Weight limits for bicycles need to be higher and more transparent, especially if the majority of people want to use them.
I honestly applaud anyone who wants to get on a bike, especially if it’s to improve their fitness.
Bike frame weight limits are only one thing to consider. Wheels and tires have weight limits too. And some bikes have a higher center of gravity than others, so weight up top would be very unstable.
I would think (hope) that anyone who is over 220lbs would consider a custom, steel frame bike that is built specifically to handle the extra weight, and not rely on what the weight limit on a website says.
Also, people have to realize that the “weight limit” of a bike can often include other things that the rider might be carrying on their bike. Cargo bikes often have several weight limits depending on what you’re looking for, but even those have their limits.
Side note: this was a problem in the e-scooter world, where you’d get people who would be at the upper limit of the scooter’s weight limit asking if it would be safe for them to ride. Well, the frame might support the weight if it’s not in motion, but the motor likely can’t push that weight for very long, and certainly not up hill.
A custom bike sounds expensive, I really wish there were more east-to-buy prebuilt options. Fat people are pretty common, they’re not a rare body shape or disability that should require a custom bike. And I do wish higher weight limit tires were more common, I’m not overweight myself but I sometimes heavily load my electric bike with cargo (and a trailer that pushes down on the rear axle), and occasionally I have problems with spokes breaking already. Bikes that can carry toddlers are becoming common fast, I wish heavy wheels were more standardized for both heavy people and cargo bikes.
A custom bike sounds expensive, I really wish there were more east-to-buy prebuilt options.
Yes, it can be expensive, but being obese is expensive. Some people have to go out of their way to buy “big and tall” clothing (at a premium), special beds or chairs, modifications to their car, etc.
Fat people are pretty common, they’re not a rare body shape or disability that should require a custom bike.
Fat people may be common, but heavy-duty bikes are not. For a bike to be stronger, you either have to sacrifice on cost, the weight of the bike, frame materials, or hard-to-find/custom gear.
It becomes a problem when someone is looking for a cheap bike, because none are going to be built to carry an enormous amount of weight.
And I do wish higher weight limit tires were more common, I’m not overweight myself but I sometimes heavily load my electric bike with cargo (and a trailer that pushes down on the rear axle), and occasionally I have problems with spokes breaking already.
They are… for a price. You can get tires and wheels built to handle more weight, but you’d have to pay a premium for them, and be willing to sacrifice their size/weight.
You also have to be realistic of what you’re getting. If someone weighing 300lbs wants to get a small folding bike, they aren’t going to have much luck with anything.
I fitted new wheels on my MTB turned touring-capable bike, and had to get 36 spokes and very beefy schwalbe tires to accommodate the load. I spent a lot more than someone who doesn’t have to worry about carrying weight.
I wish heavy wheels were more standardized for both heavy people and cargo bikes.
They will be. E-cargo bikes in particular have really jumped in popularity, and that will be followed by cargo-specific tires, wheels, and accessories.
But to circle back to the original article. Yes, weight limits and all relevant specs should always be listed and easily available. I personally hate having to dig through stuff to find something as important as torque specs for bolts, as an example.
I predict “mag” wheels, or forged aluminum wheels to come back into style. Cast mag wheels were cheap in the 80s, but forged wheels are much lighter, though also much more costly.
Custom bikes are actually cheaper if you have like $50 worth of tools.
Fat people are pretty common, they’re not a rare body shape or disability that should require a custom bike.
Bikes are, in general, designed to be as light as they can be for their price point. The reason behind this is that a lighter bike is less weight to move, meaning for the same effort one can potentially go farther or faster than they would be able on a heavier bike. So when a company is designing a bike, they think about the person they believe will buy it and design a bike that will support that rider.
Heavier people weigh more, obviously. Larger loads require more structural strength. Making a bike that can carry a 300lb+ person without breaking involves a redesign if you initially designed for lighter loads. Similarly, building it requires change to your manufacturing processes.
People who have health problems due to their weight, in general, do not buy as many bikes as people whose weight does not negatively impact their health. A company isn’t going to go an make a big production run of an expensive product if they don’t think there’s a market for it, which means it becomes a custom job to get one done.
