A good mate of mine (who I’ve mentioned on here before) has now lost a significant amount of weight and is knocking on the door of 20 stone. I have accepted that my suggestions that cycling is a great way to stay fit are falling on deaf ears but this is largely down to his negative experiences of cycling in the past (when heavier) involving bikes collapsing and failing under him and leading to potential peril. From what he’s said it sounds like these previous rides were assembled by a well-known-bicycle-retailer and one might uncharitably jump to the conclusion that that was to blame more than his own weight, although that was obviously a contributor.

Out of interest I was just wondering if there was anyone on here who would care to state they were in that weight range and happily cycling along without the bike folding underneath them? As I say I don’t think I’ll ever convince him to throw a leg over (and nor would I want to against his will!) but if he can see that there are regular cyclists “like him” it would provide reassurance that it can at least be done because at the moment he believes it isn’t just anathema, but actually an impossibility!

There’s a bloke on here called Ton who’s been riding since penny farthings were invented.
The clue’s in his name. 😆

Indeed so, I have been on here a while y’know 😉

Not that I have any clue as to anyone’s vital statistics despite the username hints!! It would’ve been rude for me to draw any conclusions and tannoy anyone to the forum 😀

There are lots of stories out there e.g. clicky

I’d have thought that 20 stone is well within a reasonable bike’s capability. I’m 83kg so not exactly light so with a toddler on a child seat we must have been getting into that region.

Probably not a good idea to go jumping, but wheels on the ground should be fine.

Might be worth dropping Cy@cotic an email as he does the engineering calcs for his bikes?

^^^ Ton makes no secret of his manliness , if you look through his profile /activity there’s a wealth of experience and knowledge on bikes for the fuller gentleman .

More roadie oriented I know, but Fat Lad At the Back cater for the circumferentially challenged, and there were some big boys and girls on a variety of bikes at their sportives last week. Often have tips and ideas on their website/blog etc.

They also encourage social ride groups to get more people riding. Search the Let’s Ride website or Facebook for any FLAB Social Rides or Facebook groups locally

I’m their Derby Flambassador, just to state my interest.

I was that sort of weight. Never had an issue on any of my bikes. Never broke one anyway, despite my best efforts.

To be fair though, I’ve never had a crap bike though or done anything on it that it really shouldn’t have been doing, eg 6ft drop offs on a step through shopper. (I’ve never owned a step through shopper BTW.)

What bike did he break and what was he doing on it at the time?

20st won’t worry the vast majority of decent bikes, save for ultra light stuff. It will flex a bit, & for me I’d trust steel & Carbon over alloy. Think I’ve been 18st kitted up at times & not noticed an issue. You end up running rear shocks at high pressure, especially single pivots like my Five, the bounciest FS around. 🙂

Been there done that on a anumber of occasions. Started riding a fair few years ago at 17 stone on a Coyote HT5 hardtail, dropped to 14 stone and happy with my progress. For one reason and another ballooned to 21 stone, decided i couldn’t let myself carry on as i was so started riding again. Down to 19 stone, bought a Heckler frame,transferred the parts and rode that for a while.

Got down to 16 stone, bought a Trek Remedy frame, transferred the parts again then tore a ligament in my ankle. Ballooned again to 19.5 stone through no exercise and comfort eating. Sold the Remedy as i didn’t use it at all due to my ankle. Ankle nearly healed but not enough to hit the mountains yet. I now have a Norco Threshold so i can ride on the road to try and get back in shape ready for the mountains while saving for another mtb, but that will be another thread. Currently weigh 17.5 stone.

I have listed the bikes i ride/have ridden to show from my experience it doesn’t matter what i rode, all performed flawlessly and i never had any issues. I still have my HT5 frame in the garage.

Hope this helps your friend, it can be a hard journey but i found that with good mates and having a good time it becomes more about enjoyment rather than trying to impress the masses on strava.

Good luck and enjoy the bimble ??

You guys are great, thanks. I doubt he’d ever be getting into anything “serious”, a basic rigid hybrid maybe for said bimbling if anything. As I say I am sure it was more about how poorly the “Carrera” (we’ll say it was a Carrera shall we?) rigid MTB he had was set up. Chain slipping when trying to go uphill, slipped off pedals, face into bars apparently. But to him it was that he was too heavy for these bits of machinery to cope, rather than the inability of someone to set them up competently (which you could argue was “him” of course). Then the paranoia that the wheels are going to fold under you etc etc… He’s come a long way and as I’ve said in another post, I am incredibly proud of him. Whether he actually ever rides a bike again is by the by, but seeing that normal people of a comparable dimension happily do normal things like ride a bike (although he considers it perverted and wrong but I’m working on him, haha) can only help. Thanks again 🙂

Yup, I weigh about that much. Got an arkose which I haven’t killed yet, and a canyon nerve.

