Strong bikes for heavy person

anthbear
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Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby anthbear » Mon Oct 29, 2018 9:48 pm

I'm not sure if this has been asked and I'm sorry if it has. I am looking for a bike that is able to handle 190kg. I just found out my specialized roll sport has a weight limit of 136kg so I'm in the "ride at own risk" department.
I'm looking at flat bar or hybrid as I live in the mountains and need the gears for hills.
I won't be off roading.

brumby33
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby brumby33 » Mon Oct 29, 2018 10:47 pm

Always a tough call but yeah 190KG is a lot of weight for possibly even a fully fledged touring bike could handle over the medium term.....rims and spokes could be compromised under such weight.....
But I must say congratulations on wanting to take charge of your life and do something for your health.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest something that may be a bit costly, out of the ordinary but could be the best investment you'll ever make....a Cargo bike and an Electric one at that....


An E Cargo bike will possibly deal with your weight as they are built to carry cargo, the electric assist will help your knees till you get fit but you'll still have to pedal so you still get the exercise..


Something like this: https://www.glowwormbicycles.com.au/col ... ubamundov5

I know you may not want such a bike but it may be the only one that can support your weight...plus allowing the electric drive to assist your knees til you get some fitness...plus you can do your shopping on the bike to the fruit and veggie store.

Best I could advise at this point...someone else might have a better idea.

Good luck with it mate....keep on keeping on!!

Cheers

brumby33
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Thoglette
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby Thoglette » Tue Oct 30, 2018 12:56 am

brumby33 wrote:I'm going to stick my neck out here and
...have it chopped straight off. :P :P :P :mrgreen:

The bike you have is fine. Get out there and ride it. And stop worrying.

FWIW This has been discussed three times in the last six months. Click through to each thread for the discussion.
Newbie heavy rider looking for suggestions
Need help pruchasing a bike 150kg rider
Commuter for a Super Heavyweight (150kg+)

In a nutshell, standard bikes are fine but cheap (machine made) wheels can be a bit dodgy however there's plenty of places to get stronger ones.

For reference, Ernest Gagnon weighed 570lbs (236kg) and rode standard CX bikes
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OnTrackZeD
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby OnTrackZeD » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:40 am

Thoglette wrote:
brumby33 wrote:I'm going to stick my neck out here and
...have it chopped straight off. :P :P :P :mrgreen:

The bike you have is fine. Get out there and ride it. And stop worrying.
Second that, just get out and ride. When the time comes just get stronger wheels and keep going.

ark
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby ark » Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:56 am

Ive just started riding a month ago, weighing in at 140kg. I know its a slightly different category but the lessons i learned*

- Wider wheels with lots of spokes
- Most manufacturers wont warrant frames for riders over 120Kg - most frames will hold up though
- Some people will tell you mountain bikes are what you need - for me, this was not correct.
- do not curb hop - no matter how good your wheels are, they wont handle it.
- padded shorts - definitely a worthwhile investment. At your size you pretty much ahve a choice of aerotech or fat lad at the back. I now wear aerotech bib shorts under a pair of regular shorts and a t-shirt. I feel ridiculous, but much more comfortable.
- the seat looks narrow. that is ok. go with it, your seatbones are not wider than a thin persons.

Good luck and enjoy.

*All this advice may not be perfect - ive only been riding for 5 weeks :)

Calvin27
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby Calvin27 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:28 am

On a side note, I've never heard of a specialized roll sport - they look quite nice.
Heavy road bike
Cushy dirt bike
Very cushy dirt bike
Bike crushed by car (RIP)
No brakes bike
Ebike

RobertL
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby RobertL » Tue Oct 30, 2018 11:34 am

Yes - manufacturers will not warrant their frames for someone your weight, but frames are really tough and should be ok.

Wheels may be a problem. I had a wheel fail on me when I was around 105kg, but it was a cheap and nasty thing. So you may have to get better, stronger wheels. The good news is that they are out there - after all they make wheels for tandem bicycles - and swapping wheels over is an easy thing to do.

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Cycleops70
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby Cycleops70 » Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:00 pm

RobertL wrote: Wheels may be a problem. I had a wheel fail on me when I was around 105kg,
I'm around 95Kg & the original wheels that came with my Defy started to crack around the spokes. I replaced them with Fulcrum.
It may be worth considering getting some wheels built by a wheel builder.

I'd probably wait till the originals start to show signs of stress first. No need to throw money at it if it's not broke.

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find_bruce
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby find_bruce » Tue Oct 30, 2018 4:41 pm

Look for tandem wheels with high spoke counts - 36, 40 or 48 spokes. They are designed to take that sort of weight.

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DavidS
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby DavidS » Tue Oct 30, 2018 9:04 pm

I've broken a couple of frames, was probably 115Kg then, now around 95. I am just a big build.

However, when people say frames are tough, they are right. Both were aluminium frames, one was a little small (get the right size) and both took 21,000KMs to break so it did take a while. They are tough.

As for wheels, I have Pro-Lite Como tandem and have gone from breaking spokes with ridiculous regularity (weekly sometimes) to not breaking spokes at all, none have broken on these wheels on 2 bikes.

I don't know which frames are stronger but I did buy a steel framed bike, we'll see how long it lasts.

I would seriously think about a flat bar roady unless you need a mountain bike. You can get a decent gear range and the riding position is not as aggressive as a drop bar. I reckon with your weight you will need to replace the wheels, they really will need to be better than you normally get as standard with a bike.

DS
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uart
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby uart » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:24 am

anthbear wrote:I'm not sure if this has been asked and I'm sorry if it has. I am looking for a bike that is able to handle 190kg. I just found out my specialized roll sport has a weight limit of 136kg so I'm in the "ride at own risk" department.
I'm looking at flat bar or hybrid as I live in the mountains and need the gears for hills.
I won't be off roading.
Bike frames are pretty strong, particularly if you're not taking them off road or gutter hopping. As others have already mentioned, wheels are the most important at your weight.

From the Roll Sport specifications on Specialized's site:
CASSETTE Shimano Tourney freewheel, 7-speed, 14-34t
I'm not sure if I'm misreading this, but that sounds like a screw on cluster (old school) rather than an actual cassette.

Anyway, make sure you get something with a proper freebody/cassette and not a screw on freewheel. The rear axle is very much stronger (due to the bearing placement). When loaded with rear panniers I used to often bend rear axles with the old style freewheels, but that stopped immediately when I changed to the cassette style (about 25 years ago).

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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby AUbicycles » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:33 am

I am going to put in another vote for 'just ride'. It is fantastic that you are getting on with it and like many others here, it takes time but will pay off. And once you discover the joy and leave any worries an concerns behind, this will further increase motivation.

On the current bike, it is an aluminium frame and generally the two issues that affect a frame are fatigue over time or a shock/force that stresses the frame. Both of these work in your favour if it is a new bike and if you are not being rough.

As others have suggested, a more common issue is with the wheels but I would wait and see. If anything happened it would likely be individual spokes breaking and that is a good sign to either get your wheels laced up to be bomb proof or potentially, go for robust rims and spokes.

Happy Trails!


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anthbear
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Re: Strong bikes for heavy person

Postby anthbear » Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:56 pm

Thank you all for the help and encouragement, much appreciated.

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