pktruckdriver

I posted below, and will try to look at a Trek 7100 in a few weeks , if he still has it.

But do the experts here think that will hold me up at my weight and size, super extra wide butt, what seat could I get without spending a small fortune?

Today in my local Gym, I did 4 miles in 23 , minutes, for me personal best of both distance and time.

I hear about 36 spoke tires, is there bigger ones, ?

Desperation has set in for me, I QUIT MY JOB AS A TRUCKER BECAUSE i WAS GETTING TO BIG , and thou I am losing some, it is not what i thought it would be , YET !! Biking should help, because when I walked over 2 miles I get extreme shoulder pain and numbness in my right arm, EVERYTIME, a pinched nerve I believe, but with no insurance anymore, Doc's are out, can not afford it, wish i could thou.

Am I in the right place, to get the help I need.

I live just south of Daytona Beach, about 24 miles or so , any great bike shops around, or suggestions , this one guy has the TREK 7100, at I think a great price, and if it would work want to get it now, but need to wait for my tax return, what 2-3 weeks? I am working on getting a ride to where the bike is, and see if it would work, then proceed from there I guess, God willing it will.

Open for help and suggestions, please. Feel free to pm me, but understand I ca not PM yet not enough posts , I guess, my email if this is allowed is pktruckdriver@msn.com, I have an email spam thingy, but if you mention bike forum, in subject I can try to find you, i promise to respond to all emails, so if after 3 days no response try again, as it must have gotten thru to my spam detector.

Thank you all Patrick

lostforawhile

I have a friend who weighs about that, he can ride one of the Schwinn trikes, the new ones, it would work until you lose some of the weight, the bike is heavy but sturdy, and has a wide seat. You have to consider falling off a standard bike at your weight could cause serious injury

lostforawhile

this is what he bought, it says 260 but he is heavier then that and can ride it, I know it's a walmart bike, but it would start the process of losing the weight and getting you to the point you could ride a standard bike, the other advantage is it wouldn't be as hard on your bad arm, since you wouldn't be trying to balance. With all the smart people on here, someone might even be able to tell you what parts it would need to convert to a multi speed

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schwinn-Me...icycle/5679542

009jim

I personally think you need an older, heavier steel bike. I have a Trek 7100 and it's a nice bike but repeated use with a 450 lb load would probably exceed the design envelope.

c_m_shooter

Your story is a rerun. We have seen it before, and you can do this. Cycling isn't the complete answer, it is a start. Think of your first bike as your first, not only. If you get a deal on any brand name bike that is the right size, grab it. You will probably end up needing to have a rear wheel hand built for it, but give the stocker a shot and get out there. Hopefully Niel_B will be around shortly with some more input.

goldfinch

Find a used mountain bike without a suspension of any kind. I believe the Trek 7100 has a suspension fork, which isn't good for a person of your weight.

Once you find a mountain bike you might consider getting slick tires to replace the mountain bike tires. There are a number of 1980s and 1990s vintage mountain bikes that would work well for you.

If you need help trying to figure out what size let us know how tall you are. And even better, what is your cycling inseam (from crotch to floor).

Your craigslist has this Giant Rincon for $85. https://daytona.craigslist.org/bik/3587306868.html I don't know if it would fit you, but something like this bike would work.

pktruckdriver

Thank you all so much. I guess on here it would be a retread of the fat guy story, but thanks anyway.

I believe I wear 30-32 inseam pants, waist, I'll not mention.

The trike scares me, and not really what I want to ride around with , unless I could fine a few other trikers to ride with, lol.

Again thanks

Shellyrides

At 350 when I started. My Giant Boulder has been a good bike. I picked it up for $100.

teufelhunden222

You got this bro I was 300lbs on december 9th. I was 265 about a week ago. I would be willing to bet you wold see some pretty huge gains pretty early. My reccommendation would be this bike
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...tricrosstriple
And this wheelset
https://www.bikebling.com/Spinergy-Xy...one-enduro.htm

they have wide comfy seats that they will throw in. Plan on the price being cheaper that what you think becuase most shops will take some money off for the stock wheelset. get it with armadillos and procede to rack up the mles. at first 5 miles will wear you the hell out, then 10, then 20, then 30, then when yo can do half centuries 20 miles won't be ****. you just have to stay after it. I personally think its easier for big guys to stay commited becuase of the gains, and we can"see" the results pretty easily. I went from 40" pants being so tight I could not button them, to now I can button them and just slide them off. I believe in you bro, just get after it. It is one of the best decisions you can make in your life-David

mr_pedro

This might not be what you want to hear, but to loose weight the most important thing that you should be paying attention to at the moment is what you eat. To put it in perspective, the 23 minute ride you mention is the calorie equivalent of 1 slice of cheese (90 Cal). At the same time if you watch what you eat it should be doable to reach a 500 Cal daily deficit without too much effort.

