Which road bike?

[Paul Rossborough]

Evening All!
I'm new to this forum and indeed, relatively new to road cycling although I have done some distance in the past using my mountain bike.
As per the title, I am looking to purchase a suitable road bike but wondered whether standard road bikes are suitable for 21 st. (Yes, I know... hence the cycling)?
As all newbies do, I have had a brief look at Halfords and the Boardman range appeals to me but really, I don't know what I'm looking for. Are they any good? What bike and/or features would you recommend for (virtually) a newbie?

I'm not overly concerned by the training requirements but I'm signed up to do London to Brighton next year so I have targets to hit.

Thanks in anticipation.

[TrevA]

There will be people along in a minute, who will say that at your weight you will need an expedition touring bike with heavy wheels and a heavy, overbuilt frame to take your weight.

However, I weigh 18 st currently and have been as heavy as 20st recently, and I ride a standard road bike. Mine is a Trek Domane 2.0 with Aluminium frame and Tiagra groupset. However, any road bike from one of the major makes - Specialized, Trek, Boardman,etc should be ok. Look for one that has decent wheels with ideally 36 spokes per wheel. I would also recommend a triple chainset, especially if you live in a hilly area. However, a compact double chainset (50 tooth outer, 34 tooth inner) coupled with a cassette that has a 32 sprocket, will get you up most hills.

My bike only has 24 spoke wheels, and some will say that I wouldn't get past the end of my street before the wheels collapsed. However, I've had the bike for 6 years and have not yet broken a spoke. The original Bontrager wheels did wear out and were replaced with Fulcrum Racing Sport. Both have been ok. I've done probably 30,000 miles on this bike.

[Cugel]

There will be people along . . . . . .

All that makes sense but I would add these qualifications:

Many wheelsets have a rider weight limit. They may err on the side of caution .... nevertheless, why risk a collapse? It's not just the number of spokes that contribute to a rider weight limit but also the resilience of the rim and hub, especially around the spoke holes. Most important of all is the quality of the build.

The rider's weight obviously has an effect on the degree of stress & strain put through the bike. However, the style of riding makes a very big difference to how well the bike will cope. I know many riders who are quite light yet their style of riding destroys bike bits, especially wheels and frames. They rive at the world and sometimes batter at it, employing the bike as the interface. Many large blokes are quite gentle in comparison; so their bike survives.

All that being said, a 20 stone load will tend to cause more damage than an 11 stone load if the bike is steered into a nasty enough pothole, sunken-drain or other intrinsic bike-breaking element of Blighty's awful roads.

Cugel

[The utility cyclist]

Buy yourself a roux menthe currently £455 with the £5 discount at Tredz, other sizes available for a bit more. Reynolds steel frame, 32 spoke wheels (to satisfy the fretters), mudguards and pannier rack mounts. Comes with a compact chainset.
There's also the roux etape which comes with dic brakes should that be preferable but with an alu frame.
They always get good reviews.

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Roux-Menthe-Bl ... sQAvD_BwE#

[Username]

At your weight you will need an expedition touring bike with heavy wheels and a heavy, overbuilt frame to take your weight. check out fat bikes.

[Ontherivet77]

It's not so much the bike as the tyre pressure. If you get a standard road bike with 23c tyres then at 294lbs you are you going to need to run those tyres at the absolute maximum psi to avoid pinch punctures, which will probably result in an unpleasant ride quality. The fatter the tyre the more leeway you will have regards psi pressure and that will probably allow for a more enjoyable ride.

[foxyrider]

Check out the Triban bikes at Decathlon - very good value for money without paying for a big brand name.

Rather than stress over weight and breaking things i'd concentrate on getting a comfortable fit. Get that right and you'll use the bike and enjoy the riding.

Of course a heavy rider can put extra stresses on a bike but a ramped up maintenance programme will usually prevent any major issues. Find a bike that you like, fits your budget and look after it and I doubt you'll have any serious issues.

Every time someone of larger build comes on here some people rattle on about spoke count, steel frames, fat tyres - very narrow minded in my view and reinforcing the stereotype of skinny beardies being the only ones with a valid point of view - some of their opinions are so ingrained from 30 plus year old wisdom it's actually quite amusing.

[meic]

reinforcing the stereotype of skinny beardies being the only ones with a valid point of view

I think that you will find that many of the people on this forum urging some thought about design weight limits are in no way skinny, even if bearded.

Here is a GUIDANCE chart for tyre inflation pressures which I find a bit too low for avoiding pinch punctures.
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2016/03/ ... take-home/
A rough glance to me suggests around 160psi for 23mm tyres in the weight range.
A few minutes would give a better figure but it is only a guidance, giving a feel for things.

Here is a randomly chosen specification table for some road tyres.
https://www.schwalbe.com/en-GB/road-rea ... e-one.html
Saying 145psi max pressure and 70Kg max load.
Other tyres are available, possibly with higher figures. Can anybody find some.

The term "road bike" isnt universally used in the same way.
For some it is specifically a racing bike and they will not take much more than 23/25mm tyres.
For others it is anything that is designed for riding on roads as compared to mountain bikes.

If you were not limiting yourself to the first definition then you can extend your search out to other styles of bikes which can take wider tyres (which can run at lower pressures and have higher max load ratings) and even wheels designed for carrying larger weights.
Gravel bikes, Audax, tourers which to most casual observers look the same as race bikes on first glance.

Load ratings are an on/off thing that tries to represent something statistical. Exceeding them merely increases your chance of failure or causes and a shortening of the components' possible lifespan.
You can exceed them and get away with it, but you are increasing your chances of not getting away with it.
If a bike sold for a 10 stone racer is equally good for a 20 stone racer then they have over designed it and could have made it lighter.

Sticking in the safe zone would start from putting your figures in that chart to find suitable tyre sizes, finding the "sportiest" frame that will accept them and buying wheels which people vouch can take the weight.
Or you could buy something designed for a 12 stone person with overloaded tyres at the max pressure and take a chance, sometimes it is fine, othertimes you get to hear "I told you so".

[Vorpal]

My advice: Go to some independent bike shops (if you say what part of the UK you want to do your shopping in, folks on here can maybe make some recommendations), tell them what your goals are, and try some bikes.

Don't get something with a ridiculously low spoke count.

Think about what else you might to do with your bike (commute? tour? club rides?) and buy a bike for that. Anything that you buy for other purposes can do London to Brighton.

If you still have a mountain bike, invest in some road tyres (City Jets or Big Apples, perhaps?) for it, and get out there riding.