FarHorizon

Yay - another Kona owner!

FarHorizon

Which all brings up my next question - The majority of youse guys seem to ride more or less "stock" road and MTB bikes. Have you had reliability issues with any parts of your bike due to being larger/stronger/heavier than the "usual" rider?

chaadster

With a historic range of 215-240lb, no, no problems here.

However, over the many years (yeah, decades) I've been riding, I've known non-clydes who've broken things like bars, saddles, seatposts, etc., and I'm willing to bet that setup and riding style are factors in reliability issues as much as weight.

Granted, at some weight-- I don't know what, but I'd guess north of 270lb-- you're simply outside the spec range of some products, but at the same time, I've known guys who overtorque bolts, run stems and seatposts past minimum insertion marks, keep their bikes in poor repair, can't pick a clean line to save themselves, slam shifts at worst time, and don't know how to lift and balance their weight over obstacles and impacts.

That's the kind of stuff that causes reliability issues.

FarHorizon

Hi @chaadster - You make excellent points - I hadn't thought about poor maintenance and riding habits. Since I am one of those "north of 270#," I'm dismayed to see that very, very few manufacturers give maximum weight limits on their bikes (or parts). I'm diligent and informed about both maintenance practices and best riding habits, but I'm still wary of my parts.

I buy wheels, for example, with the strongest, double-wall rims, four-cross spoke patterns, and LOTS of spokes. I'm careful to ride the largest tires I can and to inflate them to significantly less than the maximum sidewall pressures. I'm diligent about inspecting the handlebars, stem, and seat post for stress cracking or bending. I've chosen a steel frame, rather than a carbon fibre or aluminum one for better durability.

That said, I seem to be in the minority among the Athena/Clyde crowd. So obviously some manufacturers include generous safety margins in their bikes & parts. But there's no way to know which manufacturers these are! I've owned racing bikes before, one with Campagnolo radial-spoke wheels. After breaking some spokes, I promptly decided that these were not the wheels for me. But since the wheels didn't come with any maximum recommended weight, I had to try to see whether they'd hold me or not. Fortunately, their failure wasn't catastrophic, but it could have been...

There really should be some way to evaluate the safety margin of bikes & parts, but as of now, there seems to be no standard. Further, the manufacturers decline to make their limits public because it might impact sales. So the Athena/Clyde becomes the unwilling safety experiment. Caveat Emptor.

Also, maybe it's time to redefine the weight limits for being an Athena/Clyde. For females, maybe 200+ is a fine starting point, but for males, I'd think there would be little or no risk until 250 to 275 was exceeded. Just speculating...

delcrossv

Commuter:



Racebike (w/o the racing wheelset):

Pamestique 

Why would there be a greater risk for a female to be more than 200 but no risk to males until they reach 275?

Weight is weight regardless of male or female. I get that some bikes, especially mountain bikes, are sometimes made with lighter/smaller components if Women Specific but most ladies ride the same bike as guys. While Julianas are women spcific, they are built on the same platform as the guys' Superlight.

All of my bikes are custom to some extent, because of my weight (220). My road built is fully custom having been built by John Slawta of Landshark bikes. The frame is steel thus can withstand the ends of time and my fat butt. The mountain bikes are aluminum. I could have purchased carbon frames but I am not convinced 1) carbon is suitable for mountain biking unless I have a professional team supporting me and can replaced bikes when they break. And 2) at 220 lbs, buying lighter carbon makes any sense. All of my wheels are hand built so I personally never have any problems with spokes breaking but I do have friends, just even around 200 lbs, who have broken spokes on carbon wheels or something with less than 32 spokes. I have also upgraded all the components including forks and shocks.

Also, while I enjoy mountain biking, I realize I am heavy and tax my full-suspension... I am careful off jumps and don't take risks. Last thing i need to do is bust my bike apart and send me to the hospital. I do belioeve almost all bikes have weight limits and those limits can be taxed, but yes heavy riders should proceed with caution.

10 Wheels

700 X 18 tires...Cracked two frames in 39,000 miles

FarHorizon

You're absolutely RIGHT. Stress on the bike and its parts is not gender specific. Thanks for pointing it out!

chaadster

Old, old school!

bransom

I'd like to throw out my experience with wheels, being a fairly beefy guy (6 ft. And 252 lbs.): My main road bike is an old Cannondale R500 that the previous owner built up with 105 components. The wheels are old Mavics with — count 'em — 24 spokes. Yep, big old me riding 24-spoke wheels with (for several years) 23 mm tires. A couple years ago I did switch to 28 mm tires which is about all that will fit. Meanwhile, I've had the bike since around 2005 and have ridden something around 14,000 miles on it, and in all those miles, I've broken exactly one spoke. That was a year ago. I had the spoke replaced and the wheel trued and away I went without further problems.

