Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - buying advice, fatso

I searched around, didn't spot much about my question.....

I had surgery about five months ago, and it screwed with my metabolism enough so that I put on a bunch of weight. I'm 6'3" and about 260, and now I'm healthy enough again to start thinking about getting on a bike to shed some of this girth.

Here's my ideal bike:

I would like a single speed that is built like a tank, and I don't give a crap if it weighs 50 pounds, as long as it is strong enough not to go having any problems like broken spokes or bent rims, etc. I'll be going on rides of about 20 miles or so, so it should be able to get to a good clip and stay there. I'm looking to get something new, say under 800 bucks if that's possible.

Anyone know of any good stock bikes that fit this description? I would love to hear what you have to say. There look to be some pretty cool stock single speeds out there, but let her rip if you have any sage words of advice!!! Thanks a lot!!!

Scott

i suggest 700c 36 hole deep v's laced 3 cross with double or triple butted spokes to high flange hubs, a steel frame and fork, brakes until you get stronger and lose weight, a strong headset and at the very least 25c tires until you drop about 50 lbs.

i can't recommend a stock bike but there are plenty of them out there that should be fine. Leaders, BMWs and Bianchi Pistas seem to be popular with alot of fatties.

I was in the same situation. Im 6 ft tall and 275. So that would make me more of a fatso than you. I purchased a Schwinn Madison. I currently have about 120 miles on it and it is riding great. I also ride these crappy chicago streets so it gets abuse. It is really durable. The cranks are fsa and built tough. The wheels are double flange alex r500 with formula hubs. The gear ratio is perfect. And you could pick one up at a decent price with a little shopping around.

Wheels are probably going to be the most important part in your build so some of those 36 holes as previously suggested would do great and if you want even more bomb proof you can go with 48 hole rims and hubs. You will also want to be as comfortable as possible so go with a steel frame and don't cheap out on the saddle. Last thing, and probably most beneficial, would be to ask this question on the Clydesdale forum because many other people are in your predicament so don't feel abnormal haha. Good luck!

PS my uncle weighs about 235 and he just bought a Fuji track; he loves it so far

At 260 you're not at a weight where you're going to be smashing frames, although you'll probably experience a bit more frame and crank flexing than most other people. Most important thing is going to be getting a set of really tough wheels and preferably from a shop near you that builds them by hand.

Something like an Alex DA28 in 32 spoke would be really durable for your uses

>now I'm healthy enough again to start thinking about getting on a bike to shed some of this girth<

The good news is you want to lose weight. The bad news is exercise won't help. It'll simply make you more hungry. Exercise will make you fit, of course, a worthy goal for which to strive. But exercise won't make you lose weight.

To lose weight, you have to cut back on the amount of stored energy - food - you're eating compared to the energy you are expending, whether or not you exercise.

http://www.worksman.com/

quote----But exercise won't make you lose weight.----unquote

hmmmm. if i ate 2500 calories a day and burned 2500 calories i would keep the same weight. then if i added a two hour bike ride every day, i'll bet i'd lose weight. something like 3500 burned calories will shed a pound. so if i take in 2500 calories a day and burn 3000 calories a day, then i'll lose a pound a week. right? so exercise burns calories, so exercise will help.

Any bike will work; talk with the LBS about a wheel "upgrade" to a more heavy-duty wheelset as others have mentioned. If you have a bike built by somebody like IRO, you can specify the wheelset at the outset.

Mavic Open Sport, Velocity Dyad or Fusion with 36 spokes in 3-cross configuration are some other suitable choices. Formula or Surly hubs if you've got a budget, Phil Wood if not. DT or Sapim spokes.

And exercise will most definitely help. Eating right definitely helps. Simply putting yourself on a starvation diet is lunacy.

Probably the most important thing is get whatever wheels you are going to use properly tensioned. Get a reliable wheel builder to work over the wheels and they'll last.

i'm 5'10" and i was 240 before i started riding everyday. i'm currently at 225, and i do look fitter. I do eat more, but I still lost weight overall.

I'm riding an IRO Mark V with Deep Vs. I have to recommend velocity deep v for any heavy riders. They simply are bomb proof. Amazing rims.

I'd recommend deep v rims, not necessarily Velocity ones, but Weinmann DP-18s if you can't afford the Velocity one (similar, just cheaper) Do not think that thicker is always stronger, H+Sons I've heard may explode on you.

I'm 6'6" and 250 pounds, I've got 3 bikes that I beat up like they owe me money, and not a one of them has 36h wheels.