Want cheaper bikes that can handle 300lb+ riders? Do a kickstarter and see how many customers will put down dollars.
Yeah I just don’t see the solution that a lot of people are pushing for. Should everyone’s bike be heavier because some people need them reinforced? And should scooters not be popularly used until motors than can push 3x the weight are common?
Having bike and scooter options available that work for everyone should be a goal, but criticizing existing models doesn’t make sense to me.
Yeah I just don’t see the solution that a lot of people are pushing for.
I think it’s two-fold.
Yes, in fairness to everyone, manufacturers need to post weight limits (and all other specifications) in an accessible way.
That said, prospective riders should realize that what they need will likely be at a category/size/weight/price they weren’t expecting.
I don’t consider it far-fetched for a manufacturer to list the lowest approved weight of all the components as the bikes rated weight.
Or even certify the frame separately so they have a practical and theoretical weight limit of the bike.
“Fatphobic” (because that’s what we call social health consciousness these days) rant incoming:
It’s been an issue for a while across all facets of life now and no one is brave enough to be the first voice to say “hey, these things literally were not made to support people as heavy as you.” In the past year, a horseback riding trail in my hometown had to close because there were not enough customers whose weight didn’t pose a serious risk of injuring the horses. A few years ago I had to install a steel support beam in the crawlspace under the master bedroom of a morbidly obese couple. Together, they probably pushed a half a ton and spent easily 16 hours a day on that bed. The framing had become so sunken that you could see the subflooring through the gaps that appeared between the flooring.
Just the other week my roommate invited an old school friend over, the guy probably weighed about 300lbs at 5’8" and broke a stool (Lyra by Magis, very nice, one of my favorites) in my kitchen. How anyone can be that big and so unaware of the strain their weight is putting on the things underneath them is beyond me.
Yeah I mean even if you’re someone who feels that being fat is not their fault or something to be ashamed of, nor are the laws of physics and limitations of structural integrity someone else’s.
But bigger people deserve to be able to bike too! It’s just the reality of the world we live in, plus many people have genetic issues that make it fairly difficult to lose weight. They shouldn’t be locked out of basic things like being able to survive without a car. I admit horses are a different story because they’re live animals, but bicycles are human-made and can and should be designed to handle more weight, especially with how many people are bigger.
Genetic issues have always been around, but the rise in obesity is strictly modern. Throughout eons of history, people have been at a severe calorie deficit. Your body has many amazing background processes to help you survive famines (your body will try to retain as much fat as possible when starving over longer periods of time), avoid accidentally killing yourself due to excess calorie burns while foraging (your body builds in an automatic efficiency curve into repetitve exercise to conserve calories), and even some genetic changes for those that endured exteme famine conditions, which were passed down between generations after calamities like the irish potato famine, making people more likely to survive. These are great during civilization collapses, but really bite us in the ass in modern times.
However, the rise of ultra processed foods (UPFs) and other calorie dense foods make it extremely easy to take in far more calories than one could ever burn though exercise alone. As more jobs transition from labor intensive (bricklaying, farming, digging trenches, and laying roads by hand and pickaxe), we have created a more sedentary lifestyle at the same time, compounding the issue.
We definitely need to factor in larger people into stuff like biking, but biking alone will not address the root cause of the problem: 1. the proliferation of UPFs coupled with their low costs, 2. a sedentary lifestyle due to cars and office jobs, and 3. the collapse of third places where people can hang out, swim, play outdoor games, sports, etc.
Nip those three problems in the bud, and you improve the health outcomes for generations of people.
Stuff like urban density, lowering the cost of healthy foods while improving signage on UPFs, making it easy to walk, bike, bus, or commute via rail instead of drive, and improve free or low cost social spaces will help. :)
I agree with most of what you said but not It’s just the reality of the world we live in, plus many people have genetic issues that make it fairly difficult to lose weight.
It’s not just the reality of the world we live in. People were not this fat 30 years ago, let alone 50 or 100 years. And it is something we can change, if we cared to.
“Genetic issues” are too much of a crutch or a lame excuse. Yes that makes it more difficult, but it doesn’t make it impossible or justify not trying to get to a more reasonable weight.
