Carbon Handlbars
 

Hey there again, Are any of you guys using carbon handlebars? I have read many things about bigger riders and carbon and it seems to be split down the middle. I just dont want to have a failure on the road, which with my luck it would be on a 8% downgrade at 45+ mph. Anyone have carbon bars? Thanks in advance for the help

I started riding about 2.5 months ago after a 10 year hiatus. A buddy of mine got me into it. I am currently training for the short version of the El Tour de Tucson which is 35 miles. So far my longest ride has been 31.44 miles.

I am 5'11" and when I started I was 279. I am now down to 262 and have much more to go.

Here is a picture of me with my first bike shortly after I got it:
http://images.quickblogcast.com/66955-58629/1stride.jpg

and here is the bike I bought yesterday:
http://images.quickblogcast.com/66955-58629/use11.jpg

I am in love with cycling and often find myself daydreaming about my next ride. I am really glad this group is here. It is such a source of information and inspiration.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3238/...b5b90c2c_b.jpg


6', over 300lbs... short legs LOL.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/...d10a82850f.jpg

WOW, I am pleased that there is a site like this....I'm a 6'3" 255 lb clydesdale and just got back into cycling. I started riding again last Friday with a ride to work (16 miles rt) with my new salesman, Huhenio...I think I found a new hobby. I am already looking for a new bike, but will probably wait until Springtime.

Here are some pics of my rides....I'm also a motorcycle guy as well as a shutterbug.


http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...t/DSC00451.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...t/DSC00452.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...t/DSC00465.jpg

This was at 6:50 this morning..

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...t/DSC00514.jpg

Oh, and my favorite bike...

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...t/HPIM0505.jpg

'Nother Clydesdale Heard From
 

Stopped being a running fanatic some 20 years ago and it's been a on/off increase of 25 pounds from 190 to now 215 (at 6' tall) and in my early 60's. I bicycled with my family (Wife and twin Sons) back then and the highlight of our bicycling career was a 400 mi. bike trip from Dunsmuir down to San Jose, CA, but my Sons got into swimming and my Wife and I bought some horses.

Something just clicked an I got the urge to get on a bicycle again and I'm really enjoying it. Have been bicycling for maybe 2-1/2 months and gone some 800 miles. Don't know what I weigh but have gotten thinner and feel much better. The great thing about bicycling is that no matter how hard you ride or how tired you get you can still move around and do outdoor chores. My goal, of course, is to get below 200 lbs. and resign from the Clydesdales!

Welcome to BF.
What bike do you ride?

I just picked up my first road bike after scouring Craigslist for something that wasn't overpriced or garbage. I ended up with a 2006 Tirreno Razza 3.0. I know it's the Performance Bike house brand, but everything about is solid and it has Shimano 105 components. I used to do a little bit of Mountain biking, but the road is a new place for me.

As for me, I just turned 25 and am currently at 270. For about as far back as I can remember I've been heavy. I used to keep it somewhat in check in high school because I played sports. I ate like crap, but at least I was able to burn off something. Then I went to college, stopped playing sports or working out regularly, ate like crap, and partied like crazy. During my senior year I topped at 320. After college the party stopped and I got into a regular life routine. In the blink of an eye without much effort I shed 30+ pound and was thankfully back under 300. A couple of workout kicks later I managed to get of another 30 pounds.

My problem has more recently been a lack of regular physical activity. I actually reasonably careful about what I eat and I can maintain weight. I'm hoping I can stick with road biking and take off even more. I've already ridden a few times and have really enjoyed it. And there's my story...

Im 6'4" 300 lbs. I am a former college football offensive lineman, and there is no need to be this big anymore. I have always liked biking, and dont like the pounding my body takes from running. I just got my first bike, a 1980s Schwinn Le Tour. Im still in College so I cant afford anything too nice right now, but I plan on buying something a little better in the spring.

I must say its nice to see Im not the only big fellow riding.

