Cycling when very overweight - advice on bike suitability and getting started

[Galactic]

I'm not the target audience, but this guide is really nice and will hopefully be useful to others.

Just one minor comment from me: I'm guessing (not being a dietician or medical professional) that a mix of exercise forms is a Good Thing? So while this is a guide for cycling, and so should obviously focus on what to bear in mind if you want to cycle, shouldn't the guide also be encouraging, or at least not discouraging other forms of exercise (even if, as you point out, they're often not as convenient or low-impact as getting on a bike). I'm thinking of something like including an example (once basic fitness has been built up) of cycling as a way to get to the pool (how sad that we can no longer say get to a river or the coast!) or cycling to a beauty spot for stroll/brisk walk/nordic walking.

Ah, and there we go, I've thought of another comment. Gears. Using lower gears gives you heart more work and knees less. My own rule of thumb is to switch one gear lower than I think I should be in. Within reason (ie not aiming for a cadence of 90rpm), I'm guessing this would be good advice here (in the assumption that with more body weight, knees are already having a hard time of it, and exercising the heart is more important than busting your knees by being in too high a gear)?

[Bonzo Banana]

I'm not the target audience, but this guide is really nice and will hopefully be useful to others.

Just one minor comment from me: I'm guessing (not being a dietician or medical professional) that a mix of exercise forms is a Good Thing? So while this is a guide for cycling, and so should obviously focus on what to bear in mind if you want to cycle, shouldn't the guide also be encouraging, or at least not discouraging other forms of exercise (even if, as you point out, they're often not as convenient or low-impact as getting on a bike). I'm thinking of something like including an example (once basic fitness has been built up) of cycling as a way to get to the pool (how sad that we can no longer say get to a river or the coast!) or cycling to a beauty spot for stroll/brisk walk/nordic walking.

Ah, and there we go, I've thought of another comment. Gears. Using lower gears gives you heart more work and knees less. My own rule of thumb is to switch one gear lower than I think I should be in. Within reason (ie not aiming for a cadence of 90rpm), I'm guessing this would be good advice here (in the assumption that with more body weight, knees are already having a hard time of it, and exercising the heart is more important than busting your knees by being in too high a gear)?

As a heavier rider I must admit my mindset is to go with the highest gear that I can manage but this often leads to exhaustion too soon. Nowadays I try to shift to one lower gear and this is often the gear that means I can sustain my efforts for much longer. I think gearing is an important subject for heavy cyclists. The gearing on a bike you buy may be too high. If you buy a mountain bike for its strength you may also find its low gearing perfect for you as a heavy rider on the road but other types of bikes may need their gearing changed to lower gearing. I saw a shop delivery bike with something like 32T at the front and up to 50T at the rear and with relatively small wheels like 24" its clear that bike had been designed for hauling cargo up hills and that is pretty much the same situation for very heavy riders.

However my advice for very heavy cyclists approaching steep hills is just get off and walk them. Walking is good for bone density and going up steep hills is the most potentially damaging for the frame and drivetrain components as low gearing makes it easier for you but puts the bike under the maximum stress. So I simply say get off and walk up them. It won't make a lot of difference to speed and extends the life of the bike and saves you money. Walking up a hill at 3mph is a lot more comfortable than straining just to achieve 4-5mph on a bike.This also means you can ride longer with less mechanical issues and makes cycling more pleasant and safer. As you increase muscle mass and lose overall weight the day will come when that same hill is achievable on the bike and that will be a great day for your finess and health but don't expect that day one.

[Galactic]

Nowadays I try to shift to one lower gear and this is often the gear that means I can sustain my efforts for much longer.

Ah yes, I didn't think of this aspect. Also very true!

However my advice for very heavy cyclists approaching steep hills is just get off and walk them

With my "one gear down" rule I was referring to cycling generally, ie along the flat, not just up hills. Practically everyone I see when out and about seems to be zooming along with their knees pushing hard and their pedals circling at far too slow a pace (and obviously the e-bikers are even worse in this respect). Hence my wondering whether it should be made explicit that the 'right' gear is often lower than you'd expect?

[backnotes]

A specific update / suggestion based on a skim and seeing "Elephant Bike". Since early 2022 Cycle of Good have now sold all their newly reconditioned Elephant Bikes (unless you get lucky in their raffle for the last one!) so the only options there would now be for readers to try to source one secondhand, which may make the option less accessible / appealing for some. I have an Elephant Bike, and while they are certainly built like a tank, they don't have a particularly low bottom gear, so depending on local terrain they may not be the most suitable bike for someone new to cycling to feel encouraged to gradually ramp up their cycling through regular use. So adding an option alongside that is currently easily available new from places where you can view / try out might be good. I haven't read all the above thread plus associated links, so this may already be covered above.

