Heavy person on road bike?
Discussion
Edit - Sorry it should have said Heavy person on a road bike..
Chaps
I'm still looking for a road bike and have just been on the phone to a LBS talking about 2012 Cube Peloton road bikes. I was just gathering information on them and during the conversation, the Manager i spoke to (advisor didn't know about them) told me to research the wheels as due to my weight (15 and a half stone) the wheels on these bikes wouldn't last very far and the first pothole would buckle them! His consensus was excellent bike and components but not built for people over 13 and a bit stone.
If true, am i going to be faced with this issue on any road bike i look to buy? I've had brilliant advice before when i was all set to get a Cannondale, but after trying a couple i came away knowing the geometry of a Synapse model suited me much better than a CAAD frame. Currently the model i wanted is pretty sold out in my size and i can't get away from how good the Cube bikes look. It was only after a call about them that i'm now wondering whether i've got to continue commuting on the hardtail before i'll weigh sufficiently for a road bike....
Cheers
Chaps
I'm still looking for a road bike and have just been on the phone to a LBS talking about 2012 Cube Peloton road bikes. I was just gathering information on them and during the conversation, the Manager i spoke to (advisor didn't know about them) told me to research the wheels as due to my weight (15 and a half stone) the wheels on these bikes wouldn't last very far and the first pothole would buckle them! His consensus was excellent bike and components but not built for people over 13 and a bit stone.
If true, am i going to be faced with this issue on any road bike i look to buy? I've had brilliant advice before when i was all set to get a Cannondale, but after trying a couple i came away knowing the geometry of a Synapse model suited me much better than a CAAD frame. Currently the model i wanted is pretty sold out in my size and i can't get away from how good the Cube bikes look. It was only after a call about them that i'm now wondering whether i've got to continue commuting on the hardtail before i'll weigh sufficiently for a road bike....
Cheers
Provided the manufacturers themselves don't set a maximum weight limit, you'll be 'reet. Sure, you might do best to avoid smashing into the deepest potholes, but that applies to anyone. Larger volume (25mm+) tyres will ease things a bit, and if you're REALLY worried about wheels (or indeed, you do break a set), get some stronger ones built: 32 or even 36 spoke wheels with a proven rim like the Mavic Open Pro or Ambrosio Excellight will be perfect. Although it's worth remembering that build, rather than parts, is what really determines the strength. Get in touch with http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/,http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk/ or http://www.harryrowland.info/ and ask them re. wheels and weights 
Jimbo. said:
Provided the manufacturers themselves don't set a maximum weight limit, you'll be 'reet. Sure, you might do best to avoid smashing into the deepest potholes, but that applies to anyone. Larger volume (25mm+) tyres will ease things a bit, and if you're REALLY worried about wheels (or indeed, you do break a set), get some stronger ones built: 32 or even 36 spoke wheels with a proven rim like the Mavic Open Pro or Ambrosio Excellight will be perfect. Although it's worth remembering that build, rather than parts, is what really determines the strength. Get in touch with http://www.wheelsmith.co.uk/,http://www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk/ or http://www.harryrowland.info/ and ask them re. wheels and weights
Many thanks for the advice Jimbo.If i went down the stronger wheels route, am i looking at a lot more money on top?
I really want the road bike to up my fitness more and more with the aim of completing 100 mile sportive type events, but it's going to be a worry buying a road bike if it's not going to cope with me riding it.
The chap i spoke to menioned the 24 spokes on a Fulcrum wheel from this:
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Attempt-Triple-2011-R...
Looking at the 2012 models, they have different wheels but i'm not sure whether they'll be any stronger without a bit more research
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Cube-Peloton-Race-Triple-2...
Cheers
I bought a Scott Speedster last year, my first road bike after many years on mtbs. I'm 6ft and 15 stone approx and it never occured to me that the wheels might not be up to supporting my weight until I rolled down a kerb, something I'm used to on an mtb, and heard a twang from the rear. A spoke had gone and what's more, taken the rear mech with it. Some time later another went and it was then that I found out that there was a fault with the spokes on those particular wheels (Alex rims). This surprised me as they're not the lightest wheelset around by any means. Spokes were replaced free of charge and no trouble since. So I'd say that it's pretty important to get a well built wheelset with good quality spokes rather than go for a lightweight set that breaks on you. And avoid potholes and kerb hopping if you can (difficult if mtbs are your normal mode of cycling).
The Cube website says their road bikes have a permissable total weight of 115kg, so if you're not overloading it and it breaks then I'd say it's not fit for purpose.
http://www.cube.eu/en/service/manuals/
http://www.cube.eu/en/service/manuals/
102kgs is not an issue on a road bike but bear in mind the stress going through the seat post, stem and bars as well as the wheels. 36 hole wheels are a worthwhile investment for two reasons. They are stronger and mean you can keep the factory ones for the future but also, there is no point waiting flew a spoke on the factory wheel to go because that could be 50 miles from home.... open pros on tiagra everyday.....