But there absolutely should exist a segment of bicycles for almost every range of weights.
I never thought about this until it happened to me, but a lot of medications can cause significant weight gain. I used to weigh 110lbs for a good chunk of my existence and was very fit.
I experienced a mental health crisis and the antidepressants made me gain around 60lbs. Don’t ask me how, I’m not a doctor. But to go from being very thin to overweight was kinda disturbing…just ballooning up like that. Also…the constipation was the worse I’ve ever experienced. I could eat salads all day(and did) and my shit was still rock hard.
I’ve since quit taking them due to side effects killing my quality of life and the weight is slowly coming off…but it’s like my whole metabolism is fucked forever now. (I’m doing much better mentally, I was in a bad situation, and leaving it helped immensely)
There are people who need those meds to function, and A LOT of people take them. Probably a contributing factor as to why there’s more large people now. Either accept the weight gain and be mentally healthier, or have more mental health problems with no weight gain. Thats a hell of a choice.
Hopefully newer meds are being developed that don’t have those side effects.
Salad is high fiber, it’s going to make your shit hard.
Dude, it didn’t matter how much water I drank, or how much fiber(Dr’s advice was to eat salads and high fiber food) I couldn’t shit. Laxatives didn’t even help. Never had that issue before or after i stopped taking those meds. It was fucking awful.
Also, without medications messing up my digestive system, salads usually make me poop. Not diarrhea or anything, just…kinda moves things along if you will.
Maybe your body reacts differently? Bodies are weird as fuck like that.
I had some issues with retention and changing diet to high fiber made it worse… so yeah bodies are weird like that.
Deserve to bike and “deserve to force bicycle manufacturers to make mass-produced models that super serve the super-sized even though they’re a significant minority of the actual and probable global customer base” are very different things.
If you want a bike for someone 300+, get a used, big steel frame and start assembling. Same for weight weenies the want bikes as light as a feather: customization is on you. Mainstream, pre-assembled bikes are going to be made for the majority of people that are likely to buy them, because otherwise they won’t sell.
Again, to emphasize: AT EITHER END–super comp or super weight–bikes are specialized (not the company) bicycles that require parts selection and piece-by-piece assembly. It’s not “unfair” to morbidly obese people anymore than it is unfair to someone that wants a super light bike or a super durable, weight-bearing, bike-packing ride.
My friend is 6’5 and all muscle, idk how much he weighs but it’s got to be a lot. He had to build a bike from scratch as well. He would pop spokes and mess up frames. It’s not about fat it’s about weight. Less than 2% of the population in the United States weighs more than 300 pounds, and I imagine only a fraction of that fractional subset of people intend to ride a bicycle.
Also, “custom” does not necessarily mean expensive. It just means building it up piece by piece. Many people who have very little money but want a decent bike also build “custom” bikes from used parts, because you can slap together a decent bike from good used parts rather than spend the same amount on a Walmart special that breaks apart in two months.
There are no genetic issues which violate the laws of thermodynamics
I agree that there should be options for bigger people, but that doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be bikes as light and high-performing as possible made for those who can use them, and if that’s the focus of a given manufacturer, that’s not an ethical issue. It’s just their specialization, and there’s plenty of room for other designers to focus on bikes for heavier riders as that market becomes viable.
Everyone deserves to ride bikes, and bike designers deserve to focus on the types of bikes they want. 7-foot NBA players deserve to be comfortable in cars, but it’s not Ford’s fault or responsibility that finding a car is more difficult for them than for those between the 10th and 90th height percentiles. No less unfortunate, but changing the design of all cars or expecting app major manufacturers to design for outliers isn’t necessarily a solution.
I don’t read the article as an attack on building high performing bikes.
Just about manufacturers giving a better idea of what a bicycle or wheel set can stand up to by including some maximum supported weight information that is not just available in a manual (which most people don’t see until post-sale)
We can pretty easily infer the weight of an overall build down to how much the spokes weigh before buying… why can’t we be given more information about what a rim or frame can stand up to with regards to weight?
