Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - My name is ttibby and I'm a Clyde...

Hi,

I just want to say thanks to every one who took the time to post. I guess being a larger person effects you in ways you don't realize. I used to love riding when I was a teen but I hit Uni and the bike went out the window. Stayed active but gradually put on the pounds. Then slowly became less and less active. Now here I am at 165KG (365lbs). Was at 175KG and decided to do something. I started a low carb program and now I want to get more active too.

I would like to get to 115kg by next summer. If I do I promissed to take my family to Disney World in Florida. I had to do that because my wife loves me the way that I am and doesn't see the need for me too lose the weight. So I told her that I wasn't going to Disney World and watch her and Caleb, my 2 year old having all the fun. Now Florida might not be a biggy for you guys, But I am an ex-pat in Korea and it's a biggy for my wife.

I'm not technically a Clyde yet, as I am in the process of buying my bike. I'd like to know, are rock shox going to support me, or will they bottom out. The bike shop is recommending a heavy duty fork set but that adds about 300$ to the price of the bike. I'm thinking of upgrading the saddle, and the peddals but will standard shox do for a start?

I'll post more about me later. and put up some before pics as soon as I get my bike and hopefully by next may I will be half the man that I am now!

Cheers,

Ttibby

Welcome, ttiby....

I can't answer the suspension questions, since I'm a road rider, but I'm sure you'll get some answers.

By the way, you're a Clyde....


;) + 200 pounds and/or over 6 feet. ;)

Wow, that was fast, thanks Tom.

Oh yes, no doubt about it.

365lbs, 6 foot flat, 54 in shoulders, 46 in waist

Been a clyde since my freshman year of Highschool. Except I was a work horse then, recently turned into an pld grazer. But plan to change that soon!

Eric...

I had to do that because my wife loves me the way that I am and doesn't see the need for me too lose the weight.

Aren't women great? Of course she would rather you weighed 190 pounds, but she doesn't want to hurt your feelings. She sounds very sweet.

Oh, I wouldn't get too attached to a low carb diet. Low carb diets are great, because your body only has two sources of energy, carbs and body fat, and a low carb diet will cause your body to get into ketosis and burn your fat stores. Sounds great, but low carb diets only work for sedentary people. Once your bike rides go over an hour in duration, you will bonk and bonk hard. And bonking ain't fun. You will be miles from home and will suddenly feel weak, depressed and demoralized. You may even hallucinate and start barking like a dog and foam at the mouth. :p

Your weight loss adventure starts now. Party on!

Hello Eric, you might be an old grazer now, but with a bit of motivational rear kicking from the rest of the Clydes/Athenas here, we will transform you into a sleeker version!

Welcome to BikeForums!

East Hill

Welcome to the board!http://friendsforever.foren-city.de/images/smiles/a010.gif

ttibby,

Yes you could use a heavier suspension, but are you planning on riding serious off road things, or are you planning on riding roads and trails and semi-smooth surfaces. Unless you are planning on hitting pot-holes and or other large objects, you could "get by" with a lesser suspension.

My question for the LBS is: Will they warranty the suspension if it fails? Should they, yes; will they???????

Welcome to the forum!!!!!

Hey there ttibby, welcome to the forums.

Rockshox is a brand of fork like Nike is a brand of shoe. They make great forks and some not so great forks. At the 300 dollar range if I had to guess it's probably a Rockshox Reba which is a nice cross country fork. What kind of bike are you looking at? Are you looking at a full suspension squishy bike or a hardtail (front suspension only)? I would not reccomend a full suspension bike, instead I would opt for a hardtail. For about 15 dollars you can purchase a solid front fork which will handle your weight no problem, then throw the rest of the money you would have spent on the fork into a set of hand built nearly bullet proof rims. At clyde weight rims will be your biggest concern, if your not popping spokes and dealing with out of true rims all the time you will enjoy bike riding much more. Happy riding!

Bau

Hi,

I just want to say thanks to every one who took the time to post. I guess being a larger person effects you in ways you don't realize. I used to love riding when I was a teen but I hit Uni and the bike went out the window. Stayed active but gradually put on the pounds. Then slowly became less and less active. Now here I am at 165KG (365lbs). Was at 175KG and decided to do something. I started a low carb program and now I want to get more active too.

I would like to get to 115kg by next summer. If I do I promissed to take my family to Disney World in Florida. I had to do that because my wife loves me the way that I am and doesn't see the need for me too lose the weight. So I told her that I wasn't going to Disney World and watch her and Caleb, my 2 year old having all the fun. Now Florida might not be a biggy for you guys, But I am an ex-pat in Korea and it's a biggy for my wife.

