How Much Weight Can My Bike Carry?

Just wondering how much weight I can carry on my bike. It's got 700x25c
tyres and £30 ish Rigida rims. I'm a skinny type at 12 stone ish so
probably worrying about nothing but don't want to load it up and break a
spoke in the middle of nowhere.

Mark Thompson wrote:
Just wondering how much weight I can carry on my bike. It's got 700x25c
tyres and £30 ish Rigida rims. I'm a skinny type at 12 stone ish so
probably worrying about nothing but don't want to load it up and break a
spoke in the middle of nowhere.

Whether a spoke breaks or not will depend on how well the wheel has been
tensioned and stress relieved more than the weight you put on it.

Tony

Lots! In the fifties the French were defeated by the North Vietnamese and
most of their equipment and supplies were carried by bikes! Admittedly very
strong ones but none the less bikes.

Previous poster has it right. Spoke breakage is about the quality of the
materials used and just who built it! Also correct loading of weight is
important, i.e. low and balanced.

Lots! In the fifties the French were defeated by the North Vietnamese
and most of their equipment and supplies were carried by bikes!
Admittedly very strong ones but none the less bikes.

Previous poster has it right. Spoke breakage is about the quality of
the materials used and just who built it! Also correct loading of
weight is important, i.e. low and balanced.

Fantastic. Cheers guys.

(ps N Vietnamese Vs French: did anyone see Dads Army last night with
the cannon and the onions?)

About 6 stone, well-balanced, IF your wheels were well-built.

You COULD carry more but it gets difficult to handle the bike of the
load is more than half your weight.

--
Helen D. Vecht:
Edgware.

Mark Thompson wrote:
Just wondering how much weight I can carry on my bike. It's got 700x25c
tyres and £30 ish Rigida rims. I'm a skinny type at 12 stone ish so
probably worrying about nothing but don't want to load it up and break a
spoke in the middle of nowhere.

The frame will never bend - it is incredibly rigid in a vertical
direction. Whether the wheels will take it depends how well they were
built and what the spoke tension is. Stainless spokes tend to last a
lot better than "rustless" ones, and double butted spokes are more
resilient when you hit a big pothole.

Wider tyres would allow you to run a lower pressure, which would absorb
more road shock.

Zog The Undeniable opined the following...
The frame will never bend - it is incredibly rigid in a vertical
direction.

However the increased shock loads will promote fracture in an Aluminium
frame. If in doubt (And it is possible to do so!) contact the
manufacturer. Also bear in mind that you'll need to spread the weight
fore and aft. The most heavily loaded ride I've done recently (15kg +
me) turned my bike into an animal. If I tried to stand it nearly fell
over, and any corners turned into a slalom with the tail end flailing
behind me. I also discovered that if I got off the bike and lightly
tapped the underside of the handlebars, I could make it stand on end!

Jon

However the increased shock loads will promote fracture in an Aluminium
frame. If in doubt (And it is possible to do so!) contact the
manufacturer. Also bear in mind that you'll need to spread the weight
fore and aft. The most heavily loaded ride I've done recently (15kg +
me) turned my bike into an animal. If I tried to stand it nearly fell
over, and any corners turned into a slalom with the tail end flailing
behind me. I also discovered that if I got off the bike and lightly
tapped the underside of the handlebars, I could make it stand on end!

Fantastic. Just got the panniers (and they're *huge*) so will have a go
and see if mine can do it too ) Fortunately it's a chromoly frame so it
should be ok - just the spokes to worry about.

About 6 stone, well-balanced, IF your wheels were well-built.

You COULD carry more but it gets difficult to handle the bike of the
load is more than half your weight.

Yippee I can load up 10 stone of camping gear that means I can take the
family frame tent! :-)

In all seriousness, I did the C2C ride with around 40lbs of gear and me
weighing in at 20 stone or so on a 'free to good home' Raleigh Equipe 12
speed racer. I was more concerned about frame flex than wheel flex but the
bike and wheels survived the ordeal. I'd not repeat the experience again
though as the hills were murder on a double ringed bike.

The bike is now happily scurrying around Otley's environs piloted by a much
lighter rider.

vernon levy opined the following...
Yippee I can load up 10 stone of camping gear that means I can take the
family frame tent! :-)

Just planning to invest in some cmaping gear, with a view to cycling to
the York Rally. Current estimate for total weight of camping stuff is
about 7kg. With 10 stone, I dread to think what I could take with me, or
how long it'd take to get up any hills.

Jon