100% agreed with this point. I don’t think the article attacks bike makers for their specialization, but I think a lot of the people reacting to pieces like this take it there or read active/intentional fat-phobia into brands’ current practices.
there shouldn’t be bikes as light and high-performing as possible made for those who can use them
… Nobody is saying that?
This is literally the same argument Republicans used during BLM protests.
Nobody was saying non-black lives don’t matter. Nobody is saying lightweight bikes for fit people should be a thing of the past.
I just want to be able to tell my buddy pushing 250 where he can get a bike that won’t cost way more than someone just getting into a hobby is willing to spend. I want to be able to get my parents and sister and in-laws riding with me and my wife without telling them “sorry, you need to buy a $3,000 bike because nobody makes a standardized style for people your size”
Totally agreed and I see the connection with the (deplorable) “all lives matter” reactionary argument. I don’t think this article makes the argument I was referencing, but many people’s reactions in these comments do. I honestly don’t find much that I disagree with in the article, but in how people suggest the bike industry addresses those issues, there may be a lack of balance.
A lot of people just go knee-jerk in the direction they want, not realizing they’re dragging everything along with them.
I would love for there to be a “fat bike” style that’s fairly standard across the industry, but there simply isn’t. I spend all day building bikes for various companies, and the only new things I see are ebikes, and a lot of those are simply hub motors and speed controllers crammed onto existing frames. That means the effective weight limit is even more reduced.
It’s going to be quite some time before the industry changes to heavier models simply because they don’t see it as profitable yet. Even if they tried to pivot today, it would be years before you see changes in your local stores.
I wasn’t reading through every comment, I just saw a bunch of people saying they want heavier bikes, but it didn’t seem like anyone was trying to suggest normal bikes stop being made. Heck, as far as I’m concerned “skinny person bikes” should always continue being made just for the same reason some people want “fat people bikes” today, so someone with an abnormal body type can ride comfortably, and safely.
The fact of the matter is, the industry will only go where the money is. And as sort of a logical conundrum, more fat people would hike if they had better bikes, but the bikes won’t show up until more fat people ride.
So the question is how big is the demand?
If the industry clearly advertised the weight limits of each model it would help. This would allow a company to offer a niche product. If the demand is there, the company will succeed.
Cycling is extremely low impact, and getting exercise on a bike can be a lot easier on the joints than walking or running.
They’re not left out. They just have to purchase the right equipment for their condition.
They have excluded themselves from a segment of the market.
We have to stop infantilizing adults and actually tell grown ups what’s actually going on.
They are purchasing the wrong equipment because the manufacturer isn’t being upfront about the limits. That’s one of the problems this article is about.
That stool is more of a decoration piece than a stool it’s not built with sturdiness in mind sound more like a failure on the designers part
You are an idiot.
If it’s not meant to hold 300lbs, it’s a decoration, not a stool! My apartment is only built for 2 relatively fit people, being a small walkup. So I consider it more a sculpture than something functional.
Have we really normalized obesity to such an extent that we consider “a small walk” to be an indication of being fit? God.
On the other point, maybe some Europeans can chime in: would you consider a stool unusable and fit only for decoration if its weight limit was 140 kilos?
A walkup apartment means no elevator, so to be fair to anyone else, a small walkup could still require like 15 flights of stairs. And by “small” I was referring to the apartment, but obviously still joking about the whole comment. Saying that a small apartment is only for fit people is supposed to be like saying a stool with a 300lb limit isn’t a stool.
140kg limit for anything you’re putting all your weight on is quite generous.
Anything over like 100kg limit is bonus
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I implore you to go to Italy circa 1970s and tell Design Group Italia that 140kgs is an unacceptably low weight limit for a single-person stool. Quit normalizing suicide via obesity.
I’m not normalizing obesity I’m criticizing the design of a stool. I looked up the stool you mentioned and it looked like it connected the seat to the legs just by being fastened together from center of the seat to a small point where the legs joined together in a sort of pyramid like design. If the stool had been designed with each of the legs equidistant closer to the circumference of the seat it probably wouldn’t have taken as much damage from Bigman. But idk I’m not a stool designer or a Time Machine owner
Youre a person who prefers function over aesthetics, thats totally fine.
140kg stool is perfectly acceptable as a furniture piece anywhere but your mind.
