Trying to find a suitable bike at 27st?

[TrevA]

I’d suggest a touring bike. Something like a Dawes Galaxy. They are built to take extra weight through people carrying luggage when touring. I’m 115kg, have been as heavy as 120+ and I’ve toured with probably 20kg of luggage on my old Ridgeback Panorama and would have no qualms about doing so again on my current Dawes Super Galaxy.

[Marcus Aurelius]

The wheels will be the biggest issue. You’ll probably need a high spoke count custom wheel build, or it’s going to be difficult. You’ll almost certainly need a big frame with oversize tubes as well. However, that’s not beyond the Witt of man to sort out. Pretty much any big frame mountain bike would be suitable. ‘Road bikes’ would not be a good idea at your starting weight, as they do tend to be above spec at over 130Kgs, for the most part. However, get a big framed bike, with suitable wheels, and you’ll be laughing. When the weight drops off a bit, you’ll be okay on a ‘road bike’.

[Jamesh]

Try your local bike library that will be sympathetic and if it breaks they will be very keen to fix it for you.

The whole ethos is to get people onto bikes.

Cheers James

[yostumpy]

Also depends on where the op lives, if Norfolk , then elephant bike will be fine, if in welsh mountains then no . What's wrong with getting off a pushing up hill ? It's all exercise, and someone of 170kg is going to really struggle to ride up a significant hill any way. I'd say go elephant bike, till your weight drops to 120kg, then buy a better bike, knowing what you want. It will be a treat, a reward for hard work. Cycling is about being out, having fun, fresh air, seeing things you'd not seen before, and losing weight is a side effect. It's not a magical weight loss machine. When you sell your elephant bike , you'll probably get 2/3 of your money back. Good luck

[yostumpy]

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/the-elep ... e-love-it/

[Brucey]

I also think that (terrain permitting) an elephant bike might be a good choice especially to start with. Heavy? Yes, but it probably needs to be. To put it into perspective if the rider and bike together weigh 30st, the 'heavy' bike is only 10% of the all-up weight. Proportionally this would be about the same as a 200lb rider using a (lightweight) 20lb road bike.

FWIW the pashley elephant bike uses 36 spoke wheels, 24" front and 26" rear. If (or more likely when) the rear wheel needs rebuilding, I'd suggest that you go to a supplier of Bakfiets/carrier bikes and get the heaviest Ryde Andra rim built into the wheel; that is what is used on heavy-duty carrier bikes.

cheers

[gcogger]

Also depends on where the op lives, if Norfolk , then elephant bike will be fine, if in welsh mountains then no . What's wrong with getting off a pushing up hill ? It's all exercise, and someone of 170kg is going to really struggle to ride up a significant hill any way. I'd say go elephant bike, till your weight drops to 120kg, then buy a better bike, knowing what you want. It will be a treat, a reward for hard work. Cycling is about being out, having fun, fresh air, seeing things you'd not seen before, and losing weight is a side effect. It's not a magical weight loss machine. When you sell your elephant bike , you'll probably get 2/3 of your money back. Good luck

The Elephant bike struggles even with insignificant hills
As I said, I was just giving one (overweight, not very fit) person's experience of actually owning one. Having tried it myself (and again, this is just one person's preference), I wouldn't consider one at all. I'm also overweight, and the one thing that is essential is the availability of low-ish gears. The Elephant simply doesn't have low gears - comparing my cadence with my wife's at the same speed on a very gentle uphill the other day, I was in 3rd on the large chainring (Trek FX3) and I'd say I was pedalling at least 30% faster than my wife in 1st gear, who was really struggling.
I'd say the bike would be fine for someone who is fairly fit already (and not too heavy), but enough of a struggle to put you off if you're not.

[531colin]

I also think that (terrain permitting) an elephant bike might be a good choice especially to start with. Heavy? Yes, but it probably needs to be. To put it into perspective if the rider and bike together weigh 30st, the 'heavy' bike is only 10% of the all-up weight. Proportionally this would be about the same as a 200lb rider using a (lightweight) 20lb road bike.

FWIW the pashley elephant bike uses 36 spoke wheels, 24" front and 26" rear. If (or more likely when) the rear wheel needs rebuilding, I'd suggest that you go to a supplier of Bakfiets/carrier bikes and get the heaviest Ryde Andra rim built into the wheel; that is what is used on heavy-duty carrier bikes.

cheers

And you can gear it down pretty cheaply with a smaller chainwheel. https://spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p2188/STRONGLIGHT-ST55-Single-Chainset

[gcogger]

And you can gear it down pretty cheaply with a smaller chainwheel. https://spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p2188/STRONGLIGHT-ST55-Single-Chainset

Might be worth a look - is that the right one for an Elephant bike, or just an example?

[Brucey]

And you can gear it down pretty cheaply with a smaller chainwheel. https://spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s109p2188/STRONGLIGHT-ST55-Single-Chainset

Might be worth a look - is that the right one for an Elephant bike, or just an example?