So when someone says, "OMG, you need super heavy 36-spoke wheels or your bike will crumple like paper!" — well, I just sort of laugh.

jsigone

Like @Pamestique, I have a problem as well

Singlespeed 29er w/ carbon rigid fork


5x5" travel 29er for those days I want to feel like a off road truck


new XC racer I just picked up on black friday. F1 style handling but for dirt. This way I won't be forced to race my singlespeed all the time


For the retro days and light rides around town is my 87' schwinn circuit with columbus sl tubes


CX do it all bike, was my main rig in my recovery months on the road. 25c slicks for paved, 35c for do it all grass/dirt/paved


new to me road bike is the Felt F4, still going through some upgrades, now have SRAM force on there vs the 105s shown. Got a new Kurve saddle that I'm waiting for the new seat post to install. Might update this pic later as I get it hot rodded. Rocking Stans A400 wheels w/ conti 23c GP2 tires w/ tubes

jaxgtr

I've never had any issues with 15K miles under my belt and I have been riding road bikes since I was 330-340-ish? I started with some Mavic Reflex 32 spoke rims that just recently had to be retired as the brake surface was done.

chaadster

My winter/trainer sled, an '02 Lemond Buenos Aires, here fitted with an odd wheel/tire combo; Open Pro rims w/ Powertap hub is usually for trainer work, and the front Conti GP Attack 22c that usually just does stand-in duty, were on for this road ride as the usual Velocity Aerohead wheel set (also blue) was waiting to be shod with a new pair of Panaracer GravelKing 23c. I'd love to get some 25c on there, but there is simply no room under the brake bridge for those and fenders, even these ultra slim Crud Road Racer MkII units.

dagray

My main ride is a 60cm Raleigh Revenio 2.0 aluminum frame and carbon fork. I did upgrade the back wheel to a 32 spoke wheel. It has FSA compact crank with Shimano Sora groupset (nine speed cassette). I ride Vittoria Zaffiro 700x25mm slicks inflated to 130psi.

CACycling

'08 Fuji Roubaix RC


'11 Fuji Cross 3.0


'92 Diamond Back Ascent DX

Midtown

Beautiful bikes. How do you like the Diamond Back?
I'm looking at a 1991 DB Axis and have never owned one.

LGHT

I like this bike. I picked up a dirt cheap hybrid to ride the various dirt trials / paths close to home and after a few rides I'm really starting to enjoy the dirt more and more. Considering getting something like this that can really handle just about anything I can through at it..

gjhsu

Yay! Another Fuji rider. Very nice bikes!

CACycling

I like Diamond Backs just fine.

'92 Topanga (younger son - yes, he's tall)


'92 Sorrento (older son)


'92 Ascent DX (wife - same as mine except hes is an 18" frame)


I really like the feel of the early DBs. I had this '86 Ascent before I picked up the '92s


And it rode really well but the '92s popped up on eBay NIB and I couldn't resist. The better DBs of that era had really nice frame geometry and good quality steel. By the mid to late '90s, quality really started dropping off. It started with the lower-end bikes (Outlook) and moved up the line as time went on.

lost_in_endicot

I've got to work on some better pictures of my bikes!

Fuji Crosstown 2.5, my commuter:


Fuji Sportif 1.7:


Schwinn Voyageur:

jsigone

If you do jump in and get a full suspension, stay big name brands to get most from your dollar. You are paying for the patients on that suspension design or royalties on that good suspension design. All others will pedal bob like a mofo or have unwanted flex. Try a bunch before you buy, even more so then a roadie. Roadies fit like a glove or don't, full suspension MTBs are a different beast. Hard tail is mostly about the fork and shifter set, than wheels, than frame name. Good fork upgrades are $500-1200 these days

FarHorizon

Isn't it AMAZING how bike prices have soared? At one time, a $500 bike was "lunatic fringe." Anymore, even a entry-level quality bike bumps $1K. I've found a local bike co-op that has a grant & gets all the unclaimed bikes from the city. They're all stripped for parts. The neighborhood kids come to the co-op, and if they'll put in the effort to build their own bike, they get to keep it for free! The guy that runs it loans them tools & shows them how to work on the bike. At the same time, they get coached on responsibility and how to use what they've learned to help the other kids. I donate all my spare parts to them, and buy the parts I need there too. The kids also build bikes to sell to the public & the money gets recycled back into the co-op. Next time I need a bike, I'll shop there first.

Mark Stone

Me and the World Famous Black Knight Bike, about 2 years ago. The Black Knight is still in heavy use . . .but I don't have the coke crate any longer.

chaadster

Whoa, that's cool! Can you send me a link to the co-op? I need to get out of the rat race...

FarHorizon

Repairing their rides | People | The Advocate ? Baton Rouge, Louisiana

https://bikebike.org/organizations/FrontYardBikes/

Front Yard Bikes teaching lessons much greater than bicycle maintenance | WVLA NBC33 | Baton Rouge News, Weather and Sports

Front Yard Bikes | Programs - Front Yard Bikes

Front Yard Bikes teaches local children valuable skills - lsureveille.com: Entertainment

Front Yard Bikes | Ride for the Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFh9IE1bMkc

Earn a bike - [225]