lot more.

Well put niblue, well put. To add another element to this argument, I bought my carbon bike, despite being 6' 5" tall and around 19 stone for one simple reason - because I can!
If i wanted a tank of a bike, perhaps a Surly Steamroller, I'd buy one and save a lot of money in the process, but because I wanted a nice bike, and because I'm fortunate to be able to afford one, I got one.
I also own an aluminium cross bike and an aluminium fixed gear bike, but I will always ride faster and further on my carbon bike, so are you suggesting that I shouldn't be able to do this just because I don't fit your stereotype of a cyclist.
No matter where anyone sits in this argument, the answer has to be a resounding NO!

rake - consider yourself 'flamed'

i feel the heat. my ears are burning.
i dont want you to buy anything in particular to answer the question i just thought a slightly more robust bicycle without the full on race position would be more suitable for the job thats all, more comfortable and reliable with probably no noticeable speed difference. im out before i dig myself a hole i cant climb out of :arrow:

rick_chasey

If weight isn't an issue - why not go steel?

smokeysmoo2

Fair play rake, fair play

pastey_boy

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.
a lot depends on how you are at seeing and avoiding obstacles and also weather you can unweight the bike or are like a sack of potatoes. a good strong 36 spoke bike will fold up riding over potholes like a sack of spuds.

so you assume that anyone over 100kg is overweight. i weigh in at 18 stones and its a good weight for me. i do weight train and acknowledge that i will never win the tour but i can hold my own on both mtb's and road bikes. going off government guidelines i should weigh 10 and a half stones, a few years back i went down to 11 and a half and i looked awful. i looked ill and gaunt and it didnt suit me. lightweight bikes are a benefit to any weight class but when your at the heavier end of the scale you have to employ common sense in the areas your saving weight

Steve_F

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.
a lot depends on how you are at seeing and avoiding obstacles and also weather you can unweight the bike or are like a sack of potatoes. a good strong 36 spoke bike will fold up riding over potholes like a sack of spuds.

I know you've tried to dig out of this one Rake, I'm not even having a go at you here as I can understand where you're coming from but here's my tuppence worth.

No matter what you weigh you can still be competitive, whether it's trying to beat a mate in a sportive, be the first up a climb, or back down the other side or beating your own PB for a TT.

I was weighing in between 15.5 to 16st for most of the sportives last year and saw 17 over winter, trying to get back to where I was and hopefully under 15 this year!

At those weights when I stuck a new lighter set of wheels on I noticed a massive difference and with the social guys in our club I'm usually near the front up a climb or sprinting to a 30 sign (active rides I'm usually at the back not getting involved, just trying to keep up).

My nice new carbon bike is sitting waiting for it's first ride when the weather is nice and I'm seriously hoping it'll shave time off my TT best, allow me to climb better in the Alps later this year and all round give me more enjoyment on the bike.

The flip side is, the amount of money I've spent on it I don't want to put it under too much stress with my weight so have been loosing since I bought the frame!!

rick_chasey

Steve_F wrote:

The flip side is, the amount of money I've spent on it I don't want to put it under too much stress with my weight so have been loosing since I bought the frame!!

What were you making loose?

Oh you mean losing?


8)

rake

im not that light myself and have recently also got into weightlifting somewhat because of my mate. im probably about 14 stones something, my scales are broken ive been at 15.5 stones. im trying to shed some weight but the weights are counterproductive.

smokeysmoo2

rake wrote:

im probably about 14 stones something, my scales are broken

That's such a woman quote rake, my scales are broken, honestly

Steve_F

Rick Chasey wrote:

Steve_F wrote:

The flip side is, the amount of money I've spent on it I don't want to put it under too much stress with my weight so have been loosing since I bought the frame!!

What were you making loose?

Oh you mean losing?


8)

Oops! Yeah of course I meant losing!

Just been out for a quick spin on my new carbon bike and my god, what a difference a lighter stiffer bike makes. More to expensive bikes than just light weightishness!

Jonathand257

Andy - You aint gonna break it, take it out and ride it into the ground all summer long, get the bug, eat the right things and i guarantee you will be well on your way to your 90KG target weight!!

borse2008

So i can comfortably go out and purchase a carbon road bike without worry it will snap just like that.

Im about 17st 107kg but trimming down want to lose more, just heard something mixed comments about this.

secretsam

rake wrote:

i know il get flamed but why do overweight people buy lightweight racing bikes. its like having the latest top notch running spikes. come on.
a lot depends on how you are at seeing and avoiding obstacles and also weather you can unweight the bike or are like a sack of potatoes. a good strong 36 spoke bike will fold up riding over potholes like a sack of spuds.

In my case, as an incentive to go out and ride some more and lose some weight. But it must be said, I bought my bike online, no doubt if I'd have gone into my LBS they would have applied the lardarse rule and refused to sell me it, instead giving me an old butcher's bike which was more appropriate to my build.

MichaelW

It is lightweight, low-power riders who are at a disadvantage, riding factory bikes that are completely over-built for them.

Parlee build with custom, carbon tubes for lightweight and heavyweight riders.

DavidJB

Whatever you do don't get it wet!

Manc33

It soaking up road vibration is what I like, after it being lighter.