Too heavy for a road bike?

snoopsmydogg

Have recently got back into riding and mainly for weight loss/fitness reasons and got a gt avalanche but have always had the niggle i should be using a road bike.

I ride about 90% of the time on the road and although using city tyres for road use I feel that on the (few) good weather days I could benefit from a road bike. With a recent offer of a good used bike its got me thinking even more.

Question is weighing in at 15.5stone am I going to be a bit heavy for ali framed road bikes? Should I stick to riding the mtb before moving across to a lightweight framed 23/25c tyred bike?

Cheers

hodge68

I was a stone more than you when i started and it does not seem to have hurt my bike, i think you have to stay clear of the really light wheels, i have fulcrum 7s and pro lite merano.No probs so far.Sure i read the merano rated up to 100kg rider and halfords bikes up to 130kg rider and i dont see why thier bike should be stronger than any other brand.

snoopsmydogg

cheers hodge68, the wheels were my main concern with being heavier than most of the riders i see I didnt want to be ruining rims on our not so well maintained roads.

Bike is a 2002/2003 raleigh so not expecting super light rims, just didnt want to be finding im replacing them frequently.

giropaul

Don't worry about the kit - it will take it (unless you really batter it across pave perhaps).

I'm significantly heavier than you, and ride Pinarellos and the like, without a problem. I tend to use spoked wheels, but that's more to do with my "old school" belief that best wheels are only for racing. I've used carbon Corimas for an event when I was well over 16 stone, without a problem at all.

Even though the pros are much lighter, the kit gets a real battering over pave etc, and you seldom see a broken wheel or frame except as a result of a crash.

mallorcajeff

22 stone when i stared on an alu cube road bike and mtb bike no probs what so ever now ride carbon and still over a stone havier than you.

nochekmate

15.5 stone is no worry - get yourself a road bike, get the miles in and you'll probably shed a couple of stone in no time.

This was my posiiton 3 years ago - can't seem to drop below 13 stone myself but the cycling does enable to eat like a horse! Not prepared to diet to lose additional weight.

dynamictiger

snoopsmydogg wrote:

Question is weighing in at 15.5stone am I going to be a bit heavy for ali framed road bikes? Should I stick to riding the mtb before moving across to a lightweight framed 23/25c tyred bike?
Cheers

Mate...what can I say. Sounds to me like you need a good feed. I am over 18 stone and have no issue on an entry level road bike with crappy wheels. And I certainly ain't gentle on the bike.

rick_chasey

Will be fine.

If you're worried, try to avoid wheels with a low spoke count. Beyond that, go nuts.

snoopsmydogg

Thanks for the replies, started cycling closer to 16.5st but already seeing the benefits and working towards my first goal - the great north bike ride in august.

Was supposed to pick the bike up today but thanks to a few issues I have had to leave it until later in the week

rick_chasey

snoopsmydogg wrote:

Was supposed to pick the bike up today but thanks to a few issues I have had to leave it until later in the week

Noooooooooooo..

Shame.

Seriously, don't worry about the weight. If you seem to damage your wheels more often than most (and that probably won't happen), think about getting some tougher wheels, but worrying about them won't make a blind bit of difference, so just enjoy it!

alwaystoohot

Forget weight and have fun! The weight will fall off you anyway so its only a short term issue.

Sleeping_menace

Hah.. I'm just under 18 stone, and I'm just over 6'3".. so I'm no small bloke. I've been riding alu and carbon framed road bikes for years without a problem.
My current TT bike is ALL carbon, absolutely everything .. and with all my training miles on it, I've had no problems at all. As long as you use a bit of common sense,
and don't just go for the lightest-weenie componentry, you'll be fine on any decent road bike..

snoopsmydogg

Thanks for all the replies, looks like there was no need for concern then for more than one reason. Seems there is plenty of folk riding alu/carbon frames with much lighter & better set ups and having no issues. Also turns out the frame is a chromo with a basic wheelset so possibly a bit more forgiving anyway.

All going well will be picking it up tonight

rick_chasey

snoopsmydogg wrote:

All going well will be picking it up tonight

Good stuff.

Let us know how the first ride is.

lostboysaint

Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

The answer, as correctly given by everyone else is no, you're not. I started riding again about 2 years ago and was 115kg (that's 18st something). I ride MTBs predominantly but had an aluminium framed Wilier Escape road bike with a robust set of wheels (Ambrosio Evolution on Campag Veloce with a good spoke count!).

I am now 97kg (15st 3ish) and have moved to a carbon framed Wilier Izoard Centaur in XXL flavour (I am 6'4") with Fulcrum Racing 5s and it's fantastic.

secretsqizz

My advice is to buy the best frame, groupset, wheelset you can afford.. possible not actually afford and then you are ensuring you have no money for pies.

Sleeping_menace

secretsqizz wrote:

My advice is to buy the best frame, groupset, wheelset you can afford.. possible not actually afford and then you are ensuring you have no money for pies.

--actually, that really IS good advice.. or to put it another way, allocate all of your non-life-sustaining food budget to bike bits.. you'll be a lean, mean, pedalling machine in no time )

snoopsmydogg

secretsqizz wrote:

My advice is to buy the best frame, groupset, wheelset you can afford.. possible not actually afford and then you are ensuring you have no money for pies.

good advice

was originally looking at new bikes before joining here and reading reviews etc. Plan is to get some proper road miles under my belt and then possibly upgrade to a newer model.

