Weight Considerations: Road Vs. Mountain

Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads, I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.

Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads, I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Touring bikes have stronger wheel bearings and larger tyres tan normal
road bikes so that they can carry heavy panniers and luggage. Something
like a Dawes Galaxy may suit you.

--
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Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html

There are plenty of folks 240+ who ride road bikes. Heck there is at
least one Tour de France rider at 200+ lbs.

wrote:
Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads,

Depends on the bike. MTB load capacity is often limited by their
shocks.

I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

Not at all. The main thing heavier riders need to concertn themselves
with (on any kind of bike) is the wheels. Well-built 36-spoke wheels
will be adequate for riders much heavier than you. On a road bike, I
would recommend looking for one that can accommodate 700x28c tires
(some racing bikes don't have enough clearance for tires that wide).

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Many bike tourists put a total load of 300 or more pounds on their
bikes. Tandems support even more. It's all about the wheels and tires.

RichC

rdclark wrote:
wrote:

I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

Not at all. The main thing heavier riders need to concertn themselves
with (on any kind of bike) is the wheels. Well-built 36-spoke wheels
will be adequate for riders much heavier than you. On a road bike, I
would recommend looking for one that can accommodate 700x28c tires
(some racing bikes don't have enough clearance for tires that wide).
This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.


I'm 220lbs and happily ride 32 spoke wheels on my road and mountain
bikes and I have 23mm road tyres that perform quite adequately. So you
don't need anything special for that weight.


--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

wrote:

Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads, I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.


It depends entirely on what you want.

I'd suggest visiting the LBSs in your area and trying both types out...
mountain and road.

I'm a big rider as well and like some degree of comfort from a bike so I
like the mountain bike with their larger tires (I don't run knobbies)
and suspension. I run Continental Town & Country tires, have front
suspension and a suspension seat post on my mountain bike this is
primarly used in an urban environment.

wrote...
Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads, I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.


Road bike frames are more than capable of carrying a 240lb rider, the two
critical issues are going to be tires and wheels. Most road racing bikes
come with 700 x 23C tires (that's ~28 inches diameter x almost 1 inch wide),
which require fairly careful handling by riders much smaller than yourself.
They are very prone to pinch flats (tube is pinched between a hard object
and the rim, as when riding over broken pavement, curbs, potholes) unless
they are kept inflated to a fairly high pressure, and they require fairly
regular reinflating with a floor pump to keep them at that pressure. Touring
bikes and hybrid bikes usually come with wider tires, anywhere from 700x28
to 700x37 or wider (that's ~28" x 1 1/8" to 1 1/2"). Careful shopping might
find you a road racing bike that will accommodate tires that wide.

Making a strong, durable bicycle wheel requires, along with good quality
components, a certain amount of skilled hand labor. This is where entry
level mountain and road bikes frequently fall short. A good bike shop can
make up for this by stress relieving and truing the wheels before they sell
you the bike, but this will cost the bike shop money. Expect to pay a little
extra for a bike that is prepared this carefully, but expect to save at
least as much in spoke replacements and general aggravation further down the
road.

More expensive road and mountain bikes can be equipped with low spoke count
( 28 spokes) wheels, wheels with bladed spokes, etc., etc., for better
aerodynamics and weight savings at a pretty high cost in dependability and
ease of maintenance, but something tells me you're not looking at this price
level anyway.
--
mark

"John Burns" wrote
Touring bikes have stronger wheel bearings and larger tyres tan normal
road bikes so that they can carry heavy panniers and luggage. Something
like a Dawes Galaxy may suit you.

Could you direct the OP to a Dawes dealer in Staten Island, N.Y.?
--
mark

Tony Raven wrote:
rdclark wrote:
wrote:

I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

Not at all. The main thing heavier riders need to concertn themselves
with (on any kind of bike) is the wheels. Well-built 36-spoke wheels
will be adequate for riders much heavier than you. On a road bike, I
would recommend looking for one that can accommodate 700x28c tires
(some racing bikes don't have enough clearance for tires that wide).
This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.


I'm 220lbs and happily ride 32 spoke wheels on my road and mountain
bikes and I have 23mm road tyres that perform quite adequately. So you
don't need anything special for that weight.

I would still recommend buying a bike with sufficient tire clearance
for 28's. To need it and discover you don't have it would be
unpleasant.

As for spoke count, heck, I weigh 215 and have one bike with 24/28
spoke wheels (not the ones I commute on, though). I know it can be
done. But there's a difference between what I'm willing to risk for
myself vs what I'm willing to recommend to a newbie.

RichC

Wrote:
Can I get opinions on what the maximum weight is a person should be
before road bikes become a bad idea?

Since mountain bikes are better suited for carry heavier loads, I was
trying to get an idea of how heavy is too heavy when it comes to Road
bikes? Is 240lbs too heavy?

This concerns street riding and nothing extreme.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
If you want an upright riding position, I would suggest a
hybrid/comfort bike, and most of those would happily hold 240. My
Giant Sedona DX carries 300+ and did carry 365 until I lost some
weight. 1900 miles with no real mechanical problems. One flat is the
only non-scheduled maintenance.

I told someone else about my experience in a forum, and he just bought
a Sedona ST which he likes so far, and he weighs about 400. (He kept
the cost lower and avoided the front shock and got wheels with a higher
spoke count).

My guess is that almost any but the exotic 26" wheels would hold up
well for a large rider, due to the smaller diameter and wider tires.
Of course, as others have suggested, I would be comfortable with a 700C
wheel as long as the spoke count was = 32 and would handle a wide tire.

I am looking at moving to a pure road bike next season, and I am
looking at bikes like have been suggested to you by some, and that is a
touring bike. A couple of specific bikes I am looking at are the
Cannondale T800 and the Trek 520. Anything with a relaxed geometry
lugged for racks (which I will use more as I lose more weight) and
capable of nice meaty touring tires is what I am hoping to get into at
about the weight you are, and I expect it to hold up just fine. My
objective for a road bike is to ride a couple of organized centuries
next year...

Bicycling Magazine had a story on large riders in one of the recent
issues that you may find interesting.

Even though there are bikes built specifically for larger riders, I
find that they are too pricey for my taste.


--
dgregory57