Albino Wino

I'm 6'3", 275. I was an athlete at 220-240, a hockey player and a ski racer, now it's pretty much the same frame with a bit of a gut...I still have my skiing/skating legs. I ride bad roads carrying weight to and from work and doing errands in a hilly town where everything is sandy and wet.

I have to work on my bikes constantly. Everything wears out so fast. I'm breaking spokes, wearing out chainrings, cassettes, bottom brackets, and headsets. I have sturdy old steel mountain bikes and yet they flex and bend if I want to ride hard. I grease my cables and bearings. I have to rebuild my pedals every few months. I keep the drivetrain clean and wax chain with paraffin every few weeks. I true the wheels over and over again. I even separated the tread from the carcass of a rear tire recently.

The other day I cross paths with a surfing friend who is a fairly serious cyclist. I'm asking him about this and that...this is a guy who rides hours and hours every day and wins local races....and he never works on his bike. Ever. "I'm not that technical"...he says. Add that to the fact that I'm on my touring-tire city bike riding next to him on his surly moonlander and I'm dragging ass trying to keep up with him as he barely pedals. I'm listening to his huge deflated tires howl as we ride and he's exerting zero effort while I huff and puff. His other go-to bike in town is a single speed...so he's riding a single speed up and down hills I need my lowest gear for.

It's ****ing frustrating. I think I could build a $1200 bike that would be very strong, and yet if I was the kind of guy who has $1200 burning a hole in my pocket I wouldn't be riding my bike to the laundrymat in the rain.

I don't know what comes of this post, but this time of year it's down to just a few people riding bikes here and pretty much everyone else is some Lance who looks at me like I'm a bum...and it's incredibly discouraging.

DrIsotope

I know some of that feel. I probably spend ~10 minutes wrenching for every hour riding, and I average about 15 hours a week riding. Constantly tightening loose spokes, stopping everything from squeaking, 2 cassettes / 3 chains in 10 months, my third set of tires, etc, etc.

I've lost 50 pounds (240 to 190) and still huff and puff the hills. Bottom line is, unless we're 5-foot-something and like 140, we're going to huff and puff the hills. I'm not racing anyone (except myself,) so I don't care how fast I am up one hill or another. As long as I'm not getting (relatively) slower, it's all good. Comparing yourself to others gets frustrating really quick-- there's always somebody faster.

chasm54

I agree with DrIsotope up to a point, but only up to a point. It's true that at 6'3" I'm never going to be a true climber, one of those who dances up the hills on bird-like ankles. And I suck at climbing when I'm over 205lbs. At 185lbs, though, I can hold my own and outclimb plenty of smaller riders.
@Albino Wino, it sounds as if you're bigger built than me and 180 may not be on your agenda. But you're probably more powerful, also. I can tell you that were you back at 220-230 you'd notice a big big difference.

As far as equipment is concerned, I'm afraid part of the answer is money. Higher quality components last longer. If money is tight I'd start by making the wheels a priority and upgrade to some heavy-duty touring wheels as and when you can afford it. And as other stuff wears out, take some advice on what might be a more durable replacement. 25% extra on the price might mean double the lifespan in some cases.

Don't be discouraged. You're a hell of a lot faster than the guys who sit around telling one another how fast they used to be.

downtube42

It seems to me that a lot of guys who were athletes when they were younger do struggle later; I think maybe it came easy in their youth, but not later in life. I've watched my most athletic brother, in particular, give up on athletics entirely because he was no longer dominant. IMHO, you may need to forget about your athletic past; it's just not too relevant and may be holding you back.

Unless you're jumping curbs or bunny hopping sticks, a strong well built wheel should take your weight with no issues. IMO 36 spokes is the way to go for a strong commuter wheel. My tandem regularly carried 400 pounds, handled the power of two people, and never had a single wheel issue. Radial lacing is for weight weenies and their race bike; go with 3 cross for strength.

Grit is what eats drivelines, not weight or power. Commuting can introduce a lot of grit, and it sounds like your commute does. Clean in frequently.

Older used rigid mountain bikes can usually be had for fairly cheap, and are built. Finding one your size will take some time, but that might be the best way to get a strong, quality bike on a budget. Cleaning, lubricating, and flat repair should be the only common maintenance task.

CliffordK

One thing, I watch where I ride, and groan when I hit a bad bump (hopefully remembering it for next time).

I'd have to agree. I wonder if the OP is using department store class bikes. They're ok, but one can do much better.

Maybe try some good deep double walled rims, with good heavy duty spokes. Something like online prices for Marathon tires may not be that much more expensive than buying cheap ones at Walmart.

Keep everything greased and properly tensioned. Cartridge bottom brackets might be a good investment.