The key isn't always more spokes, it's properly built wheels. Most of my wheels are handbuilt (by me) 32h mid-section rims (DT RR1.1, Wolber Alpine T170, Alex DA16, Mavic Open Pro) laced 3 cross with DT Champion 2.0 straight gauge spokes.
Properly tensioned and stressed during the build process, a 32h wheel should hold true and round for you for thousands of miles.

Some of this information is right-on. Brakes, a basic steel frame, a good headset, and well-built wheels. 36h, laced 3 cross, but more importantly, with double-eyeletted rims, which add strength more than just additional rim material will. I recommend cyclocross rims like the Salsa Delgado, which are a little bit wider and beefier than your average road rim, designed to take a bit more abuse. Other than that you're not really outside the realm of what bikes and standard gear can handle, so as long as you build smartly you'll wind up with a bike that serves you very well.

I'm 6'2" and currently 255.My wheelsets are 1.handbuilt velocity V's to formulas with double butted in the back and straight gauge in the front 2.handbuilt open sport to formula with double butted 3.factory weinmann V's to formula with straight gauge(trued and tensioned at shop)and a cheapo 27" weinmann box rim to suzue jr set.All sets are 3X,except the velocity front(2X).The only set that needs occasional trueing is the 27" one,all the others are perfectly fine.I ride my bikes almost exclusively in the city with potholes and everything else that comes along with it and have yet to break a spoke(i might have jinxed myself now).

quote----But exercise won't make you lose weight.----unquote

hmmmm. if i ate 2500 calories a day and burned 2500 calories i would keep the same weight. then if i added a two hour bike ride every day, i'll bet i'd lose weight. something like 3500 burned calories will shed a pound. so if i take in 2500 calories a day and burn 3000 calories a day, then i'll lose a pound a week. right? so exercise burns calories, so exercise will help.

I think he meant exercise without dietary regulation- I weighed 210 over the summer, ate alright and rode every day. Come winter, I put on 10 pounds because even though I rode as much, I ate more. I've been using the website www.everydayhealth.com to keep track of my daily intake, and I think I'm at 208 or so now, not sure though.

quote----But exercise won't make you lose weight.----unquote

hmmmm. if i ate 2500 calories a day and burned 2500 calories i would keep the same weight. then if i added a two hour bike ride every day, i'll bet i'd lose weight. something like 3500 burned calories will shed a pound. so if i take in 2500 calories a day and burn 3000 calories a day, then i'll lose a pound a week. right? so exercise burns calories, so exercise will help.

This is correct, and an excellent way to shed pounds.

Additionally, the bike rides will increase your metabolism. Now, you'll be able to burn even more calories sitting down at a desk than you were before cause your resting metabolic rate will be much higher!

I weighed 265 when I started riding again.

I can't say my Pista really held up to my weight.

I'd recommend a Surly Complete, just the way Surly makes it, but with a Specialized Armadillo tire or a Continental Gatorskin tire on the back wheel.

You can do that for under $800 easy.

I would like a single speed that is built like a tank, and I don't give a crap if it weighs 50 pounds, as long as it is strong enough not to go having any problems like broken spokes or bent rims, etc. I'll be going on rides of about 20 miles or so, so it should be able to get to a good clip and stay there. I'm looking to get something new, say under 800 bucks if that's possible.

Anyone know of any good stock bikes that fit this description? I would love to hear what you have to say. There look to be some pretty cool stock single speeds out there, but let her rip if you have any sage words of advice!!! Thanks a lot!!!

Scott

Marin Hamilton 29er is pretty much exactly what you are looking for.

http://www.discountcyclesdirect.co.uk/images/Hamilton.jpg

Linky-link (http://www.marinbikes.com/2009/us/bikes/specs_hamilton_29er.php)

• Under $500.
• Built sturdy like a mountain bike but lower rolling resistance like a roadie.
• Flip-flop hub so you can give Fixed a try.

> if i ate 2500 calories a day and burned 2500 calories i would keep the same weight. then if i added a two hour bike ride every day, i'll bet i'd lose weight.<

Not necessarily and probably not. You've already gained weight without exercise. Your body will simply crave more food and if you are like most humans, you'll eat more food to assuage the hunger. That's why it's so difficult for people to lose weight once it's gained.

You will have to make a conscious effort to keep the intake lower than the output, and that's going to involve motivation - and record keeping - beyond just riding your bike. You can do it, of course, if you're motivated.

