OT: Going to the mat-tress....
 

It's raining here as Hanna passes by, so since I can't ride, I thought I'd ask a question.

I'm shopping for a new bed. I want to switch to a twin instead of the bigger sizes I've used before, and also go to a platform instead of a box spring. My concern is that over the years I've broken two box springs from a combination of my weight and my restless sleep. Should I avoid a platform bed? I weigh a lot less now than I did then, but I'm still 275 and still restless. Any suggestions?

I dunno. No experience with platforms to fall back on.

I would like to hear a sleep report after you get some break in snoozes under your belt though. I have a swamp for a lower back and have considered this route when it's time to replace our mattress set.

Don't laugh, but the best sleep I've ever gotten was on a Futon. Not one of the cheap ones Walmart sells, but a good quality one with a Futon pad that's a foot thick and a wooden platform.

I love my Ikea platform bed. I have the regular pine slats, but there's also a layered and glued birch slat available.

I also recall looking at the Ramblin Wood beds, which have options for hardwood (poplar) slats and also extra slats for more support.

Look into select Comfort beds. My wife and I have a King and it's hands down one of the best investments I've ever made. We've had it going on four years now and you wouldn't be able to tell it from a new one. You will get a better night sleep and feel better in the morning. I make far less trips to the chiropractor since owning this bed.

I recently got a Select Comfort Sleep Number bed about 6 months ago. Best bed I have every owned as my wife likes a softer bed and I like mine a little more firm. It's perfect for both. her number is 40 and mine is 55. I highly recommend them. They are a little more expensive than a standard mattress, but I won't own anything else from now on. While you can get the platform for the bed, it is not required. I also have the king size bed.

I recently bought a new bed frame that wasn't designed to be used with a box spring. My old mattress was pretty old, so I bought a new mattress, too. Went to a couple of mattress stores, tested several out, and finally settled on one. I like a firm mattress, but when the new one finally arrived at my house and was placed on the new bed frame... I was surprised to find that it was as hard as a brick! Nothing like it felt in the store... where all the mattresses were placed on top of box springs.

It hadn't occurred to me when testing mattresses that my new bed frame wasn't going to "give" at all and would thus make a mattress seem more firm. I ended up adding a memory foam pad to the top of the mattress, which makes it quite nice, but if I had it do over again I would have picked a mattress that was a bit less firm. This might also be a consideration for you if you buy a platform bed...

Are you crazy? Go for the big bed! I have about a foot and a half on the edge of our bed, she has the rest along with the blankets! Enjoy the big bed while you can cause she's surely going to take it,.............. along with the closet space!:roflmao2:

A decent mattress costs about $1500. I'd recommend a Serta Perfect Sleeper or a Sealy Posturepedic.

We recently got a Sears o pedic memory foam mattress amazing. Since my wife sells them I figured she knows best and she does.

Beware of chemical offgassing from mattresses. I bought a new futon mattress a while ago and had to return it due to the overwhelming odor. I didn't dare sleep on it.

I'm single and I'm short on space here. A twin is going to be fine, and in fact I found what I am looking for. I'm holding off on the purchase till after I see how much it's going to cost to service my car and change my bike this week.

And the man wondered if he was cyclist.:thumb:

I love IKEA stuff too.

Which reminds me, their store in Conshohocken, PA, is next to a bike path.

They also have a 236 square foot model home to walk through, supposedly owned by a cyclist. Or at least some guy riding a mountain bike in photographs outside the model says it's his home. I didn't see any place to store a bike, however. :)

I can give you an ANTI-RECOMMENDATION only.

I currently have a memory foam style bed (with pillow top). I've found memory foam is not a good material for "big guys" like us. We sink too much into it and the mattress needs constant flipping/rotation. Unfortunately, I can't even flip mine as I got a pillow top, so I have rotate it constantly.

I suggest staying away from memory foam beds.

KT...Good to hear from ya!

+1 for a better quality futon and wood frame (but I'd go for the double size for a little extra leg room. If you thrash about I'd worry about you falling off the twin sized bed).

In the (twisted) words of Mark Twain.....

"The reports of my death were an exaggeration". ;) :p

I grew up in Holland and I don't recall even seeing Box springs in stores till the late 1980's. My family's favorite bed is Auping. Too bad it costs as much to stip it to NY city as it costs to get it from NYC to Buffalo NY. The beds are only 6" thick, but increadibly supportive and comfortable. My parents have had their base since the mid 1970's and replaced the matress pads once in the early 1990's. I've had various spring mattresses with box springs, and I can tell you that I HATE box springs. I had one that started to squeek after a few years (not covered under warrentee ofcourse). One of the box springs under our current bed broke on one side. We turned it around so we don't notice it, but we hope to get an IKEA bed with wooden slats for support and then upgrade to a better mattress.

If you are on the taller end of things, you can get extended twin beds. These are the same length as a King (it uses the exdact same box spring as a King size bed as well except the King uses two). As far as materials go, everything I've read state you should not expect to get more 10 to 15 years out of a matress.

Happy riding,
André

I'll second Tom - I have a very high quality Futon mattress (with springs) with wooden platform that I'll sleep on a lot because it is really comfortable. I've broken all my box springs and while the salesmen was saying that the mattress won't last as long because the platform doesn't give like a box spring I think I'll take the stable base and replace the mattress a year or two earlier instead.

A twin though? Man I couldn't do that again, feel like I'm not allowed to move because I'd fall off the edge of the bed. Again.

Slats are better then a solid piece of wood. My mom had a day bed with twin mattress on top of a piece of plywood, and everytime I'd sleep in it, my arm would go numb because there just wasn't enough give. Might have been better if the mattress wasn't also really hard, but the two together was just painful. She later replaced the plywood with an actual daybed support thingy and its better now.

I've had a platform bed with slats, though, for 3-4 years now, and its been fine. I threw away the box spring I had with the mattress I had before I bought the bed, and didn't have any problems. A few months ago I bought a tempurpedic and its been great, although I wished I'd looked at the Ikea latex mattress before I bought.

9-inch extra firm custom made futon on the floor.
Some day i'll build a nice platform to go under it... probably during roller season.

Is there any reason you can't take a standard bed frame, add "Ikea like" slats and effectively convert it to a 'platform bed'? I would love to get rid of my boxspring but have a mahogany bed that I'd really like to keep. Has anyone ever tried it?