DavisClydesdale

Overall, I love it. It works very well, and is very responsive. Plus, with the SRAM DualDrive, you can shift the equivalent of your front chainrings while you are sitting still. That really helps when you are in a high gear and have to make an abrupt stop. You can then shift to a low gear before you start to move again.

As for the cons, I got a puncture on the rear the other day and had no idea how to remove it with the extra equipment. After getting a ride back, I looked it the manual. It actually comes off very easy, and I now carry the instruction page with me. The DualDrive also means that it will never be able to go on a trainer, if that is important to you.

On a side note, I weighed in this morning... 277.4. Going down!

DavisClydesdale

Thanks for the information. It is always good to know about "large" jerseys. Out of curiosity, based on my pic a few posts above, do you think it would be fine for me? I know that is a hard question, but I am trying to gauge how "large" the XL is.

PrfectHair4ever

DavisClydesdale

Picked up a couple today. Perfect! Much thanks for the recommendation.

shakeNbake

Sweet. I'm thinking of getting them too.

Tom Stormcrowe

Your sensitivity and tact are underwhelming.

DavisClydesdale

I assumed it was his self portrait...

superslomo

Right on DavisClydesdale... glad those worked for you!

Congrats to everyone who's dropping pounds, I haven't been able to drop any at all, and I've been cranking away this summer. People are telling me I look like I'm losing the weight, but the scale doesn't show any of it. Still 215, but feeling stronger each time out... hopefully fat turning into muscle, but that might be too optimistic.

Air

I've only dropped about 13 pounds (and the damn scale won't keep going down! ) but my pants that used to be tight at 42" are now hanging off me and another pair at 40 won't stay up for anything. Another shirt of mine that actually never fit fits great now.

It's not what the scale says but how the clothes fit. Also all the cranking can't be bad

I also find my weight will inch up or drop down. While the going up can creep the going down will happen almost in a few pounds at a shot, then stay there again. Not sure if that's the same for everyone though.

Also definately check out fitday.com or another type of calorie counting device. I was really surprised at how some things I ate regularly were really bad and others that I thought was bad really aren't. Try replacing pasta with whole wheat pasta (or whole wheat pancakes, waffles, bread, etc...) and white rice with brown rice. You'll feel so much fuller after eating half as much. Just made myself a bowl of Fettucini Alfredo using 1% milk, whole wheat pasta, a package of frozen veggies, and a few slices of bacon in the sauce for flavor. 2 cups of that: 414 calories and 9 grams of fat. If that was regular pasta I'd still be eating! Add a slice of bacon into 'diet' type dishes - one slice doesn't add all that much overall but it will make it taste good. Conversely avoid cheese (though low fat cheese is OK). Amazing how much fat is in one freakin' slice of cheese - about 9 grams of fat. Between one slice of cheese or a big bowl of pasta guess where my choice would be.

Hambone

if you can get past the initial "chick-ness" of it, Weight Watchers is pretty user friendly. I'm down ~60 pounds since I started WW less than a year ago.

Either way, exercise alone will not do it as you show. A big guys like one of us riding really hard for an hour hardly burns up three slices of pizza. Loosing weight is about controlling what you eat. The exercise will help and it will give you a cushion if you misbehave. But loosing and keeping weight off is about relearning how/what to eat.

Tom Stormcrowe

Superslomo, Don't sweat it! You are toning up, building bone and muscle mass as your fatty mass depletes. You may not be losing weight, but you ARE getting healthier!

DavisClydesdale

Even if you see no improvement in fat and weight, I am sure it is doing wonders for your cardiovascular health. Get that heart pounding on a regular basis! The weight and fat will eventually come off.

DavisClydesdale

I noticed that too. I weigh myself first thing every morning and record it in excel. If I graph it out, it looks like a stair case tipped slightly to the side. Little gains, big drop, little gains, big drop. I also have a column that is a 7-day moving average. I consider that to be my true weight as your weight can vary wildly from day to day based on many factors.