[pjclinch]

As a heavier rider I must admit my mindset is to go with the highest gear that I can manage <snip>

I don't think that's particularly heavier riders, my entire gear selection decision making process as a teenager was "what's the biggest one I can turn?" and Katie Archibald admitted to similar in a column in Pro Cycling (see https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/comm ... alk-399493). (edit: that's The Comic, not Pro Cycling)

I coach/teach youngsters the basics, and no matter what I try with gears it doesn't seem to sink in. Adult learners who understand car gears and when to use which one fine struggle with what gear to use and when to change on a bike. The ones that aren't terrible mashers like I was tend to be stuck in first and spinning the cranks like hamsters in a wheel and not getting anywhere... I was well in to my twenties before I understood that I'd totally misunderstood gearing...

Pete.

[Cugel]

As a heavier rider I must admit my mindset is to go with the highest gear that I can manage <snip>

I don't think that's particularly heavier riders, my entire gear selection decision making process as a teenager was "what's the biggest one I can turn?" and Katie Archibald admitted to similar in a column in Pro Cycling (see https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/comm ... alk-399493).

I coach/teach youngsters the basics, and no matter what I try with gears it doesn't seem to sink in. Adult learners who understand car gears and when to use which one fine struggle with what gear to use and when to change on a bike. The ones that aren't terrible mashers like I was tend to be stuck in first and spinning the cranks like hamsters in a wheel and not getting anywhere... I was well in to my twenties before I understood that I'd totally misunderstood gearing...

Pete.

Your observations certainly reflect the reality one sees in many cyclists, especially novices - although even some mature-looking cyclists seem to suffer the same lack of understanding about bicycle gears and appropriate or efficient cadence when using them.

To be frank, I've never been able to easily imagine why this is so.

I began big-bike cycling aged 10/11 in the complete absence of any instructions other than those got about using roads as a consequence of spending quite a lot of holidays (from being 6 years old) as passenger in Uncle Cornelius' delivery vans, as he worked and drove all over NE England distributing various goods to grocers. As I recall, within a couple of weeks of riding a derailleur equipped bike (a Coventry Eagle with 4 cogs and 2 chainrings) my own body had taught me how to select the right gear for a cadence that was most sustainable because most "comfortable".

How does this not occur with anyone riding a bike? It seems to be intuitively obvious, if you take any notice at all of your body and how it feels about various rates of pedalling.

Perhaps its a combination of gear-fear (I don't know how to use these queer gubbins so I'll not try) and the mental attempt to assume bike gears should be used like car gears. But even the latter factor would surely suggest that if you're about to stall whilst grinding your pedals, you should select a lower gear as you would in a car ..... ?

Its a mystery (to me at least).

[pjclinch]

Your observations certainly reflect the reality one sees in many cyclists, especially novices - although even some mature-looking cyclists seem to suffer the same lack of understanding about bicycle gears and appropriate or efficient cadence when using them.

To be frank, I've never been able to easily imagine why this is so.

I began big-bike cycling aged 10/11 in the complete absence of any instructions other than those got about using roads as a consequence of spending quite a lot of holidays (from being 6 years old) as passenger in Uncle Cornelius' delivery vans, as he worked and drove all over NE England distributing various goods to grocers. As I recall, within a couple of weeks of riding a derailleur equipped bike (a Coventry Eagle with 4 cogs and 2 chainrings) my own body had taught me how to select the right gear for a cadence that was most sustainable because most "comfortable".

How does this not occur with anyone riding a bike? It seems to be intuitively obvious, if you take any notice at all of your body and how it feels about various rates of pedalling.

Perhaps its a combination of gear-fear (I don't know how to use these queer gubbins so I'll not try) and the mental attempt to assume bike gears should be used like car gears. But even the latter factor would surely suggest that if you're about to stall whilst grinding your pedals, you should select a lower gear as you would in a car ..... ?

Its a mystery (to me at least).

Now I know what I'm doing I don't understand how it took me so long to understand... but I think a lot of it as a teen was a bit a macho-thing. As if it was like weight lifting where the bigger the weight the better you are, the bigger the gear you can push the better you are, while ignoring the way that gears are just a means to an end rather than an end in themselves. Maybe it was that I could just mash my way up Bexley's hills in top gear that helped convince me my way was tenable?

I recall asking my dad which gear was "fastest" and he said it didn't really work like that, and I subsequently filtered out everything he told me bar that when the bike was going really fast I'd be in top gear. Teenagers, eh?

I guess if you have a real focus on your cycling as Rider 1 in a team sprint it makes some sort of sense...

Pete.

[Cugel]

Your observations certainly reflect the reality one sees in many cyclists, especially novices - although even some mature-looking cyclists seem to suffer the same lack of understanding about bicycle gears and appropriate or efficient cadence when using them.

To be frank, I've never been able to easily imagine why this is so.