>Additionally, the bike rides will increase your metabolism. Now, you'll be able to burn even more calories sitting down at a desk than you were before cause your resting metabolic rate will be much higher!<

Even if riding a bike could speed up metabolism, the result would simply cause a sensation of hunger sooner rather than later. For most people, that means eating more food to stop the hunger pangs, which means not losing weight.

So riding a bike - or performing any exercise - won't help with weight loss. It will make anyone fitter, but not necessarily thinner.

To lose weight, via exercise or simply sitting at a desk, it's necessary to expend more energy than is taken in. One good way is to eat as much healthy food as possible - fruits, vegetables, and protein - while cutting back on processed foods, from cookies and ice cream (no!) to breaded fish sticks, from French fries and lasagna to tortillas.

Healthy foods will fill the stomach, with far less calories than are contained with processed foods. Unhealthy foods will put someone at greater risk from heart disease.

snob

dude, icyclist, you're really dumb. calories are the measure of energy. if i expend more calories than i take in, i will lose weight (body fat), period. if i eat more because i'm hungrier, then i'll be taking in more calories than i'm burning, and i won't lose weight. um, no shiit. why are you telling me this? it's so obvious.

saying that exercise won't help someone lose weight is the most inane thing i've ever heard. of course it will help. if you pig out and defeat the purpose of exercise, of course it will backfire. duh. so, if i go to the barber and get my hair cut, are you saying that won't help make my hair shorter? if the barber takes someone else's longer hair and superglues it to my head, yeah, ok, then my hair would be longer, so you have to make sure the barber doesn't glue someone else's hair to your head when he's done cutting it. i'll keep my eyes out.

if i eat 2000 calories of mcdonalds and expend 3000 calories a day, i will lose weight. if i eat 2000 calories in vegetables and expend 3000 calories a day, i will lose weight. do you think 2 plus 2 is 3? what the hell are you talking about?

thanks for all your trenchant insights.....

the most important thing that you can do, is get your wheels hand-built by a good builder. Hand-built Deep Vs triple crossed will be bomb proof.

While others recommend Deep V's I will agree with queerpunk and say you should get some Salsa Delgado Cross rims built up. Since you don't care about weight I'd say you max out and get a 36 hole (but 32 holes would be fine as well) pair of rims laced to Formula hubs. What makes the Salsa better than a Deep V is it allows you options of fitting big or skinny tires. I have the Salsa and can fit 50mm tires on the rim

For a frame I'd recommend a Surly Crosscheck because of the range of options you have with it: racks, fenders, skinny tires, big tires, single speed or gears. Plus it can be used as a winter bike as well (skinny tires for summer, bigger tires for the winter) It'll spend half your budget, but a frame is the most important thing you buy and this frame is definitely worth it due to its versatility. You can get one at universalcycles.com and use code VIP15 to get a 15% discount off the frame. They also ship it to you for free!

The way I'm recommending you do it is not a stock thing since you'll be building the bike so you'll be going over your budget a little. You can do a lot of scavenging on ebay and craiglist though for parts

Here's mine (thought I'm only 190lbs)
50mm tires with fenders!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3410/3427202724_4981fcf147.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3628/3426394751_3bb344cdb9.jpg?v=0

Not necessarily and probably not. You've already gained weight without exercise. Your body will simply crave more food and if you are like most humans, you'll eat more food to assuage the hunger. That's why it's so difficult for people to lose weight once it's gained.

You will have to make a conscious effort to keep the intake lower than the output, and that's going to involve motivation - and record keeping - beyond just riding your bike. You can do it, of course, if you're motivated.


People have a hard time losing weight because they fall back into bad habits of eating as a means of comfort which got them in the weight problem to begin with. Burning more calories than you eat per day is the only way to lose weight and no better way to achieve that then to stress the body with exercise. yes you will feel hunger after so don't stuff yourself with junk food and choose healthy alternatives like fruit and protein and guess what . . . you can still lose weight!

A tip for those looking to keep track of your intake, I've been doing this for the past month and it worked for me very well. livestrong.com has a calorie counter called "The daily plate" which will let you know calories for any food you can imagine. It will log food on a daily basis and you can also add exercise like cycling and it will calculate calories burned based on your weight and how intense your workout is. Its free and worth a try, I've lost roughly 15lbs doing this and its free too.

>dude, icyclist, you're really dumb<

Thanks for keeping the level of the discussion so civil, scottportland.

>if i eat more because i'm hungrier, then i'll be taking in more calories than i'm burning, and i won't lose weight. um, no shiit. why are you telling me this? it's so obvious.<

What's not obvious is that exercise simply makes you more hungry,so that you will eat enough additional food to keep yourself from losing weight. Exercise alone won't help you lose weight and in fact it will make you want to eat more food.

