Bike cant handle me...
 

I've been reading up on it and I've determined that the bike shop guy lied to me. He told me that my bike would be just fine under the stresses that my (6'5" 350) body would put on this bike under normal riding conditions. I've rode the thing less than 50mi and already the crank arm fell off, the chain broke, the wheels have needed trueing twice, the chain seems to skip under certain gear combos, and now the new chain is clicking. I paid a fair amount for this bike and would like to continue riding it for no reason other
than to be nicer to it by losing some weight! :) It seems like at the very least I will need new wheels and given that the pedals are plastic, I imagine those will break off at some point as well. Are there any other suggested replacement parts? What brands would you guys suggest? And what can I expect to pay?

I keep thinking back to high school when I had an $80 bike from Target that lasted years with
much much MUCH harsher treatment and roughly the same size me.

I would grately appreciate any and all assistance, as I would love to get back into cycling again.

Thanks,

Tyler

Zzzz.

Let's dissect this:

1) crank arm falling off, probably wasn't installed correctly to begin with
2) chain broke, not properly installed
3) wheels needed truing, normal for factory built and especially at your weight
4) chain skipping, probably derailleur adjustment, also normal
5) new chain clicking, derailleur adjustment again

You're going to be breaking a lot of things off a stock bike at your weight - other people can enlighten you on what to buy. At 350 you're going to stress any bike you have underneath you.

What kind of bike is it?

I'm with operator: the crank was a fluke -- bad installation. The chain breaking was the same (even at 350 pounds and stomping on the pedals, it _should_ be fine). The clicking is adjustment -- go to www.sheldonbrown.com and read up on how to adjust your derailers.

What kind of wheels do you have? How many spokes? Wheel durability varies greatly, but at your size, wheel truing may be a fact of life -- until you get hooked and loose a lot of weight. If it continues to be a problem, look for high-spoke count wheels (36, min.).

Also, search the Clydesdale forum: http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?f=248. I'm sure they have good advice on wheels.

Good luck and have fun!

With the issue of truing wheels, talk to a wheel builder (or at least someone knowledgeable about wheels) and get him to check the spoke tension. Factory built wheels often have a relatively low spoke tension and heavier riders need a higher spoke tension. I just went through this, my wheels (especially the rear) was very out of true. When the guy I talked to about it starting measuring the spoke tension he found the tension was far, far too low for my weight (approx. 265). Well, he trued the wheel and increased the tension. I've only had it for a week not, but it works great thus far.

Plastic pedals? I'm thinkin it's a lower end bike? At 350 you'll probably need some wheels built for you, hate to see you taco a tire and get hurt.

i'm about 225lbs, and since i bought my bike 3 and a half months ago(2007 GT Avalanche expert cost me £700), off the top of my head, i've trued the back wheel, adjusted gears, stripped and replaced the bearing in the wheels, replaced the brake pads and bled the brakes and replaced a front tyre i fecked up and regularluy lubbed the deraileurs and cogs every other week....

bikes need maintainence whatever weight you are... granted i've been skelping mine about off road a fair whack, i still wouldn't ever expect a bike to be perfect forever, bikes are full of moving part, they generally need a bit of tlc to keep them running well...

What kind of bike was it? To some extent you have to figure you will break bits off as you ride more and more. On my Electra I ultimately broke everything from spokes to cranks to seat posts. Finally the steel frame gave out after a year of riding and cracked. But I figured it was OK as long as the bike was breaking not me. Now I've lost quite a bit of weight after all that riding and it's less of an issue. Nothing on my new Marin has broken.

I bought both the Electra and Marin new from a LBS. It's more $$ than craigslist, but the frame and limited parts warranty are important if you're going to be breaking stuff.

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned. I have a trek 7300.

Just curious... what were you doing when you broke the chain? Mine broke because I made the cardinal sin of shifting while stomping/excellerating up a climb. No matter what weight you are, if you do that you'll bust the chain. Especially don't do it while passing two hot girls... it's really embarrassing! Doh! :p

Good info in the clysedale sub forum for us heavies.
Sounds like you have a poorly assembled bike + harsh riding habits.
get bike checked out for proper assembly, learn to ride/shift smoothly, probably need strong high spoke count wheels. Good luck

Did they come with kickstands?

I shift mine while sprinting (stomping hard/accelerating) all the time. The noise it makes scares me, but other than that ::Shrug:: ... I don't think you shouldn't be able to break a chain. Just my $0.02

Let's disect the Chain problem.

The first chain was probably a cheap basic chain worth about 9 bucks. Even this chain should have held up but things happen. It COULD BE your way of shifting on the bike. I always back off just slightly when shifting and never force a shift.

The second chain skipping or ticking concerns me as it might be a poorly installed chain. It needs a good inspection to see if there is a tight link from installation or maybe a poor install of the pin to secure the chain together.

Your LBS should have advised you to get a better quality chain in the first place. While a replacing it with the same or equal chain might be good for his bottomline and warrenty claim with his manufacturer, it doesn't do you any good.

Slight skipping in certain gears could also indicate a poorly constructed cable housing. I've seen a few failures of these on new bikes and even my own recent build using all new parts, I had a bad housing.

Attentions to the details and troubleshooting by a good mechanic should help you in all of these little problems.