PrfectHair4ever

hahah i still laugh when i see that picture

Air

GEEK! But cool

I admit in fitday I won't put in the ups because they're depressing, so I only post losses. My graph looks better than yours (even if it's not as accurate) - HA!

Hambone

I was wishing you had put your weight because I wanted to note that I was (or was not) lighter than Air...

Your post actually points to some intersting research I read a few years back. It has helped me in my battle to loose weight. (Down about 75# (from 48" to 42" waist) in a little under a year.)

You will plateau as you loose wieght at the same body mass percentages you stayed even at on your way up the weight gain ladder.

(It is actually more accurate as percentages than real weight because of muscle mass issues and the such (but it is pretty close for most people anyway...)

If you weighed 200 pounds for ten years. Then you put on a pound a month for two years, then stayed constant at 225# for a year before ballooning up to 275# over the next year. You will find it comparitively easier to loose that first fifty. Then your weight loss will kind of taper off, and you will stay steady until either you kick up your activity or enough time just passes and you start loosing again.

You will then drop the 25# pretty efficiently and then plateau again at 200#. It is kind of like the longer you stay at a weight/body mass the more your system thinks that is the "correct" weight for you. So what happens is when you hit that weight on the way down, your matabalism slows to correct for the lower calloric intake.

(The reasearch was done by the Rockefeller Institute here in NY if anyone wants to look it up. Reading the original will probably make more sense than the memory of a fat old numbers guy...)

Air

That makes a lot of sense - and is probably what's going on with me.

My lightest with my frame was 180 when I was maybe a Junior in HS (and that low point probably didn't stay like for for more than a few months - I've always been on the bigger side). I used to landscape every day, would eat 10 bagels and still lost weight (man those were the days!). Stopped landscaping. Would fluctuage in the low 200's (220-250 range). About 7 years ago started going to school in the city. Weight would fluctuate more in the 230-250 range with a high of 280. Started swing dancing, weight went down to the 230's. Stopped (stupid jealous gf), weight back up to 280's. 10 months later decided to take it up again - but this time concentrate on all the fast dancing. Stayed mostly around 250. Was eating crap and hating life for a bit so up near the 275 mark. Decided me no gusta, brought in bike, counting calories (this was 4 months ago), the first 13 came off super easy. Very hard to ease below the 260 mark at the moment but clothes are fitting more like I"ve lost 20. Probably that whole BMI people throw around

Dubbayoo

Is a Cervelo soloist team a durable/comfortable ride? I've had my heart set on titanium but I'll be 50 before I can afford it. I've always thought alum to be harsh, a holdover from old C-dales. I'm 5'8, 240 and I'll do mostly 40-50 mile rides with an occasional century/triathlon.

mister

That's pretty interesting. It makes sense - comes off in reverse order it was put on. Like when you load a moving truck and then unload it.

TeamPlayers

Well I wasn't going to join this forum but then I saw this thread and I just had to.
5'11'' 220lbs and I've been riding since I was about 12. Started out on a Columbus(1985), moved up to a Cannondale R500(1999), and currently riding a MBK Prospeed. Do I qualifly?

Odd1586

Well, after a couple years of struggling to find places I can easily get to for some singletrack, I'm selling my mtn. bike (and both my remaining BMX bikes from even before the mtn biking phase) and I'm getting a road bike. I've been living in kirsville for some time, and during this past summer I've had classes (I'm a student at Truman State University) and I work out in the evening and run in the mornings. I am beginning to remember how boring running is compared to biking, so I'm picking up a bike before fall semester (and some intense research for debate starts).

I decided to go for a Specialized Allez Elite Double. I'll be picking it up from a shop in St. Louis (Sunset Cyclery to be exact--good guys, I also used to ride with some guys who worked there from time to time). Anyway, I'll post some pics when I pick up the bike next week!

Hambone

as long as you don't go getting all motivated and loose more than 21 pounds.

Air

Bah - that's my freakin' target!

DavisClydesdale

Absolutely! Welcome!

DavisClydesdale

My target is about 205, but who knows. When I get there, I might be motivated to make it 190.