It will fit an elephant bike but you will probably need to change the bottom bracket as well, to get the correct chainline. The chainline can also be fine tuned by changing the rear sprocket (flat or at least two types of dished sprocket are available, which can be fitted either way round).

Elephant bikes can also be geared down by using a larger sprocket at the back (which is the traditional route for lower gearing with a 3s hub gear), but the scope for this is usually severely limited by the tensioner that Pashley use; this will very easily clash with larger sprockets, and because the tensioner is welded onto the frame, it isn't easily repositioned.

Standard (SA,SRAM, shimano) IGH sprockets use the same three-lug fitting and are available up to 24T.

However shimano also make sprockets up to 30T for their Inter-5 (E?) hub gear eg

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/sprockets/shimano-nexus-csc7000-inter5-sprocket-27t/

and these have six lugs but (I think) share the same mounting otherwise. I have not tried it yet but I think this means that provided you are prepared to grind off three of the lugs I think that sprocket ought to fit other IGHs. Disappointingly these sprockets seem fiercely expensive (£15-£35 depending on exact size, 27T being cheapest) right now but I expect other manufacturers such as SunRace to offer more reasonably priced alternatives in due course.

So one way of lowering the gearing on an elephant bike might be to fit a modified 27 or 30T sprocket, with a new chain, and to use a different chain tensioner e.g. which bolts on to the axle. [The original pashley tensioner wouldn't work unless it is moved and/or the arm is cut and extended by welding.]

cheers

[nez]

Hi, for years i've been on the really heavy side, while im active i struggle to keep my weight down, dieting etc.
recently i've managed to lose 3 or so stone just by cutting out junk etc and walking to and from work, intially i was interested in cycling to and from work but the weight limits on bikes are a nightmare to figure out.
im an absolute amateur looking for these kinds of things and google searches come up with tonnes of useful links but almost every bike linked on these posts are either non existant or from the US with insane shipping dates.
does anyone have any reccomendations on where to start looking? ideally under £1k.
would be very greatful for any and all help on this issue. cheers!

The manufacturer's recommended weights are usually very conservative, A traditional touring bike will carry a 100kg man plus plenty of luggage - plenty of people carry 50 kg of luggage. Think Dawes Galaxy, Koga World Tour plus plenty of others (depends on budget). They will also offer low enough gearing to get you going - when I started cycling again after a couple of years break I replaced the inner chainring on my Super Galaxy with a 22 tooth ring. I never use it but I leave it on there in case I do the luggage touring thing.

Be satisfied with short rides. After a month or so you will be cruising past the places where you turned round thinking 'was that really all I could do?' Two months will lead to a world of difference. Good luck

[Brucey]

re elephant bike gearing; FWIW 38/20 gearing is compared with 38/27 gearing here

http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=SAAW&KB=38&RZ=20&UF=2100&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH&DV=gearInches&GR2=SAAW&KB2=38&RZ2=27&UF2=2100

Note the usual rear hub is Sturmey Archer X-RD3. This will accept the Brompton BWR driver and this (together with a suitable derailleur) will allow a wide variety of (cassette-type) sprockets to be fitted and to have a 2s derailleur making a 2x3 gearing system.

For example 38T chainring and choice of 19T and 30T sprockets gives a 1-1/2 step system

http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=SAAW&KB=38&RZ=30,19&UF=2100&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH&DV=gearInches

and gears from 25" to 70".

cheers

[gcogger]

re elephant bike gearing; FWIW 38/20 gearing is compared with 38/27 gearing here

http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=SAAW&KB=38&RZ=20&UF=2100&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH&DV=gearInches&GR2=SAAW&KB2=38&RZ2=27&UF2=2100

Note the usual rear hub is Sturmey Archer X-RD3. This will accept the Brompton BWR driver and this (together with a suitable derailleur) will allow a wide variety of (cassette-type) sprockets to be fitted and to have a 2s derailleur making a 2x3 gearing system.

For example 38T chainring and choice of 19T and 30T sprockets gives a 1-1/2 step system

http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=SAAW&KB=38&RZ=30,19&UF=2100&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=MPH&DV=gearInches

and gears from 25" to 70".

cheers

Plenty of great info there, thanks. I think that's enough from me about Elephant bikes on this thread, as I don't even know if the OP is considering them!

[Big Boy Dan]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions, elephant bikes look like the most ideal thing for me right now, i currently live in a rather flat area with not many slopes or hills so this looks like it'd probably be the best thing for me.

[PH]

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions, elephant bikes look like the most ideal thing for me right now, i currently live in a rather flat area with not many slopes or hills so this looks like it'd probably be the best thing for me.

It looks a good choice to me, though I've only had a short play on one.
Don't over do it, there's nothing wrong with walking up some slopes, make your own rules. It's far better to get home feeling like you could have done a bit more, than so knackered you never want to get on the bike again. When I started I used to do laps of a park, allowed me to increase the distance without committing to it. Good luck, I need some of that myself, this last three months hasn't been kind to my waistline