If you replace a part like a derailleur, get a good one. Ultegra? Or, whatever the MTB equivalent is.

Oh, and chains... keep on top of their wear. Too much stretch, and toss. Otherwise you loose the chain, cassette, and maybe chainrings too.

How many miles are you doing a year? A couple thousand? 5 to 10 thousand? If you are really pounding out the miles, then expect some wear.

indyfabz

Maybe go back to your commuting job where you walked 20-30 miles per day?

nfmisso

Re: constantly tightening loose spokes

This indicates a poorly built wheel or something is broken. If nothing is broken; poorly built is the only choice - even with cheap components.

@Albino WinoI am quite a bit heavier than you; my main rides are a '92 PDG70 and a mid '90's Trek 720 (project finished only about 6 weeks ago). The wheels on the 720 came from my '82 Schwinn World Tourist and have over 5K miles on them since I built them. The PDG70 wheels have over 2K miles on them this year. Both sets of wheels use Wheelmaster 40H "tandem" hubs, Wheelsmith spokes, Velocity Dyad/Aeroheat rims. About $250- for rims, spokes and hubs per set from Niagara. I just ride, never have to worry about the wheels.

Peter White builds wheels that you never have to worry about too.

fietsbob

too many followers of the trendy low spoke count wheels that fancy bikes are coming with ,

would be better served by well tested conventional wheels .. 36 rear 32 spoke front, .. instead..

dr_lha

Your equipment is inadequate. Why don't you tell us what you're riding and we can help you out.

jsigone

anyone that rides a singlespeed can't be trusted

Albino Wino

88 Specialized Rockhopper comp, bb un 55 cartridge, old biopace crankset, rhyno lite/xt 32h, sram 850 chain....26X1.5 spc nimbus. I don't break spokes on this wheelset, but I've had to true the rear wheel constantly. The deore XT pedals are the ones I have to service every few months.

89 DB Apex...everything is the same except the wheels are 36h bontrager corvairs and I can't identify the hub. 26X2.0 panaracer tourguards. These are the wheels I've been breaking rear spokes on.

I ride in the dark a lot, it's either to work at 4am or home from work at 8pm. Either way the combination of really bad roads (upper michigan), traffic, and darkness means the bike takes a lot of hits. It's mostly hill, so lots of grinding up hills and carrying speed down. I carry tools, groceries, work clothes, spare tube/pump..etc. front/rear racks and fenders on both bikes so everything is heavy.

I have tried so many different lubrication strategies trying not to accumulate sand and the best I've found is the paraffin wax dip and keeping everything clean/dry.

Anyway I don't think any of my parts are junk but I may have to spend some money on a wheelset. It's a bummer, money isn't abundant.

Albino Wino

This guy is older than me, smokes cigs and rides his SS effortlessly up steep hills. It's real hard to swallow.

chasm54

I agree, the parts aren't junk. With the rhynolite wheels, trueing the wheel isn't cutting it so I suspect they aren't properly tensioned. Any wheelbuilder at a good LBS will do that for you for a few dollars. The bontrager sounds like a case for a total rebuild, if not a replacement.

mapeiboy

You told us he takes cycling seriously . He rides hours and hours everyday and wins local races . I am sure if you ride as much as he does everyday you would be in a pretty good shape too .

GerryinHouston

I'd vote for the spoke tension too. My LBS replaced the OEM wheel (Bontrager AT550) with a 'stronger wheel', because I was breaking a spoke every two weeks (in a brand new bike). Ok, I am 265 lbs, but I get off the saddle to cross an extension cord and still break spokes?

The new (rear) wheel came the day after I received the Park Tools Tension Meter. First pass showed 86 kg on the Drive Side and below the table readings for the non DS. LBS insisted that that is how the factory tuned it... 100 km later, I took the bike in and they adjusted the tension to 105 kg/71 kg, which is on the low side I think, but I am not sure how much force the rims can take.

Most of the 'factory tuned' bikes in the LBS seem to be tuned at the same or lower tensions, even the low spoke count wheels...

Albino Wino

Chicken and egg. He's riding so much because it's easy for him and because he isn't constantly working on his bike.

Arvadaman

Albino,

I think most of us understand your frustration on this forum. Most of us weigh more than we want to, break stuff on our bikes more often due to our weight, and do not have the resources we would like to put in cycling.

I know that I have to save up for bike parts so I can keep my family afloat and my two teenage daughters fed, clothed, and in the activities they want to be involved. Lots of us face these challenges.

On the bright side, you are out there cycling when most people hang up their bikes in September.

You have risen to the challenge and can keep your bikes on the road using your own skills. I am sure you know more about your bikes than the other guy will ever know.

I do not doubt that you will solve the solve the wheel problems and keep moving forward.

Don't worry about Lance. Let Lance be Lance.