From the bikes tested (spesh Allez/secteur, cannondale, scott etc.) I found I was happiest on a scott speedster but once I lose a bit more weight around the middle that may change so am going to hold back on the new bike until I feel I can warrant one (or the cycle to work scheme starts again )

52Teeth

You should see some of the lycra stretching around guts in my club ( and probably every other) your well average at 15 stone I think.

snoopsmydogg

Well picked up the bike and after a quick once over couldnt wait to take it out for a short blast.

So much quicker and smoother than the mtb, even on a short bump (too small to call a hill) it went up with ease. Only issue i have is about 2 inches of the front tyre came off the rim so had to let the air out and reseat it.

Anyone know why this is? Do i need a new tyre? They are decent tyres that look to have had little or no use so cant understand it.

Oh and got to try the aldi track pump too, about half a dozen strokes and nearly 100psi in the tyre

rick_chasey

snoopsmydogg wrote:

Well picked up the bike and after a quick once over couldnt wait to take it out for a short blast.

So much quicker and smoother than the mtb, even on a short bump (too small to call a hill) it went up with ease. Only issue i have is about 2 inches of the front tyre came off the rim so had to let the air out and reseat it.

Anyone know why this is? Do i need a new tyre? They are decent tyres that look to have had little or no use so cant understand it.

Oh and got to try the aldi track pump too, about half a dozen strokes and nearly 100psi in the tyre

Sounds great apart from the tyre bit.

Never heard of that happening before.

sancho1983

lostboysaint wrote:

Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

The answer, as correctly given by everyone else is no, you're not. I started riding again about 2 years ago and was 115kg (that's 18st something). I ride MTBs predominantly but had an aluminium framed Wilier Escape road bike with a robust set of wheels (Ambrosio Evolution on Campag Veloce with a good spoke count!).

I am now 97kg (15st 3ish) and have moved to a carbon framed Wilier Izoard Centaur in XXL flavour (I am 6'4") with Fulcrum Racing 5s and it's fantastic.

Tell me your secrets! Would love to be 15st 3. I'm 6ft 5 so don't look stupid fat at 17st 4, but losing a stone and a bit would be great

snoopsmydogg

Well finally managed to get out on a short ride of about 7 miles the difference from the mtb is massive.

avg mph up by at least 2mph, shaved 17 seconds off a short 10% climb and 4 personal records on strava.

Overall one very happy bunny

Chubby Rider

Cracking work snoop.

Looking forward to getting my bike next week, trouble is I've got a lot of stones to loose before I hit your starting weight. Still it needs to be done!

p9uma

sancho1983 wrote:

lostboysaint wrote:

Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

The answer, as correctly given by everyone else is no, you're not. I started riding again about 2 years ago and was 115kg (that's 18st something). I ride MTBs predominantly but had an aluminium framed Wilier Escape road bike with a robust set of wheels (Ambrosio Evolution on Campag Veloce with a good spoke count!).

I am now 97kg (15st 3ish) and have moved to a carbon framed Wilier Izoard Centaur in XXL flavour (I am 6'4") with Fulcrum Racing 5s and it's fantastic.

Tell me your secrets! Would love to be 15st 3. I'm 6ft 5 so don't look stupid fat at 17st 4, but losing a stone and a bit would be great

Calories in, calories out. Aim to eat about 200 - 500 calories less a day, or burn an extra 200 - 500 calories a day, someone of your weight and height on that basis should lose about 1lb to 1.5 lb a week. After about 12 to 14 weeks you'll be at target weight. Go to myfitnesspal.com for a free tool to measure your calories and exercise to help you manage your food intake and fitness regime.

I'm 6ft and lost 21lb doing the above. Just cutting out the crap food and doing a bit more exercise, not much more, just walking the dogs for a bit longer and started riding my bike a bit more. You can still eat what you like, you just need to manage it.

blackhands

Tyres coming off the rim are generally due to being either under-inflated, or, have the inner tube not fully under the tyre. I would guess the former as when the tube is caught under the tyre bead and fully inflated it will most likely explode. Tyres don't stretch so that they are eventually too big for the rim, so I would suggest that unless they are perished, have cracked or damaged walls or cut up treads they will be OK. What make are they?

sancho1983

p9uma wrote:

Calories in, calories out. Aim to eat about 200 - 500 calories less a day, or burn an extra 200 - 500 calories a day, someone of your weight and height on that basis should lose about 1lb to 1.5 lb a week. After about 12 to 14 weeks you'll be at target weight. Go to myfitnesspal.com for a free tool to measure your calories and exercise to help you manage your food intake and fitness regime.

I'm 6ft and lost 21lb doing the above. Just cutting out the crap food and doing a bit more exercise, not much more, just walking the dogs for a bit longer and started riding my bike a bit more. You can still eat what you like, you just need to manage it.

Thanks, I'll check that app out.

I love food too much to go on some weird diet (which I don't think work in the long run anyway)

My plan is, initially, to cut out rubbish (which I've been doing since before Christmas) and cycle 3 times a week (about 30-40 miles in total)

I touched 18st just before Christmas, was down to 17st 5 a month ago when I started cycling more regularly (MTB) - Picked up my road bike a couple of days ago and loving it.

The weight isn't my main drive, would like to be a bit fitter, but hopefully the weight will come with it