Buffalo Buff

I'm 6'4 / 215 and ride a stock Ridley Fenix.

The manufacturer doesn't suggest riding the bike if you're over 200lbs or so. Oops. I weigh 220 at times, and will pack up to 10-15 pounds on the bike during commutes on a weekly basis.

I ride the stock 23mm tires at 115 PSI. Online calculators tell me my rear tire should be in the 145-150 PSI range, meaning I should be using a wider tire because I'm heavy.

Despite all this, my bike has performance flawlessly, and my tires only lose maybe 5 PSI a week if I ride about 200 miles.

Oh. I'm also planning to tour on this bike. I'll be carrying about 20lbs of gear, and will be weighing more like 205-210 during the tour, so I figure it should work ok based on my commuting experiences.

Bad idea long-term? think I should look into different wheels and tires? I planned on buying some gatorskins before I go on the tour, but now I'm re-thinking my tire width.

Also losing weight isn't an option.

AristoNYC

I would ride wider tires. I am 6'4 190-200 and I ride 25mm. I am telling my friend who is well over 260 to ride 28's.
Be aware that a manufactures listed width might actually be smaller than they say.

As for the manufactures suggested weight, might have something to do with the rims and spoke count.

Buffalo Buff

If I want to switch from 23's to 25's, how can I tell whether or not I'd need new wheels too?

10 Wheels

700 X 28's for touring with 36 Spoke Wheels.

rousseau

Meh. I weigh more than 215 lbs/95 kg (not saying by how much), and I ride 28-spoke aluminum wheels with 23-mm tires at 110 psi. No problemo, save for maybe every second year or so I crack a rim on a bad pothole that I didn't see coming, requiring a rebuild with a new rim.

AristoNYC

You'll have no problem going to 25mm width tires.

Buffalo Buff

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm buying gatorskins before my late spring / early summer tour, might go with 25's instead of 23's.

What's the difference between folding and non-folding versions of the tires when it comes to ride feel & performance? I'm not concerned with how hard they are to put on and off.

Also if it at all matters I tend to be very observant and do a good job avoiding potholes etc., which helps.

knobster

I've tried both versions and one rides like a brick, the other rides like a stone. They both don't have a great ride, but the folding one's I thought weren't as harsh.

GuitarBob

Agreed. Gatorskins ride like hell, but they do resist punctures. Anyway, you can run 25s no problem and even 28s, which I use on my commuter with narrow rims.

VNA

Foldable tires are a little lighter, somewhat more comfortable and helps that angular momentum--anything over 200 pounds requires strong wheels--don't take the risk of wheel failure going down at 30 mph.

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Oldhead

At least that is what you tell the wife

dvdslw

I'm 6'5, 225lbs and ride 16/20 spoke count Shimano Ultegra wheels with 700x23 Schwalbe One's aired up to 90psi front 100 psi rear (tubeless) and have been going about a year and a half with not even the slightest problem. The Gatorskins seem to do the job but from what I've heard they ride harsh, another Endurance Tire I would consider the Specialized Roubaix Armadillo Elite which the riders at my lbs can't say enough good things about.

STRANA

I have Ultegra wheels as well and in a similar weight class. The wheels have endured off road trips, crashes and record pot holes. They have performed without issue. At the same time another rider I know just went down at 60kmh on a pair of hand made wheels on high end hubs that broke at the flange he is a heavy 145lbs. rider. I think the risk is more in the build quality of your parts and the manufacturers apply a lower weight limit to try and cover themselves. Considering how some litigation can go I don't blame them. That being said the highest end parts can have a lemon. I personally would just keep riding what and how you are.

rpenmanparker 

What does hiw much air pressure is lost have to do with anything. Ideally you should top up your tires before every ride.

VNA

In general road bikes (as in TDF) and their components are designed with a maximum weight of 200 pounds--more or less!
After all you don't see "many" professional cyclists over 200 pounds!
Weight is the enemy number one in cycling wether on the bike or in the bike!

JakiChan

I'm a clyde. 5'11", 270-ish. I ride with 32-spoke wheels (Velocity Deep V, Chris King R45 hubs) with Specialized Roubaix Armadillo Elite tires. They're a "23/25" - the tread is 23 while the casing is 25. Does it matter? Dunno. But I've had no problems.

VNA

In general to calculate tire pressure is to divide your weight in kilograms by 10 to come up with the amount of "bars" (measurement of pressure) Most floor pumps will have "psi" as well as "bars"

So if you are 70 kilograms (154 pounds) you would inflate your tires to 7 bars (101 psi)
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90 pounds of tire pressure is very low for your weight I might add--not so good for the rims and you may have many "snake bites."

merlinextraligh

Where are you seeing that rudely limits the weight to 215?

No reason you can't ride that bike at 250lbs

dvdslw

You may have missed the fact I'm running tubeless which allows lower inflation pressures.

VNA

Alright--no snake bites but damaged rims and wheels!

VNA

This is in the context of road bikes that we see on professional circuits that most of us drool over:
But of course one can ride any bikes one wants but why take risks when cycling is dangerous enough.
It may not be catastrophic failure (god forbid) but rather premature wear etc

Buffalo Buff

The owners manual that came with my Ridley specifies a weight limit of around 200lbs.


Why? I lose about 1 or 2 PSI per week or every 200 miles. I ride every single day. I got into the habit of doing exactly what you recommend because I've seen over 20 people here suggest it, but I don't understand the point. I've gone from checking my tire pressure daily to every third or fourth day, and they're always within 2-3 PSI of where I left them. I also weigh a lot, ride bumpy roads etc. So where does this rule of thumb come from?

Sweenmystr

I also have the Fenix. I'm 6'1" and 255. 23c front tire at 100/110 and same 23c/pressure in the rear tire. I didn't know about such weight limit, I just ride and don't worry about it.

merlinextraligh

Ridley's owner's manual on line puts a weight limit of 125kg (275lbs) on their road bikes. https://data.ridley-bikes.com/manual/manual_en.pdf

As mentioned above that's likely as much to do with wheels as anything, and there's also a safety factor built into that at the recommendation of the lawyers who made them put the weight limits in.

Psimet2001 

+1

As mentioned - it's not the bike, rather it's the wheels. Yes, you haven't had problems yet, but ride the setup for long enough and you'll blow some spokes out odds are, or have perpetual truing issues. The bike itself is not an issue. It's, like all bikes, has enough safety factors rolled in and has usually passed consumer products safety testing (European at least). As for not having a problem yet - no one has a problem until they have a problem. Absence of an issue does not imply one will not occur.

Tires - as mentioned go wider. We routinely put mountain bike width tires on rims that are in the 24mm width range and ran cyclocross tires (34 or even 36mm at the time) on 20mm width rims for decades and decades. The only thing that will limit your tire width will be your frame clearance between the stays and to the underside of the brake bridge in the rear.