AbundantChoice

I was near your weight when I started. I had both a Redline Monocog 29er (basically a single-speed mountain bike) and a Surly Long Haul Trucker (touring bike w/ gears). Both had 36 spoke wheels, and I didn't have any problems with them. I had to replace a few spokes between them after 4 or 5 months and get the wheel re-trued, but that's it. Don't sink a crap-ton of money into custom wheels and whatnot until you are absolutely sure you are going to stick with the riding, and even then you might not need it. The recommendations to grab a used non-suspension mountain bike are pretty solid.

Stick with steel. Don't think a big-wide gel seat is always the answer, but definitely upgrade off the stock seat that comes with whatever bike you get. Always bring water. Make sure your wheels are fully inflated before every single ride.

If you're riding to lose weight, and can afford it, definitely pick up a heart rate monitor + watch to make sure you're getting up into the fat-burning zone, and staying there. And consider adding some high-intensity bursts to your longer rides, once you build up some baseline endurance. And probably more important than anything else, start counting calories. You may burn 500 calories on a ride, and feel great, but it's insanely easy to add those 500 calories right back into your day's calorie load without even noticing.

erig007

Agree, there is lots of ways to lose weight as long as you limit your intake and increase your daily activity in order to burn more calories than you eat everyday. I believe the easiest one is to find an activity which burn calories that you like to do and will do everyday. Riding a bicycle is one, building your own furniture at home, house cleaning, walking at the shopping mall, gardening, spending time on roller coasters in amusement parks, parachuting, snowball or paintball battles and even watching horror movies but like some in the list it's not a very efficient activity (4 or 5 times less actually, 2hrs to burn less calories than half of 1hr cycling or running)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...es-a-time.html

Neil_B

Hmm, who is this "Niel_B?"

I don't know that I have anything to add about bikes. He's getting a lot of great advice.

My suggestion is that if you add cycling to your life, don't view it as the magic pill for weight loss. You can't outrun, outride, outswim a bad diet. You didn't get to 450 pounds by dining on gnat's wings. Track what you eat and drink, and do it without exception. This not only will educate you about what you are eating, but it will make you conscious of every time you put something in your mouth. You can use online sites like Fitday or Loseit or My Fitness Pal to track; the latter will also calculate a daily calorie level for you that should, if you stay within in it, give you a loss in weight every week.

BTW, I put my mouth where my mouth is. I'm tracking again after stopping a couple of years ago when I began to develop knee trouble, and I'm down 21 pounds since mid-December. My friend Chris, who posts as Nerys, is down 13 pounds this month after HE resumed tracking. We keep each other honest.

Speaking of Chris, a 225 pound guy in a 425 pound body, he often says weight loss is a mental game. I agree the real problem is in your head, not around your waist. If you change the way you think, if you change the way you see yourself, your body will change too. Food isn't the problem. Exercise isn't the problem. Its your attitude, your thinking about food and exercise, that's the problem. If you approach weight loss as a sentence, as denying yourself, as starving or torturing yourself for being fat, you will fail. Weight loss isn't a prison sentence. Its' the door of the prison being thrown open and you running out.

Send me an email anytime if you want to talk more. I look forward to reading about your success.

Sayre Kulp 

Patrick,

You say you're south of Daytona Beach. Where at? Edgewater? Florida Shores? More inland like DeLand?

I'm in New Smyrna Beach. And guess what... I'm one of those guys who rides a trike. And a variety of bikes, for that matter.

I used to be around 450 pounds myself. I'm a transplant from Pennsylvania and I used to ride/hike with guys like Neil_B and chefisaac.

I'd be more than happy to sit down with you any time and talk bikes, exercise, diet, weightloss, etc. I'd also be more than happy to have a new riding partner / workout partner down here, as I'm still relatively new to the area. I moved down this past Halloween.

Let me know if you'd like to get together sometime. I'm sure I speak for the rest of the forum when I say we'd love to have you join the list of success stories that have come about on these forums.

Best,

Sayre Kulp

Neil_B

Patrick, meet this man. Sayre is perhaps the greatest success in the history of the Clydesdale Forum. Even the newspapers agree he's something special.

https://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=265144

BTW, Patrick, he's also quite modest and down to earth. I think you will have a good time if you meet him.

Peter_C

Just wanted to add that that I met Sayre when I was bout 360, and he was somewhere around the same. You (luckily) are much younger than I - but anyhow, you *can* change your life if you wish to do so. I am a retired long haul truck driver, my elder brother at 550 (guessing) is still driving. My point is, like a few have said, when you decide to take control of your life, take in less than you burn, you will succeed~!

I joined at 387, currently am bouncing around 300 (stuck here it seems), and ride a TerraTrike Rover (recumbent trike with a 400lb weight limit that sells for $999.00 new) and personally love it. My waist size was 60" when I bought the Rover for perspective, and the seat is very comfy - as in all day long comfort - something to consider perhaps?

Two photos; first one was taken on my first bike ride in 30yrs with another BF member, second photo taken last June during my very first 'tour' of the GAP - small changes will add up~!

Podagrower

He said Edgewater in another post.

The Trek isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It's not listed for sale, just a spare in the garage in case I break something on my main bike. It isn't the perfect bike for a big clyde, but it is a bike to start with.