Hello all, I’m 40 years old, 6’2” tall, and depending on the day weigh in at 235. I’ve just dusted of my bikes and started riding again after a good 8 year layoff after my son was born and fell in love with riding all over again. My wife and I used to ride quite a bit back in the day but having kids put a damper on things. Here’s what’s in the garage, Klein Quantum Race road bike, Cannondale RT2000 road tandem, Boulder mountain tandem, KHS AM1000 mountain bike. I recently installed a child stoker kit to the road tandem so now I have no excuse not to go out and ride. So far my 8 year old son is enjoying it. Now I’m just riding to get in shape and get down to around 210.

6'1" 215 lbs. Riding because I have to do something to get my weight down. Riding a 'permanent loaner' DEAN road bike which was made for someone a couple inches taller than me. Hopefully I will eventually get the funds to get something that fits a little better.

6'3" 220 lbs. I commute daily on a Specialized hardrock, and ride a Rans V-Rex recumbent for evening/weekend/touring rides. Even at 185 lbs I considered myself a "clydesdale".

My weight was flat-line at 185 from age 20 to 30, and has been on a slow incline since then (now age 48). Lately I'm blaming Indiana's adoption of Daylight Savings Time for my most recent weight gain, as it's eliminated by before-work rides.
Cycling has never led to weight loss, only to a reduced rate of gain ;)

6'3" and 280 lbs. I'll NEVER be less than 200 lbs. I read a previous post where someone said they were 6'1" and 215 and their weight was a problem. Whe I graduated from USMC boot camp at Parris Island I weighed 219 lbs. If I were to get below 220 I'd look completely anorexic. Goes to show different body types carry weight differently I guess. I carry the 280 as well as you can imagine. No, I don't look like Brock Lesnar! LOL! I'd just like to get down around 240. Forty pounds can't be that hard to lose by watching my diet and applying a three day per week bike ride. Anyway, I just bought (TODAY) a new Caloi "Frevo". It's the biggest bike they had in the shop so when I measured correctly for it I jumped on it. Who knows, maybe I'll take to this as more of a hobby than a fitness perspective and buy a more expensive and nicer bike. But between golf, hunting and restoring old vehicles it'll be tough. I do hear it's addicting though. Endorphins are like legal crack! LOL!

I am 6'1 and 230. Until I got married I was about 180, at least while I was racing triathlon. I just started biking again, but between the weather and the family it is tough to get out and ride. The doc says its better for me to ride than run as I have high arches which can collapse while running. So I need to get back on my trainer, or figure out other ways to build up my mileage.

I do hear it's addicting
It is. Rode 100 miles Tuesday and today.

Man i am reading a great book called HEFT ON WHEELS. It is a book about a boozing smoking clyde who drops the weight, smokes and alcohol.

I'll check it out.

I've been reading "The Memory Of Running" by Ron McLarty at the recommendation of a fellow C&A member. It's an interesting read that isn't really about cycling as much as it is about a guy who rediscovers life while he happens to be on a bike.

The author also wrote an 'entertaining' book on his boozing, smoking, overeating life. It's titled Lummox, and it makes his pre-Heft on Wheels life read like an extended junior high school locker room discussion on sex and flatulence.

The novel reminds me of the film Forrest Gump in both the protagonist's cluelessness and his having a quest. The film is scheduled for production in 2009/2010, and Tom Hanks would be great in the role. With his performances in Big and Forrest Gump he's raised cluelessness to an art form.

Hey All Iam 48 years old 6'1" 265lbs. Ride a trek 2100 with mavis wheels. I did the 75 mile twin lights tour this year and surperised myself. I think the indoor trainer and being hookup with a hearet monitor helped me during the winter months

Hi...my name is Ben, I have a weight problem *waits for the crowd to say "hi Ben"*

haha just kidding. Anywhoo, I am 5'11 and weigh between 207-210lb. (flucuates)
I Ride a Scattante Americano (58 frame) single gear right now with Shimano Pedals and some aftermarket wheels. I usually ride only 10-20 miles a day just because I am in the mountains and on a single gear it gets very tiresomes REALLY quick.
I just bought an indoor trainer for the winter months (as I write this it is 22* outside) and it helps me out alot though being at college it takes up alot of space. Due to this I am taking it home and looking into a geared bicycle for my next bicycle.