All good advice as previous in this thread. I've consistently weighed over 100kg (average 104kg) over the last couple of years and been riding a giant tcr advanced on the stock ksyrium elite wheels.
Average 2000km a year on the not particularly smooth roads of Herts. Wheels have been faultless over the last couple of years apart from the odd bit of brake rub whilst climbing out of the saddle and first mechanical fault last weekend with a broken drive side spoke that left me stranded and call of shame to wife for a pick-up.
Imagine my surprise whilst researching repair options to find on mavics website that my wheels are only rated to 100kg (assume this doesn't take into account weight of bike). So I have been riding over weight limit for last couple of years!
Best thng to do is check out bike and wheel manufacturer websites to see max recommended weights. There was an interesting article in Oct issue of cycling plus on heavy riders of over 100kg.
At your weight you'll be fine it's only when you reach 100kg+ that you may have problems. Bike manufacturers without weight limits are giant and cervelo and Shimano for wheels.
Personally as I value my time on the road and don't get much of it these days with a 9month old I'm going for a stronger set of handbuilt wheels. From what I've gleaned from speaking to various wheel builders the strength of the wheels comes primarily from no of spokes and to lesser extent the rim.
Open pro on tiagras in previous reply are the rims (open pros) and hubs (tiagras).
My new wheels will be 32 spokes front and rear compared to 18 front / 24 rear on my current wheels. Interestingly one of the wheel builders categorically stated he wouldn't sell me anything with less than 36 front and rear!
Another reason to go for more spokes is that in the event of a spoke failure your wheel is more likely to stay true and get you home. My rear wheel having only 24 spokes was so out of true even with brakes opened up it was unrideable.
Why don't you give a few wheel builders a call (wheel smith, Paul Hewitt, Harry rowland, strada) and see what they would recommend? They'll be able to build to a budget you set and you could pay ~£900 for s top of range wheel set with chris king hubs, sapim cxray spokes and velocity rims to something more reasonable such as shimano 105 hubs for around 300.
You could put the wheels that come with the bike on eBay and put the money towards a set of hand built wheels.
Properly maintained they will be an investment and give you confidence they won't fail on you for many years - well that's my justification for spending more money on my bike and also that I've lost over a stone with my diet and promised myself a new set of wheels when I dropped below 100kg!
Average 2000km a year on the not particularly smooth roads of Herts. Wheels have been faultless over the last couple of years apart from the odd bit of brake rub whilst climbing out of the saddle and first mechanical fault last weekend with a broken drive side spoke that left me stranded and call of shame to wife for a pick-up.
Imagine my surprise whilst researching repair options to find on mavics website that my wheels are only rated to 100kg (assume this doesn't take into account weight of bike). So I have been riding over weight limit for last couple of years!
Best thng to do is check out bike and wheel manufacturer websites to see max recommended weights. There was an interesting article in Oct issue of cycling plus on heavy riders of over 100kg.
At your weight you'll be fine it's only when you reach 100kg+ that you may have problems. Bike manufacturers without weight limits are giant and cervelo and Shimano for wheels.
Personally as I value my time on the road and don't get much of it these days with a 9month old I'm going for a stronger set of handbuilt wheels. From what I've gleaned from speaking to various wheel builders the strength of the wheels comes primarily from no of spokes and to lesser extent the rim.
Open pro on tiagras in previous reply are the rims (open pros) and hubs (tiagras).
My new wheels will be 32 spokes front and rear compared to 18 front / 24 rear on my current wheels. Interestingly one of the wheel builders categorically stated he wouldn't sell me anything with less than 36 front and rear!
Another reason to go for more spokes is that in the event of a spoke failure your wheel is more likely to stay true and get you home. My rear wheel having only 24 spokes was so out of true even with brakes opened up it was unrideable.
Why don't you give a few wheel builders a call (wheel smith, Paul Hewitt, Harry rowland, strada) and see what they would recommend? They'll be able to build to a budget you set and you could pay ~£900 for s top of range wheel set with chris king hubs, sapim cxray spokes and velocity rims to something more reasonable such as shimano 105 hubs for around 300.
You could put the wheels that come with the bike on eBay and put the money towards a set of hand built wheels.
Properly maintained they will be an investment and give you confidence they won't fail on you for many years - well that's my justification for spending more money on my bike and also that I've lost over a stone with my diet and promised myself a new set of wheels when I dropped below 100kg!
Edited by crashS2K on Saturday 29th October 21:35
Edited by crashS2K on Saturday 29th October 21:42
Edited by crashS2K on Saturday 29th October 21:51
crashS2K - Fantastic post, thank you.