I began big-bike cycling aged 10/11 in the complete absence of any instructions other than those got about using roads as a consequence of spending quite a lot of holidays (from being 6 years old) as passenger in Uncle Cornelius' delivery vans, as he worked and drove all over NE England distributing various goods to grocers. As I recall, within a couple of weeks of riding a derailleur equipped bike (a Coventry Eagle with 4 cogs and 2 chainrings) my own body had taught me how to select the right gear for a cadence that was most sustainable because most "comfortable".

How does this not occur with anyone riding a bike? It seems to be intuitively obvious, if you take any notice at all of your body and how it feels about various rates of pedalling.

Perhaps its a combination of gear-fear (I don't know how to use these queer gubbins so I'll not try) and the mental attempt to assume bike gears should be used like car gears. But even the latter factor would surely suggest that if you're about to stall whilst grinding your pedals, you should select a lower gear as you would in a car ..... ?

Its a mystery (to me at least).

Now I know what I'm doing I don't understand how it took me so long to understand... but I think a lot of it as a teen was a bit a macho-thing. As if it was like weight lifting where the bigger the weight the better you are, the bigger the gear you can push the better you are, while ignoring the way that gears are just a means to an end rather than an end in themselves. Maybe it was that I could just mash my way up Bexley's hills in top gear that helped convince me my way was tenable?

I recall asking my dad which gear was "fastest" and he said it didn't really work like that, and I subsequently filtered out everything he told me bar that when the bike was going really fast I'd be in top gear. Teenagers, eh?

I guess if you have a real focus on your cycling as Rider 1 in a team sprint it makes some sort of sense...

Pete.

Perhaps one other factor was the restricted range of available gears, in them olden days. 52/42 chainrings with a 13-19 or 13-21 cassette. You had to grind up the hills as the lowest gear of 42/21 allowed nothing else unless you were a very exceptional racey fellow.

Even though I had a touring bike with much lower gears (a Sugino chainset and a very cheap wide ratio 5-speed freewheel, with a Suntour long arm rear mech) I'd go out on the racing bike with the racing club, grinding up the likes of Fleet Moss or Dent Station at 45 rpm in that 42/21 whilst weaving a sine wave to reduce the slope. We all had enormous quads and glutes from this mobile weight training.

On the other hand, fix-wheel training bikes in winter were also a thing, which meant you often had to pedal for quite some distance at 120 rpm.

[Bonzo Banana]

As a heavier rider I must admit my mindset is to go with the highest gear that I can manage <snip>

I don't think that's particularly heavier riders, my entire gear selection decision making process as a teenager was "what's the biggest one I can turn?" and Katie Archibald admitted to similar in a column in Pro Cycling (see https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/comm ... alk-399493).

I coach/teach youngsters the basics, and no matter what I try with gears it doesn't seem to sink in. Adult learners who understand car gears and when to use which one fine struggle with what gear to use and when to change on a bike. The ones that aren't terrible mashers like I was tend to be stuck in first and spinning the cranks like hamsters in a wheel and not getting anywhere... I was well in to my twenties before I understood that I'd totally misunderstood gearing...

Pete.

Your observations certainly reflect the reality one sees in many cyclists, especially novices - although even some mature-looking cyclists seem to suffer the same lack of understanding about bicycle gears and appropriate or efficient cadence when using them.

To be frank, I've never been able to easily imagine why this is so.

I began big-bike cycling aged 10/11 in the complete absence of any instructions other than those got about using roads as a consequence of spending quite a lot of holidays (from being 6 years old) as passenger in Uncle Cornelius' delivery vans, as he worked and drove all over NE England distributing various goods to grocers. As I recall, within a couple of weeks of riding a derailleur equipped bike (a Coventry Eagle with 4 cogs and 2 chainrings) my own body had taught me how to select the right gear for a cadence that was most sustainable because most "comfortable".

How does this not occur with anyone riding a bike? It seems to be intuitively obvious, if you take any notice at all of your body and how it feels about various rates of pedalling.

Perhaps its a combination of gear-fear (I don't know how to use these queer gubbins so I'll not try) and the mental attempt to assume bike gears should be used like car gears. But even the latter factor would surely suggest that if you're about to stall whilst grinding your pedals, you should select a lower gear as you would in a car ..... ?

Its a mystery (to me at least).

Don't get me wrong grinding/mashing the gears still has its place when you want to build muscle mass but its more important to focus on the heart and lungs and maximising their capacity especially for me as I was hit hard with covid and my own immune system damaged my own lungs which is still at reduced capacity and I'm probably close to as full of a recovery that I will get. I've definitely now moved away from mashing/grinding compared to the old days. In the old days I would cycle up Babylon Hill between Yeovil and Sherborne on my commute to work and my legs were like tree trunks and felt like I could kick down walls. I almost felt super human. I would be in the highest gear I could just manage for the length of Babylon hill which was perhaps around a 3/4km long. Thinking about it I can see the pros and cons of both camps but as you get older I think you move into the high cadence, low gearing camp more its more comfortable for an ageing body.