Am I to fat to bike

[guitarpete247]

Hi, I'm a 53 years old man, 5.11 and weigh 16 stone, after many years in a car I'm hoping I'm nether too old or fat to be able to ride again, my main objective is to lose weigh and hopefully gain some fitness at the same time, for starters, even through I will be riding on the road, taking my 16 stone weight into account, would a mountain bike be better than a road one? sorry if that's a daft question

Thank you

Hi. Just seen you're from Coalville. Only 7 miles from our village. If you want someone to ride out with I'm willing (when I get home Aug 20th).

 

[stephen.rooke]

Posted this on another thread a while a go, i started cycling 4 years ago, have been off and on but now solidly riding for the last 2, my starting weight was around 18-19stone and im now down to about 13, gone from couch potato to being able to ride 150miles, race and tt. the main thing is to have fun riding, it's one of the best sports to lose weight, as long as you spin it's not very hard on knees whereas something like running would hurt more at heavier weights. the hardest part is the first few months when your muscles are adapting and everything seems a bit tough. just keep spinning, stick at it and you'll soon be flying. I've found the best thing to keep new riders involved is for them to join a local club and make friends, you soon have people wanting to ride all the time and gives you motivation to get out

 

[Lee_M]

Hi, I'm a 53 years old man, 5.11 and weigh 16 stone, after many years in a car I'm hoping I'm nether too old or fat to be able to ride again, my main objective is to lose weigh and hopefully gain some fitness at the same time, for starters, even through I will be riding on the road, taking my 16 stone weight into account, would a mountain bike be better than a road one? sorry if that's a daft question

Thank you

I'm almost 55, started riding again a couple of years ago and until earlier this year I was 16 stone - now down to under 15. road bikes can easily manage your weight. I ride a domane 5.2 carbon with no problems.

go for it

 

[Profpointy]

[QUOTE="Nigelnaturist, post: 4411262,
@Profpointy there is many a time I have topped up my tyres only to find the only air loss is that thats just gone into the track pump.[/QUOTE]

It's really annoying when that happens. Did that trying to pump my car tyres up and each attempt led to more air coming out. I was using the right fitting and had had no trouble doing the same before or aince

 

[Felix79]

I do use a track pump thankfully, god help me try and get the 120psi with just my tiny hand pump (I've already got all the right gear for unexpected situations once I can do longer rides).

 

[r04DiE]

Regarding type of bike - the clue's in the name. "road" bike = riding on the road, "mountain" bike - well you can work out the rest.

Pish taking aside, the above is basically true, but there's a wide range within each broad category.

Starting with mountain bikes - these have suspension and fat nobbly tyres and are quite heavy unless very expensive. Nobbly tyres and suspension are a really bad thing on roads and unnecessary on moderate tracks. if you're mainly road cycling you do not want one of these !

A "road bike" proper, what we used to call "racers" when I was a kid, have dropped handlebars, no mudguards, light weight, and rather high gears. You can get quite a lot for your money in this category, but I personally like low gears, mudguards, and a pannier rack.

Which brings us to the Tourer, or Audax type bike, still with drop bars - slightly heavier than the above, but will have the lower gears, mudguards and panner rack - an excellent all round choice. Snag is they tend to start at a higher price - not that the concept ie inherently more expensive, but they tend to be made and priced in a higher-quality bracket

There are also so-called hybrids which are a bit like mountain bikes in that they have low gears (a very good thing), flat bars (a bad thing in my view, but to be fair flat bars do suit some), and mudguards (another very good thing), but don't have the weight and suspension of true mountain bikes - which you absolutely don't want for road or moderate tracks.
Some of these are pretty good value, but I personally don't like flat bars - but that's my preference, so is a personal thing.
Don't get a hybrid with suspension if road riding - more work, more weight and a bad thing.

With a tourer or hybrid, having slightly wider tyres and so on, you can get away with the odd track as well, without all the excess weight of a mountain bike proper.

There's also the cyclo-cross bike which is a heavier built "road" style bike that can take a lot of knocking about off road. Not a bad choice even used mainly on road, and the gears will be a bit lower than on a road bike proper.

Regarding your weight, I shouldn't worry one bit - at least not cycling wise, as it's not that bad, unless you go for ridiculously light flimsy wheels and ride up kerbs. You'll get fit, and may or may not lose weight as a result, but fit is the main thing.

Oh, and don't buy a padded or gel saddle

Brilliant post.

 

[keithmac]

I see a "big" lad on my commute most days, I have nothing but admiration for him really.

I've biked all my life but still managed to hit 90kg a few years back through (bad) diet (5'10"). Took a year to get back down to my ideal weigh 76kg by eating less and exercising the same.

The saying is "you can't outrun a bad diet", but exercise/ cycling is a good step in the right direction!.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I'm late 50's and weigh 21 stone, or a bit less now, was a good deal more when I started this cycling, but soon lost that. I am 6'3", though. I can ride a road bike with ease, including 23mm tires, so I'd say good high spoke count wheels and a good bike frame are a must, the lighter, the better, as this makes you go faster/have more fun and enjoyment. This is your health we're talking about here, so don't stint on frame lightness and quality. As I couldn't afford new, I bought old and haven't regretted a minute of it. With a good, light frame, even singlespeed is doable.

 

[Ken Breeze]

Hi, I'm a 53 years old man, 5.11 and weigh 16 stone, after many years in a car I'm hoping I'm nether too old or fat to be able to ride again, my main objective is to lose weigh and hopefully gain some fitness at the same time, for starters, even through I will be riding on the road, taking my 16 stone weight into account, would a mountain bike be better than a road one? sorry if that's a daft question

Thank you

Lol....... On the 16th April this year my doctor told me I had to loose weight ( tell me something I don't know ). I was 20 stone and suffering a few problems... I built a 'Fat bike' and used it every day. 5 months on I'm now 14 stone 2 lbs and feel great ( 2 stone to go ). I'm now investigating the possibilities of having a crack at cyclocross. In answer to your question about 'which bike?' I would say it depends on where you are and what sort of riding you do... I started with a fattie for the forest then a hardtail mountain bike for a bit more agility, a cross bike because I was doing alot of lanes between forest tracks and now I'm building a touring bike for more road use. I'm 52 this year just wished I'd have gotten into it more when I was younger.....better late than never I guess. Good luck with whatever you decide on after all ...... It doesn't matter what you ride, as long as you ride