Stock arkose wheels have now been upgraded to take me + luggage off road, seem to be coping fine. The nerve is 100% stock.

I might kill the frame a bit earlier than some, but both bikes are over 3 years old and don’t owe me anything.

A couple of points so bear with me.

At my heaviest I was 21st. I was riding an awful BSO to work and back. I dropped to 17st through cutting out crap food and pushing the intensity of the commute. I’ve since had a selection of bikes, mostly custom builds with an emphasis of sturdy but not overly so, and now ride single speed on middle weight components. I’ve yet to break anything that wasn’t user error. Except an Orange P7, which I ripped the both rear dropouts out of the frame off a 1 foot step. User error my arse.

A mate was 24st when he started riding to work. He rode JOGLE in a respectable time weighing 19st three years later.

As long as the bike was reasonable quality and put together right there shouldn’t be any issues at all. He’s not going to be riding a carbon frame featherweight with 20 spoke wheels. The gears slipping on his previous bike was down to setup not his weight.

A fast and powerful 14 stone rider will put a bike under just as much or more load than a 20 stone beginner – ke=1/2mv^2 and f=ma etc…

Even cheap bikes have to be strong to meet modern regulations – but being correctly assembled is critical!

A big colleague at work bought what looked like an OK bike from the same retailer. He thought the back disc brake kept dragging, but we actually found it was the rear axle bending and binding the wheel bearings (screw on freewheel so axle bearings a long way inboard).

Now has a rigid 1×10 Pinnacle Ramin 29er with decent freehub wheels which he loves (and also lost a heap of weight). Good simple bikes are available at sensible prices.

I’m just on the lettuce eater side of 20 stone and have had plenty of bikes without issue. Currently favouring burlier, longer travel hardtails with wide rims and tyres. Sort him a bike and show him some fun stuff you think he can manage and more importantly, he can enjoy.

20st on most bikes is fine, unless the manufacturers state a weight limit below that.
i am 21st and a bit at present. riding a cube 29” hardtail and a surly ogre. for piece of mind the surly would win, but the cube feels better offroad. fast and light riding.

oh, and i have been to 24st, and was still riding whatever i liked.

tell him not to worry.

I was up at 136kg when i bought my bikes though im now down to 113kg. I have/had a Marin XB-19 hardtail, Specialized Enduro 29er (Ok with suspension pressure pretty much maxed out) and a Specialized Fatboy and all ok at 136kg (which would be about 21.5 stone). All handled plenty of rough treatment no issues at all.

Niall

Tandems are designed to cope with far more. Wheels are the weak point. A good set of 36H hand built wheels will be all he needs. For a mountain bike I’d recommend the unfashonable 26″ wheels because they are stronger. In fact some 26″ wheeled tandems, including mine, use normal wheels/hubs.

And good on him. I am always in awe of such people when out riding and always say hi and offer encouragement.

I’m 17 stone and the only trouble I’ve had is standard wheels going out of true. Over the years, I’ve bought 2 sets of hand built wheels from Harry Rowlands and not had in issue since.

They weigh more than standard, but that’s not really an issue :-).

Fit them from new, sell the originals and the cost to replace them is negligible.

Sure, I’d like minimum spoke, blingy wheels, but that ain’t gonna happen.

For a mountain bike I’d recommend the unfashonable 26″ wheels because they are stronger

Personal experience? is that this is a classic don’t know what they are talking about view

Had the same crap from a well respected LBS

32 hole hubs a re fine, narrow rims increase the chances of punctures or rim dings, tubeless is recommended, freehubs can be a weak point, old hope xc alloy axles bent, but hope pro2 is problem free

For a big guy 29er all the way, rolls better, fits better, builds confidence better

Yeah 20 and then some, not had an issue with any bike road CX or MTB.

29 all the way for proper big blokes.
And a wheel strength comes from the build not from the rim size.

tell him to look out for a second hand surly pugsley

I’m fat and so are my bikes

a fat bike will give him more confidence on some trials, and they are quite slimming too !!!!!