I'm not technically a Clyde yet, as I am in the process of buying my bike. I'd like to know, are rock shox going to support me, or will they bottom out. The bike shop is recommending a heavy duty fork set but that adds about 300$ to the price of the bike. I'm thinking of upgrading the saddle, and the peddals but will standard shox do for a start?

I'll post more about me later. and put up some before pics as soon as I get my bike and hopefully by next may I will be half the man that I am now!

Cheers,

Ttibby

Most suspension forks are designed for those who are closer to 65kg then 165kg, unless you get into very high pressure air shocks, and those are very expensive. Realize that although mountain bikes look stronger, they often are not, most are aluminum frames, which use larger diameter and thicker tubes because aluminum frames need to be very stiff so they don't flex enough to crack, which leads to frame failure (very bad). Road bikes which are often steel, titanium or carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CF), are not as stiff, because the material flexes a little and that flex means the ride is comfortable, even without a shock, unless one is doing a lot of off road riding. Even at that most early steel mountain bikes didn't have shocks either. Although an aluminum road frame is just as beefy looking as an aluminum mountain frame.

Knobby tires and suspensions are often large scale power sinks, they can together suck up as much as 10km/h off your speed, for road riding. Very large riders are often better with non-suspension hybrids, as the upright riding position works better, until one gets back some flexibility.

If I do I promissed to take my family to Disney World in Florida. I had to do that because my wife loves me the way that I am and doesn't see the need for me too lose the weight. So I told her that I wasn't going to Disney World and watch her and Caleb, my 2 year old having all the fun. Now Florida might not be a biggy for you guys, But I am an ex-pat in Korea and it's a biggy for my wife.



Welcome.

[anti summertime Disney rant] As a Floridian, might I suggest your Disney trip in the months of Nov\Dec or Feb\Mar. Much cooler and less crowded. Don't, I repeat, don't go the week of Thanksgiving or Christmas, unless you like huge crowds, standing in line for ever and generally having a crappy time. The summer is sweltering heat and humidity with lots of rain and very crowded. Other than that you'll have a great time. Losing the weight will definitely allow you to join in the fun. [/anti summertime Disney rant]

I personally only go in Nov, Feb or early March and no more that once per year. ;)

Welcome!!

Thanks everyone, I am looking forward to telling you all my tale of thrills and spills. I don't think that I will be grannying it for too long. My motto has always been go big or stay home. I'm going to try out a couple of bikes today. We'll see how the suspension holds. I am looking into a hard tail, 2.0 tires beefing up the pedals and getting a lazy-boy for the saddle, (not ready for a wedgie-maker just yet).

Speak soon,

Ttibby...

ttbby. welcome but i would not go with a suspension systems at all on your bike. i would go for a hard tailwith a solid fork. if you get into more technical trails then a suspensions system is worth while..
does it make the bike more comfortable? debatable personally find a suspension system as not comfortable
does it rob power absolutly

Thanks everyone, I am looking forward to telling you all my tale of thrills and spills. I don't think that I will be grannying it for too long. My motto has always been go big or stay home. I'm going to try out a couple of bikes today. We'll see how the suspension holds. I am looking into a hard tail, 2.0 tires beefing up the pedals and getting a lazy-boy for the saddle, (not ready for a wedgie-maker just yet).

Speak soon,

Ttibby...

The problem isn't the suspension holding, it's that it needs to be preloaded for your weight, very few suspension forks have that much preload capacity, there may be a few really high end air forks that could take the pressure, but unlikely. The result is really four issues.

1) Without enough preload, the shock will simply bottom out, making it completely useless.
2) With the shock at the bottom of it's travel all the time, the geometry is wrong, and the bike will not handle as well as it should.
3) Some shocks will travel a little as you pedal, this robs you of pedaling power.
4) The fork adds some extra weight to the bike, usually 1kg or more.

The best saddles are not the soft cushy ones, but instead the hard ones, the saddle supports using the ischial tuberosity sometimes called the sit bones, which are the part of the pelvic bone below the hip joint. The width of these bones and the width of ones derrier are not related, some people have a narrow derrier and wide bones, other people have very narrow bones, with a wide derrier. The best saddle is wide enough to support the bones, but not too wide.

Soft saddles will squish down where the bones are, but not between the bones, and in men, that can can put pressure on blood vessels in the perineum, which can result in, at best sleeping private parts. You know how when the cat lays on your leg for too long, and you try to get up, your foot is asleep, well this is the same kind of thing, but it's your, er private parts. If it ever happens, you will know it, and not want it to happen again. Hard saddles that support the sit bones are best, in that they don't have this problem. This is why many touring cyclists, and long distance riders like Brooks saddles.....