Well, no. There’s a place for design and fashion pieces and a place for lightweight / inexpensive pieces. But the middle of the road options, your everyday average furniture? Those should be sturdy, reliable, simple pieces. I can see a stool having a 140kg weight limit when looking at it from the perspective of “a stool is for one person sitting on it”.
But I’d rather it have a bit more strength. Things happen, like somebody wanting to sit in your lap for a moment or children being silly. Design for when things go wrong, not for a happy path use case.
I got put on Concerta as a kid and I ended up gaining quite a bit of weight very quickly. You don’t really notice these things when you’re living in that body 24/7. All of a sudden I was not able to fit in my favourite hide and seek places. Just another perspective since you said you couldn’t wrap your head around people who don’t know their own weight.
Sorry about your stool though that really blows.
i actually had trouble with that and found my only option being giant so far…
I’m still pretty new to riding bikes as a adult, but wanted to share my experience in hopes it helps folks:
Im 6’ 330 lbs and ended up getting an aventon aventure eMTB. It’s held up well over the 400 miles I put on it, but I definitely notice the brakes going quicker than advertised with all the hills near me and my size. I’m sure it won’t last forever, but I’m expecting to get under $1 of initial cost per mile ridden, which felt worth it to me as a 2nd car alternative.
I’ve been looking into a company called Clydesdale also to plan for bike 2.0 in a few years. They advertise titanium framed bikes made for very tall folks. I never used them myself, but they may be a good option for folks willing to pay 5k for a bike.
how well do Dutch omafiets and Japanese mamachari fare in this regard? so much of what’s available in the US seems aimed at sport (racing or mountain biking) rather than the utility and daily commuting focus of Europe and Japan …
mamachari
I picked a random bike on their website and it had the exact same problem the article is about: it doesn’t list a maximum weight for the rider.
I guess this is one situation of privilege I and a lot of lightweight people experience: Of course the bike will support my weight, I don’t even have to check. Meanwhile people over 200 pounds are told to import bikes and 300+ people don’t even get any certainty that an import will support them.
Well only 15% and 4.5% of adults are obese in the Netherlands and Japan, respectively. Nearly 50% in the US are. I don’t see any reason why the few design differences between a classic American hybrid or road bike and either of the types you mention would drastically affect their weight capacity, but it’s also just much less of an issue in those countries.
Generally 120 or 150 kg judging from Sparta and Gazelle materials. That’s about the same as in the article.
Now, our weight distribution is a bit less extreme than in the US, But there are definitely commuters using their bike outside the manufacturer specifications out there right now.
To say nothing of toddler moms.
Those bikes are often steel, and likely could support more weight, but not by much. Wheels and tires have their limits too. I wouldn’t consider anything but a custom bike or higher-end steel touring bike if I weighed more than 250lbs.
Also had weight issue converting bike into electric with custom lifepo battery, which ended up being almost 30kg alone. Rear wheel was shot after like 20kms. But the bike was so cheap it wasnt surprising.
Too bad i came across this bike after finishing the build, might’ve got it instead. https://youtu.be/QV88C5ZK0x0?si=C9Ik2iCy_xDxlNbb edit: look like you cant buy it anyway
136 Kilograms
More than enough, what is this article on about?
Found the European ^
Just kidding, apparently the complaint is that such weight limites are not prominently shown. I’ll be the last to defend any industry but this one does seem a bit of a stretch
Obesity aside, it’s important to have the weight limits clearly defined just for hauling stuff alone, but I applaud anyone who gets on a bike and rides. We should be encouraging overweight people to ride instead of trying to shame them.
America has a serious food problem where shitty food that is horrible for you is far more affordable and accessible for man than actual proper food that will nourish you. As a result, obesity has become a massive problem. Cycling won’t fix everything but it can help a hell of a lot!
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I mean, people could also stop getting more and more obese because of shit life habits.
A lot of the time, obesity is caused by genetic conditions and it can be very difficult to lose weight. Better for fat people to be able to actually participate in society.
