Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Trek 2.1 or Trek 7500 will they hold my ass

Hello,

After reading these forums for months you all have inspired me. I have been riding a stationary bike for awhile now and want to get something to physically take me somewhere. I plan on getting a trainer for use at home when the weather is bad. I think I will be riding for pleasure on roads rather than commuting or riding on trails.

I have been reading through the threads and have some questions. I am 5'7 and weigh about 320 - definite Athena. I need a beast of a bike to put up with me and hold me.

My LBS has recommended the Trek 2.1 (maybe 2.1 wsd) road bike or the Trek 7500. I am going for a test ride next week and possibly want to buy the bike after the ride.

These are my questions:
- I think the wheels have 24 spokes (looking at the picture) my LBS says that will be good enough. From what you all have said I should have 36 spoke wheels and have the rear one built by hand. Is this what I should do?
- Do you know of any components on these bikes I will need to change to hold my weight?
- the 2.1 has 10 gears (12 - 27) and the 7500 has 9 gears (11 - 32) should I get them to adjust the gears to make climbing hills better?
- the 2.1 has a carbon seat post and carbon fork. Am I going to bust the carbon? Should I change those parts to steel or aluminium instead?

Here is a link to the Trek website comparing the bikes.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/compare/#/21,21wsd,7500

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

one of the guys i work with rides one like the 7500 but a couple of years old. he is about your size maybe a little bigger with no issues. when i first got my Specialized Sequoia Elite i was around 350 after a year i am down closer to 300 and it still has the carbon fork, seat stays and seat post. the wheels 24 front and 28 rear spoked. they ended up warrantying the rear wheel after a year due to cracks in the rim. im not sure if the cracks were from my weight or not tensioning the spokes but it held up for a long time.

if you purchase the bike even with low spoke count you can always replace the wheel later if it does fail or will not stay true .

hope this helps get on one and ride.

If hills are an issue, get the 7500 as it has lower gearing.

I don't think the 2.1 will have any trouble holding you, either wheels or carbon seat post. I disagree that just cause we're big we need a lot of spokes. I've rode for years with low spoke count wheels and have only had one wheel failure. My impression is that the majority of wheels that fail are on bikes well beyond the level of either you are looking at. I'd venture to say that the wheels on the 2.1 are probably stronger than the 7500's even with the lower spoke count.

Pretty different bikes. You might like the 7500's more upright position to start out, but the 2.1 seems like a more capable machine if you're in this for the long haul.

If it bugs you, you could ask the LBS to swap out the wheels for some with a higher spoke count.

As stated, I doubt the bike will be an issue. Rims will be the problem. I ruined a couple on my Trek hybrid & 1000 roadie until I found a guy to build me a 32 spoker by hand. Never had any issues after that. Currently I'm on a Cannondale alum/carbon frame and it is holding up well. I'm 6'4 240 lbs.

i'm 5'7" and vary between 245 and 270, I'm currently riding Roval 20/24 spoke wheels, before that was the house brand wheels on my Giant that lasted quite well for 4,000 miles until i took a huge hit hitting a hole i didn't see at 18mph. the Giant house brand wheels were 20/24 paired spoke wheels. the previous wheel problem i had was a 32 spoke wheel on my mountain bike. i changed this for a 28 spoke (not thinking about spoke counts being a problem) and the wheel lasted me 10 years with no problems.

For you I would recommend definitely giving the WSD at least a test ride. Note becaue of the geometry or what not, but it seems you might be worried about climing. The WSD generally either have a compact double or triple configuration on the front chainrings. (You only mentioned the configuration of the rear cogs). These will give you lower gears. But at your height you should fit the 'normal' bikes too.