I found a place I belong :) I got a bike fathers day 2008 I had just been to the Dr and had went up again in weight in 4 yrs of setting on my arse I had went from 265 to big already to 371 lbs so I went to my local LBS Al Petri and sons in Lincoln Park Michigan bought a torker 2008 Boardwak 7 speed and Iam now down to 295 lbs I bought a schiwinn 2009 World GS last week > all my bikes i have ever owned as a kid and adult came from this LBS there great folks to deal with They ride what they sell and Al sr is dead but al jr with about 50 yrs as a wrench and Don are great guys the whole family is really

Been a wild summer hi blood presure u name it I had it or got it but everything is inproving as the weight comes off I was never skinny was a ahlete in school always was 220 lbs and was fine .

I had my first crash and I hope my last about a month after I bought the Torker a guy ran a stop sign and hit me well i hit the side a his van and he took off . My house insurace bought me a new bike he got caught and paid them back . So I got another Torker they will take the weight and imho ride nice for a really big guy .

I had to do somthing and I have always like to ride a bike and seem to like it even more now I have had 2 hear attack a double by pass am diabetic but thats really gotten a lot better I can go now with little or no insulin and may get off some pills soon I hope Iam working out 5 to 6 days a week in the gym this winter since it got cold hey iam a 53 yr old fat fart trying to lose weight :D Hey I will always most likely be a clydesdale but I hope a smaller one say about 220 lbs Iam 6 ft tall and whem I was 371 lbs it was awful Iam never going back to that again .

so love the forum and reading all the posts sorry i was so long winded

5'9", currently 248 lbs, started at 255 about a month ago. Originally I weighed about 160 as a kid. I weighed about 170 back in the days when I rode a century every weekend and a double century once a year. That was my best riding weight, as I was always a stocky guy, but I was really fit in those days.

That was over 20 years ago. Marriage, serious illness, home ownership, parenthood, and the job all got in the way over the years. At my worst I was up to 275 about 8 years ago. I've been about 250-255 since then, but I've got type 2 diabetes (both my parents died from it), and it's now or never. I've got to drop the weight. My wife would like me to get gastric bypass surgery. I told her to give me a year to do it the old fashioned way.....to get back on my bikes! :-)

I've temporarily dropped my other obsession, (fishing), and have been spending every spare minute on riding, fixing up bikes, and hanging out here at bikeforums.net. I plan on going out and doing a 40 miler today.

PS Gordo Grande means "big fat guy" in Spanish. My real name is Ross

I'm 6' 6", 270. I get any bigger, they'll tie ropes on me and rent me out to parades. I ride a Giant Yukon mostly. I'm normally about 230, but this new desk job has put on the kilos. I'm afraid to get on my vintage '86 Raleigh Competition as I might oval the rims. The weight has to come off, period.

I'm 6'4" and currently 222 lbs. down from 245 in since starting to ride about 9 weeks ago. Restarted after a long time away to lose weight to make my sailboat (A class catamaran) go faster. Now I'm absolutely loving it and riding about 100 miles or so a week.

Ride a Trek 830 moutain bike converted into a commuter / night ride workout bike, a Schwinn Tempo with a carbon fork and soon to be brifterized (left over parts from upgrading my wifes bike) and bought a Scattante CFR for group rides -- carbon does ride nice even if it is named after poop.

Muscle vs fat,body type
 

I've ridden over 5k miles in 08, maybe 4k in 07. My weight was about 205 the whole time. I probably gained muscle weight but still I think cycling is so efficient that to burn you just need to balance calories vs burned calories. That's what I started doing back in September and have come down to about 198, but have leveled out there, despite being pretty good about eating. I've been tracking my weight on fitday.com and basically playing the numbers game. I've also started running, maybe a month ago sice you can get a quicker workout when pressed for time.
Also being 45 I have definitely noticed that burning fat is much more difficult.

less food+more burned calories = weight loss

I used to do an early morning ride, burn 1200k and the go eat 1200 k of cereal. The body wants back what was burned.