That’s not really true. Genetics may contribute, but they certainly don’t cause it. At it’s core, obesity in the overwhelming majority of people is caused by a combination of eating too many calories, and not exercising enough (or doing the correct exercises; working out in zone 4/5 all the time isn’t giving you the benefit you want).
I would challenge all people that are obese to have a metabolic assessment done to determine their true TDEE, and then eat at or below their TDEE while doing 1-2 hours of cardio (defined as zone 3 activity) + moderate weight training daily, and see where they end up.
As a former personal trainer, EVERY client i ever had was resistant to tracking their intake in any way. They flatly refused to even take a photo of every single thing that they consumed that wasn’t water. They claimed to want to lose weight, but refused to do even the absolute bare minimum necessary to do it.
My parents are fat, now i can only eat McDonald’s and donuts. Okay whatever floats your boat. No one can convince me that people get magically fat without eating copious amount of calories with no means to burn it.
Genetics can make it very difficult for people to lose weight - my ex girlfriend was twice my weight even though we had similar diets - in fact. she arguably ate slightly healthier than me, and often less.
Strongly agree that fat people should be able to participate in society.
Strongly disagree that genetics causes obesity. When I was younger I spent a lot of time with the American side of my family. Every time I was with them I would gain like 10kg over 3 months. Then I would lose it after I left. It was purely living in their no walking, highly processed unhealthy food environment.
Part of the reason it’s becoming increasingly widespread is that unhealthy foods are extremely prevalent and even misrepresented as being healthy and natural. People don’t just get up and decide, “Eh, fuck it: I’m gonna get fat!”
It’s a little disingenuous to say it like they’re doing it on purpose. It can be especially difficult to eat healthy for people who are less well off and live in food deserts that lack any affordable way for them to get healthy food.
Weight limits on performance bikes are total nonsense. Probably are there just to comply some law. A pro enduro rider weighing 20kg less than me would destroy my setup any day.
I find hard to believe a traditional 26er with 36 triple cross spoked wheel from a reputable manufacturer can’t hold up to any rider capable of moving on their own and sitting on a saddle any amount of time.
Unless they are heading to Whistler’s a-line
Your MTB wheel set is tested on the standard it’s meant for. There’s really no reason to test downhill wheel set for maximum weight limit for commuting or road racing because it’s not made for that purpose. It’s a specialized product for niche sport.
Although true, it isn’t the point I’m trying to get across. My view is that weight limits aren’t a great metric. You don’t have to go for niche sports, the traditional xc/trail bike is what everybody starts with on mtb.
Say this example xc bike has a weight limit of 150Kg. Rider A is at 170Kg buys this bike ignoring the limit and just rides smooth local fire roads for some excersise.
Rider B is young, athletic 70Kg build. Buys this SAME bike and goes on rides with friends that know all the fun trails. Rider B is getting faster and stronger, and the bike starts to show it’s limitations.
It’s clear which bike will fail sooner. Weight alone doesn’t matter, and both riders are using the bike for it’s intended and designed purpose.
Manufacturers cannot reliably slap a max weight to their bikes because of all the other factors involved. And if they do, it will be way conservative to avoid getting into legal trouble.
That’s why the manufacturers clearly define what sort of abuse the component is expected to withstand.
For example, take a look on this document on DT Swiss wheels (took it as example because I recently bought DT wheel set and checked the manual)
Holy shit what a thread. I scrolled down and didn’t expect huge diet+exercise debate.
I was 300 lbs. I’m 240 lbs now.
32mm tires AT MINIMUM at 125 psi, and an alloy frame is the way. My race bike is 28mm and tops out at 265 lbs. Meaning, I’m always at close to maximum capacity – when I was 300 lbs, I was overcapacity on my 32mm bike.
Over 300 lb, you want 34-36-38mm tires with increasing diameter for every 25-50 lbs added.
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We have a “don’t be an asshole” rule here. It’s pretty easy for most to follow but you repeatedly chose not to, so now you are banned.
Everyone else reading this: You can make your points without being verbally abusive.
If act like an asshole here, you will be permanently banned.
This is not the place for that.
That’s uh, quite a profile that guy has.
It’ll probably get better the more they ride, so the riding will get easier, so they will ride more, and the virtuous cycle (pun intended) will continue.