Sayre Kulp 

Well that's cool. Edgewater is pretty much just down the road from me.

Myosmith

+1 on finding an older steel frameset with a rigid fork. Something like a Specialized Rockhopper, Trek 700 or 800 series (or a 520 if you can find it), or a Giant Boulder or Yukon. A good set of 36-spoke wheels on MTB or Touring hubs with 28mm or wider tires is probably a good idea. If you can find a frame with clearance for something like a 35mm or 40mm tire, even better for now. Higher volume tires go a long way to increase the durability of a wheelset with a heavy load. If you are going with higher end wheels (remember you can keep your good wheels and move them to your next bike, so good wheels are a good investment, keep the entry level wheels for when you sell the bike) you can look at 40 double butted spokes on a tandem hub with double-wall eyeletted cyclocross or touring rims. It would be fine to have a 40-spoke wheel on the back and a 36 up front as the rear wheel takes the most weight and the drive forces. The quality of the build is as important as the number or spokes and the components, but stay away from low spoke counts (under 32) for now.

Remember when picking a seat that seat width is based on the width of your pelvic bones, not on the width of your buttocks. Excessively wide and cushy seats actually work against you and can cause discomfort and even saddle sores and leg numbness. When you are morbidly obese (I was there not that long ago) you have to play a bit of a balancing act in seat selection. It's tough because your body mechanics are different than they will be once you lose some of the weight. My riding position, bike setup, and seat choice changed radically over the past couple of years.

bobotech

Im an odd duck. I'm a 380-360 pound guy (haven't weighed myself in quite some time but was 385 when I started riidng a year ago however I had a broken leg in that time). I'm odd in the sense that I don't ride like a big fat guy. I prefer road bikes with drop bars and triples which translates to touring bikes for the most part. I have a old Univega Via Carisma that was originally an early hybrid, a roadish steel frame that used 700c wheels and had a flat bar and canti brakes. I always ended up with numb hands and pain. I also have a 2003 Specialized Hard Rock mountain bike with front suspension (yuck). Everytime I rode that I ended up with numb hands.

I ended up fully converting my Univega Via Carisma to drop bars and STI shifters and a different group set. I have my drop bars up somewhat higher than what most people might use but i like it. I ride mainly on the hoods except for once in a great while, I will go in the drops. My hands no longer go numb or hurt when I ride. I also added fenders and racks and I have panniers for it, it is pretty much setup like a touring bike.

I also recently converted my mountain bike to a bastard by removing the flat bars and shifters and putting drop bars and another set of STI brake/shifter levers on it. Changed the crankset from the mountain style to a more road oriented triple (48-38-26). I used road front derailleur and it shifts smooth as glass and I really enjoy it. It is now my winter/snow bike. My hands no longer go numb or hurt after riding. I also added fenders and a big front bag. I like being able to carry stuff.

So even though I'm huge, I ride drop bars and strongly prefer them.

My next project is a mid '80's Trek 520 touring bike that is exactly my size. I'm going to probably replace my Univega with that once its done. Its geometry is a little better than the Univega.

I also discovered that I do not like the big padded gel seats. I like small skinnier seats. I learned that seats aren't about supporting your whole butt but rather supporting your sit bones. So even if you are fat, if you support your sit bones, you should be okay. I don't ride ultra small seats but people will always ask me, "Why dont you get a nice big comfy seat?" and I have to explain to them that I tried them but I don't like them.

bobotech

Oh yeah, as for wheels, I build my own or try to rebuild high quality wheels. The wheelset on my Univega is a set that I hand built that have 32 spokes. I used Shimano hubs with a nice set of Sun double wall rims that were new when I bought the parts at my bike co-op. I tension my wheels on the high side. I like wheels with high tension, high tension wheels are good for heavy riders. I also built a new rear wheel for my mountain bike. I like not having to worry about my wheels and hand building them makes me blame no one but myself if something goes wrong.

SeanBlader

It's not a rerun if you haven't seen it before. And everyone's challenges are different, you have shoulder issues, the next guy has knee issues, another guy has feet issues. Just being heavy is an issue, but it's your unique issue.

Now I can't relate, but there are a lot of really good people here who have either come through what you have or are still working at it.

What I can suggest is to read a lot, get out a lot, remember when you were a kid and you'd go out and play, try to think of it like that you're getting out for your play time. You'll hurt a lot, and you'll breathe a lot. Don't overdo it by any means, listen to what your body tells you.

Oh and for gods sake, maldito stretch! Even barely a clyde at just over 200 when I started, mierda I wish I'd stretched more.

Neil_B

+1. If you think of weight loss as a death sentence you won't get anywhere. If you think of it as a life sentence you will be free. At that point its just a matter of bringing the body to match the mind.

My one regret is that I waited to 40 to realize this truth. I didn't begin living until I was middle aged.

Yo Spiff

Welcome aboard, and welcome to your new addiction!

I agree with finding an older rigid MTB. Cheap, plentiful, and a good starter bike. You can get bikes with 40 spoke wheels, but 36 is more common.