If you can eat less food after riding your bike, or doing any exercise, then you could eat less without exercise now. So far, you haven't been able to do that.

About two years ago the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine stated, "'It is reasonable to assume that persons with relatively high daily energy expenditures would be less likely to gain weight over time compared with those who have low energy expenditures. So far, data to support this hypothesis is not particularly compelling.'

That is to say, there is no scientific evidence to show that exercising helps lose weight.

As science writer Gary Taubes put it, "there's no reason to think we will lose any significant amount of weight , and little reason to think we will prevent ourselves from gaining it."

You can read Taubes' article about this issue here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/oct/28/healthandwellbeing.features1

You'll learn that the most comprehensive study about exercise and diet shows that most people at best slow the rate of weight gain, and at worst gain weight with exercise.

> if i eat 2000 calories of mcdonalds and expend 3000 calories a day, i will lose weight. if i eat 2000 calories in vegetables and expend 3000 calories a day, <

What happened to your desire to lose weight by riding your bike? Now you're admitting the obvious, too: losing weight has less do with exercise, and more to do with controlling what and how much we eat.

Yes, it's easy to eat 2,000 calories of McDonald's food in a day, but it's difficult to eat 2,000 calories of fruits and vegetables and protein, because of their bulk. For example, have breakfast burrito and carton of milk at MacDonald's, have in Chicken MacNuggests and a soda for lunch, and your over 1000 calories. By the end of dinnner you'd be well [B]over 2,000 calories - and if you're like most people, you'd be hungry, too. A breakfast burrito, chicken nuggets, and a Big Mac, plus fries and a Coke, certainly wouldn't fill me up, particularly if I threw in an hour or two on my bike.

But if I - or you - tried to eat 20 apples, A) We'd get sick of apples real quick, B), we'd consume 2,000 calories and C), we'd be grossly stuffed. I doubt anyone could or would want to stuff down 20 apples over the course of a day, but even if they could do so, they'd consume less calories than eating at McDonalds.

Switch out some of the apples for bananas, oranges, carrots, broccoli, chicken, fish, steak, etc., for variety, and you'd have the same result - plenty of bulk to satisfy hunger, without the many thousands of calories otherwise need to feel full with food from MacDonalds.


I apologize for offering unsolicited advice to help you lose weight because. But if, as you say, you want to "shed some of this girth," it won't, as you've said yourself, happen by riding your bike.

I didn't say not to exercise, I said exercise was good. But not for losing weight.

You call me dumb. Maybe I am and I shouldn't mind, that's what happens on BF. I wouldn't call you dumb, though. I might call you dumber, maybe (as well as rude, but then, that happens on BF), but not dumb. ;)

icyclist, get a life. stop posting on this thread.

someone else on this thread called you a snob. but i think they were wrong. you're just an assholle. now get lost.

to icyclisit's credit, it would be smart to restrict your diet to smaller portions until the stomach shrinks and then start exercising with a calorie restricted or calorie deficit diet and then learn to schedule meal sizes according to work out schedule.

timing protein . carbs, and electrolites correctly to the timing of rest and work out activities will keep you fueled and fight off hunger pangs

and if you pair all of this with a good weight lifting and cardio routine you will build muscle to avoid injuries of carrying around all that weight.

i mean, really, your goal should be just eat enough not to bonk, but not enough to have excess energy store.

+1 for double eyelet cross rims...

>now I'm healthy enough again to start thinking about getting on a bike to shed some of this girth<

The good news is you want to lose weight. The bad news is exercise won't help. It'll simply make you more hungry. Exercise will make you fit, of course, a worthy goal for which to strive. But exercise won't make you lose weight.

To lose weight, you have to cut back on the amount of stored energy - food - you're eating compared to the energy you are expending, whether or not you exercise.

+1 ... and monolithic exercise, especially cycling long distances, will encourage your body to retain as much energy as possible.

also, think about paleo eating if you want to lose weight.

icyclist, get a life. stop posting on this thread.

someone else on this thread called you a snob. but i think they were wrong. you're just an assholle. now get lost.

"now get lost"
don't make me lol

You guys are tools. Loosing weight is as simple as this:
Eat Healthy, with correct portions for your bodys metabolic rate.
Work out. Burn calories.
Gain Muscle mass(More muscle mass=more calories burned)
I don't think you any thing special rim wise, just decent Deep Vs are strong. I'm 210lbs(but 6'4!) and I ride off curbs, up curbs, and my rims aren't bent after a year of use at all.