I will definitely take all that on board, starting with how much weight a potential bike can take etc and look into the custom wheel option. Very interesting to hear you've been riding on wheels that aren't rated as heavy as you are as well.
Cheers!
I will definitely take all that on board, starting with how much weight a potential bike can take etc and look into the custom wheel option. Very interesting to hear you've been riding on wheels that aren't rated as heavy as you are as well.
Cheers!
Guys, can i ask what bikes/wheels you have please?
The chap in the LBS didn't seem as worried when he was trying to promote the Giant Defy/TCR range so maybe it's more the wheels on the Cube bikes that aren't very strong.... maybe i need to find another opinon at a different LBS that sells Cube bikes....
The chap in the LBS didn't seem as worried when he was trying to promote the Giant Defy/TCR range so maybe it's more the wheels on the Cube bikes that aren't very strong.... maybe i need to find another opinon at a different LBS that sells Cube bikes....
Do yourself a favour and get the supplying bike shop to take the factory supplied wheels off your hands and get some decent hand built wheels. They're stronger but generally also give a more compliant ride and crucially any bike shop can fix them for buttons if you break s spoke in short order. Break a spoke on some of the fancy factory built wheels and you could be out of action for a couple of weeks and a lot lighter in the pocket.
I've got a Condor bike...one of the reasons I got one is that each bike is built exactly to your spec so you can have whichever wheels and combinations of group set you want.
I've got a Condor bike...one of the reasons I got one is that each bike is built exactly to your spec so you can have whichever wheels and combinations of group set you want.
Beardy10 said:
Do yourself a favour and get the supplying bike shop to take the factory supplied wheels off your hands and get some decent hand built wheels. They're stronger but generally also give a more compliant ride and crucially any bike shop can fix them for buttons if you break s spoke in short order............................
Hear, hear!!!Hand built wheels - better, stronger and last (a lot) longer.
Edited by Saddle bum on Sunday 30th October 16:16
I weigh more than that!
I have a number of bikes and different wheels and ride in Devon where smooth tarmac simply doesn't exist. No problems apart from a buckled wheel when hitting an 8 inch deep (I measured it!) pothole hidden underwater at about 20 miles an hour. To be honest, I'm not sure anything would have survived it.
If you can get a decent wheel builder, then go that way. The best wheels I have were built to order and are open pro rims, ultegra hubs and DT swiss spokes and have needed no maintenance in 5 years!
Also, bear in mind the weight on a Tandem!! Wheels are very strong if built properly. Just make sure you give them a chance by putting the correct amount of air in the tyres!!
I have a number of bikes and different wheels and ride in Devon where smooth tarmac simply doesn't exist. No problems apart from a buckled wheel when hitting an 8 inch deep (I measured it!) pothole hidden underwater at about 20 miles an hour. To be honest, I'm not sure anything would have survived it.
If you can get a decent wheel builder, then go that way. The best wheels I have were built to order and are open pro rims, ultegra hubs and DT swiss spokes and have needed no maintenance in 5 years!
Also, bear in mind the weight on a Tandem!! Wheels are very strong if built properly. Just make sure you give them a chance by putting the correct amount of air in the tyres!!
When I started riding I was about that weight, I destroyed a set of Shimano RS10 in a matter of weeks, the spokes just snapped when I pulled away and went up short hills etc.
The bought some Mavic Aksiums and they were fine and I've sinced stopped about 12 kg and am upgrading to Ksyriums as I didn't want to wreck them.
The bought some Mavic Aksiums and they were fine and I've sinced stopped about 12 kg and am upgrading to Ksyriums as I didn't want to wreck them.
LBS gave me a bog standard Specialized Allez Sport for use and said dont worry about weight. Avoid bumps, kerbs, holes and lose some weight was the 'advice'.
There was something about the weight limit on the bike but they said I should be fine.
And guess what? One long ride and small hill and funny noises from spokes. Popped back, all fixed and loose spokes tightened.
The wheels got slightly tweaked prior to three day ride again and no issues 700 miles later.
Dropped stone and a half which may have helped....
My guess is go with the bike you want and fit and then (and then ONLY then) treat yourself to new wheels if required
Oh, and make friends with a good LBS (All tweaks were no charge)
There was something about the weight limit on the bike but they said I should be fine.
And guess what? One long ride and small hill and funny noises from spokes. Popped back, all fixed and loose spokes tightened.
The wheels got slightly tweaked prior to three day ride again and no issues 700 miles later.
Dropped stone and a half which may have helped....
My guess is go with the bike you want and fit and then (and then ONLY then) treat yourself to new wheels if required
Oh, and make friends with a good LBS
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