General: Am I too damn fat?

I recently started riding again after taking a few years off... I sold my bikes a few years ago for bills( a mistake) I recently bought a fixer upper bike and was wondering if I may be too damn big to ride it without bending the wheelset thats on there. I bought it and bent an axle, although i think it was bent before,I think they are alex or araya something cheap. I'm about 6'4 and 280 lbz.... and im just tryin to get back on a bike and trim my shit up for the summer
If theres any other big guys out there it would be good to hear back from some of you, just looking for some feedback, and im kinda bored sitting on my fatass at work so i though i would ask

Yeah thats kinda what i was thinkin, ill just be gentle with it i was hopin it wasnt that i was big i used to ride at about 200-220lbz and thought i was past the point of return. thanks for the feedback

Go with at least 25C tires to absorb impacts.

Yeah i was thinking about some 29ers i dont have a hard time stoppin unless im bombin ass down some hills, i think im good for brakes i might look into gettin a diff tire on the back tho thanks again all

another quick question what wheelset do you guys recommend? i have some panaracer tires that have hardly been ridden on they seem decent... i like the look of the h plus sons/deep v/or the dp 18s. i plan on slimmin down over the summer and get into riding again and would like a decent looking set thats worth the money(and i know that everyone and their dog has some sort of deep v)

yeah thats kind of what i figured im just thinkin in the future... after the summer helps me sweat off this extra weight

Just crack and this thing i learned about called bulimia? no i mean like 4-5 months away hopin to trim about 10lbs a month im starting to ride about 6 miles a day to work and eatin better ya know the whole deal

Alright so im gonna be fat for a while... most of me is just shitty eating and my job im tied to a desk all day so im hopin to lose some weight ive lost 5lbs this week so far so this week but i know how that water weight goes first... anyway just tryin to be active

Yeah i got a 10 month old at home so its like up at 5:30 and by the time i get home its daddy time(i am gettin a bike trailer however so me and the little man can roll) and then its dinner, lil tv and lights out. I used to have a job where i was on my feet moving around all day but now i am imprisoned in a cube. I am hoping that riding to work and skipping out on the fast food and tryin to eat healthy.

Yeah and its been months since ive been on a bike the winter's here are pretty vicious and i started a new job recently thats not too far from my house so i just recently started riding after pickin up an older panasonic for cheap off of craigs

brown rice + veggies for a week straight + water. clean you out for real.

i saw this and i had to laugh http://www.dutchbikeseattle.com/html/bikes/bakfiets_5.html

if only i had 3g's to burn.... im gonna look into the top tube idea if anybody knows of where i could find one that would be sweet thanks all

Here yah go (with reviews)
The mount attaches directly to the stem and the seat just connects to the mount. Super easy to put on and take off, safe as can be, waaaay easier for riding than a traditional trailer, and honestly if I'm gonna eat shit for some reason while my kid's on the bike I want him as close to me as possible. Good old dad arms ftw! I had a trailer for a while and it just sketched me out. Like the kid's riding way below the line of sight for other cars so what's to stop some bastard from peeling around a corner too quick thinking the "dumb ass cyclist" in front of him is already far enough ahead.
Anyways, highly recommended.

yeah thats what i was kinda thinkin my lady thinks it would be "scary as hell" but i much rather have him in between my hands then 6 feet behind me she says that the bike trailers have flags but i like the look of this i have some pretty standard drops on my bike right now and im having some issues with the chain so i might look into gettin a cheapo bike that i could put this on for when i ride with him. thanks again

For wheels, if you're going road bike, I'd go with Shimano Ultegra hubs, Mavic CXP-33 rims, 36-spoke, 3-cross pattern.

If they're built by a good wheelsmith, and you use 25C tires, they should hold you.

Posted By: wes m.Why the hell would they make it out of hi-ten?

Why don't they make truck frames out of Cr-Mo? 1020 steel gets a bad rap, but for most applications it works just fine. With a cargo bike weight and responsiveness is not a concern, so chromoly would only make the bike cost more. It would not be any stronger, unless it were made out of the same wall thickness tubing chromoly as the 1020 steel they are using, which would negate any weight savings. Yes chromoly is stronger than 1020 steel, but what makes it "lighter" is that you use less of it.

Normally I would say yes get an old Schwinn but a bike like that is only good for cruising around on. Training/losing weight on that bike would get old real fast. It got old fast when I had my Super Sport and it was chromoly and it had aluminum rims. Certain comforts and conveniences like indexed shifting will make you want to ride to the point of discomfort that you need to experience to get in shape. I also wouldn't ride anything but aluminum rims, and as long as what your are using has 36 spokes and is meant for an off-road bike, a cyclocross bike, a tandem, or is a velocity Deep-V you won't be trashing wheels.

Look for the book Heft on Wheels, it's a great motivator, and would be very helpful with whaty you are trying to do.

Posted By: LoneWolf15For wheels, if you're going road bike, I'd go with Shimano Ultegra hubs, Mavic CXP-33 rims, 36-spoke, 3-cross pattern.

If they're built by a good wheelsmith, and you use 25C tires, they should hold you.

Generally speaking, this is a reasonable approach; but I'm going to quibble on specifics.

The longer the rear axle is, the more spacing there is between the bearings at the ends of the axle; and so, the stress dissipates over a wider area-you're less likely to bend the axle. That's part of the reason mountain hubs are 135mm, while road hubs are 130mm; 135mm will take rougher treatment. Tandem hubs, which take even more weight/torque, are 140mm.