It may seem easier for him but you will get through it.

Albino Wino

thanks man. it's all good, I guess I just had a rough patch there. Chugging along now. I got a wheel quote from Peter White, it's shockingly expensive and yet very tempting to set up a rock solid rear wheel. Got heavy groceries today and felt everything flexing around on the ride home. Not awesome.

DWhitworth

I use Rich Lesnik for my wheels and they are also pretty expensive (to me) at about $400 for a rear. However, once I spent this money on my last bike, I went 1000s of miles with no more broken spokes or trueing or any wheel trouble. My chain jumped the cassette and tore up some spokes on that wheel and I had to have him respoke it (impressively, it broke 3 spokes and stayed true)

That bike got stolen and I had to purchase a new one in a hurry for a charity ride - I had the LBS build a wheel and their first (very rushed) attempt only made 55 miles of my intended 75 or 100. They rebuilt it and the new one has 1000 miles on it and seems to be doing pretty well but it slightly out of true. I have a spare built by Rich and am only running the LBS one to see how long it goes before trouble.

Based on my very limited experience, if you want trouble free riding it is worth every penny to spend the big bucks on the wheel from a known builder. Even a good LBS without extensive big guy experience will never be able to get you to that trouble free place that you can get otherwise. Not a knock against any LBS, especially mine (there are several I use) they just don't have the experience and/or time to do a proper wheel for a clyde.

Anyway, just MHO.

DaveW

dr_lha

Not wishing to diminish the value of hand built wheels, but I've put about 5000 miles on a sub-$300 machine built wheelset with no issues, 36h Deep-Vs from Velomine. I've also put 1000 miles on a pair of archetypes also from Velomine. On the deep-vs I weighed between 240 and 290lbs.

bbandu

Well I just started riding a few months ago, I ride a 2016 Trek X-caliber 9. I am kinda short and squaty started at 5'9" and 335lbs and it wasn't until just recently did I start having spoke issues. I only have around 500 miles on the wheels and decided that I need to get a stronger wheel. I had a rear wheel built and have had no issues so far.

VCSL2015

In my experience riding a road bike as mine is extremely different than riding my mb. I can fly up roads that when on my mb would not happen.

Null66

George Burns lived a longlife, but then he WAS god....

There's a lot to that co-worker commutes, and he does real well, last bike was stolen had over 73,000 on it. He's 6'3 and about 200...

Gotta agree, from where I sit you're both doing pretty awesome!

i built "my last bike" to last even with my part killing mass, and uh riding style. Given, my health condition its ride or fall apart. It was pretty much anything is cheaper then medical bills. So went from wrecking parts to overkill. Gotta tell you over kill works! Perhaps you could troll Craig's list until you find a hub up to the duty it will serve, like an old White PW and build up around that.

i'm at about 7k abusive maintenance schedule, and use. Still is a joy every ride. I presume your wheels are all 26'? If you're 700, I have an ok heavy duty rear wheel and a rather good front you can have from my last bike to hold you while you save up for something that lives up for your usage... I believe they're both 40 spoke.

Got to agree, before I gave up on last bike I had 7+ bike shops and mechs try and fix any of 3 issues. But if they had not experienced the requirements a 285lb weight lifter could put on a bike themselves, it was like I was speaking a different language. Many brought up the this or that tandem team does it this way.... But that experience only seems to go just so far...

Albino Wino

Weirdly, I've loved bikes since I was little and have ridden a lot, but I have never ridden a real road bike...only mtb's with city tires and drop bars. I went right from bmx to mtb and just never, ever even really considered road bikes. Last week I got a free Centurion ironman and did a little shakedown ride around town. I never realized just how much faster a real road bike is. It's mind boggling. Whole new world.

I've got winter to get through, it's a salt bath every day here, so any money spent on good stuff is only really for the spring/fall/summer anyhow. there is absolutely no way I can see riding a $400 wheel in the salt/sand bath that is my winter commute.

Leebo

Got a bunch of issues here, lets try to sort some out. Unless you race, there will always be someone faster that you with nicer kit. There is no reason you should be going through headsets, pedals and BB's on a regular basis. Dark roads and wheels taking hits? Get some BRIGHT lights and learn to bunny hop. Drivetrains do wear out, as well as tires. Are you rotating chains? Miles per year? Year round? As said before, get some quality wheels, more importantly , the rear. You're carrying all this weight for commuting? How much weight in groceries? You may be maxing out the bike and wheels. I think you might need a dedicated commuter and something for just riding. At 6'4" and 235 lbs, yes I have broken stuff. Strong, well made bike stuff will last. Maybe look for some newer, used stuff. Think about something like a Karate Monkey or Ogre 29er for a beefy commuter. Start there.