Ultegra is a 130mm road hub. You might be better off having your rear dropouts cold-set (assuming they're steel - and you should be riding steel) to 135mm, and having the rear wheel you'll inevitably have to have built up based on a 135mm Shimano LX or XT mountain hub.

LoneWolf's point about having a wheel handbuilt by a wheelsmith that knows what he's doing is key. Consider this example: I built this bike for my best friend about six months ago. He's a more extreme example of the issue you describe: About 6'5", between 300 and 350 pounds, depending on how much he's riding. Historically, the part that's suffered the most on every bicycle he's owned is the rear wheel; he breaks spokes on factory-built wheels like they were breadsticks. Even on cheapster beaters, he's eventually had to have rear wheels handbuilt - 36-spoke, 3/4-cross, 135mm heavy-duty mountain hubs. For the bike I put together, the key component was the handbuilt rear wheel, which has a Salsa Delgado 29er rim (wider, ruggedized mountain style) and a Sturmey-Archer drum-brake hub (ruggedized 'cause there's a brake inside it). As it was originally handbuilt for another Clydesdale rider, it was designed to handle all the weight and force a big guy can put on the system, which is a lot more than a medium-sized guy can do.

If you ride with enough regularity to lose weight and keep it off, you'll eventually trash your rear wheel. Start saving for a custom wheel now. If you go into your local bike shop and ask, they'll be able to make sound recommendations for a wheel that'll handle your weight, and stand up to the stresses you put on it. They'll probably even give you a deal to build it up; it's a relationship thing.

Second quibble: If your seatstays are spaced wide enough to handle it, wider tires are much more comfortable. 28mm good; 32mm better. Spreading the dropouts for a wider hub will help with tire clearance.

Comfort may seem like a petty thing, and it certainly doesn't evince much respect from bike nerds. Past a certain point of riding discipline, pain is a motivator, and there's a whole athletics ideology that goes along with pain (feel the burn; no pain, no gain; are these people nuts?). But you have to get to that point of ride discipline through repetition, transforming cycling from a choice into an instinct. Until you get to that point, pain/discomfort actively discourages you from riding - nobody likes to undergo short-term pain, not even for the promise of a long-term payoff. And the further off the payoff is, the less appetizing the short-term discomfort becomes. Make sure you set your bike up so it doesn't hurt to ride, and then you'll ride more. For weight loss and weight/health maintenance, the key thing is consistency; hit the bike every single day, even if it's just for a mile or two.

Of course I'm referring to weight.

sounds gay.
convert your bike.

Posted By: The_Awakeningsounds gay.
convert your bike.

Knock it off. And grow up.

What makes you think that geared bikes are any "gayer" than fixed-speeds? Around my area, fixed-speed fashion leans heavily towards the New York Dolls, circa 1973; while geared riders fit into the visual categories of geezer/hardcore roadie/he-man offroad/street person. I have no idea what the sexual tastes of any of these people are; but I know which one plays to the "gay" stereotype.

And isn't it just like a religious fanatic to prescribe his own faith as the solution to all problems, regardless of the nature of the problem? The OP has real issues: He's trying to get healthy, he's got a beater, he's worried about the damage his weight will do to the bike, he's trying to figure out how to minimize the damage both to the bike and his body, he has limits on the time/money he can invest. Demanding that he "convert (his) bike" doesn't address his issues any better than demanding that he "come to Jesus" would.

If you think that fixed-speed conversion is the answer to all bicycle questions, I submit that either you're not listening to the question, or you don't actually care what the question is. You're just looking for an excuse to prescribe your patent-medicine recommendation for all bicycle ailments.

Ah thats funny shit thats my brother bein a pain in the ass, i like the single speed for now ill have pics up of my s.o.b. still workin on fixin out wtf is going on with the back axel don't know if its fucked again or what... pretty sure the wheel is true... i think.... rides like shit for now

You don't have to get Velocity Deep Vs in bright trendy colors, they are available in black and silver. They are good wheels , very strong and they stay true even with abuse. I weigh 210 lbs. and ride off curbs, and bunnyhop manhole covers, ride on shitty pothole-laden roads, etc. and in a year I have trued my wheels once, not long after building them. You can make fun of fixed gear fashion all you want, but Velocity's became popular because they are a quality rim.

Steel rims go out of true just as bad as aluminum rims. The only thing they will do is slow you down.

I wouldn't go cheap if I were you (which I was at one point, having been 6'3 and 320lbs). I can't compare to the other sets, but I've got two sets of deep v's (one to dura ace, one to formula), and they hold up exceptionally well to the amount of abuse I subject them to.

I'm a big guy as well, fluctuating between 220 to 240, and I ride at least 35-40 miles round trip on my daily commute. This is also being done on Houston roads, which are far from optimal, if not flat out fucked in many areas.

I think the best testament to their strength so far would be the instance where I rear ended a jeep that had cut me off, then slammed on his brakes. I had barely had time to reach for and squeeze the front brake when my front wheel hit his bumper straight on. I endo'd and whipped to the left, but got up with both myself and my bike nearly unscathed (a few scuffs on myself). The wheels are still spinning true as can be to this day.

for your first set, i'd just buy a factory wheel. that wheelset will end up costing you $400 or so.