SJX426 

Well I guess I like being ignorant. I was around 225 at one point. After a couple of years of riding by commuting around 11 to 15 mile one way, my weight dropped to 185. That number required close to 4000 miles of riding a year. Much of the riding was on the Pinarello Montello with 23's pumped to 120F/125R or close.

Unlike many of your experiences, I checked my pressure every morning and found it had dropped 10 to 20 PSI. Pressure was determined by trial and tire used. I have some 25's on the shelf but I don't know if they will fit, I suspect so.

Bottom line for me is that I like my set up, DA hubs, 32 spoke wheels with Open 4 CD's.

Much of my riding in the early 2010 time frame (220lbs) was on a Colnago with 21's Tubulars on GL330's, 32 spoke, Mavic 501 hubs. I ran 110 on those and with decent sew-ups, it was/is a great ride for me.

Road Fan

Just for the record, I started the thread and I don't think I called or suggested anyone was ignorant. I'm consulting you guys because I believe you are NOT ignorant, and generally keep level heads on your shoulders, and I needed an injection of reality based on experience to put my concerns into perspective. I read a lot of threads and saw that a lot of people have voiced concerns about heavy people riding on skinny tires, and asked if anyone had fears about this or had experienced any significant problems with wheels due to weight. It WOULD be more conservative to use 28 mm plus tires, but it would ALSO be more conservative for me to ride an old LHT instead of a 2005 Mondonico ELOS Futura Leggero, but I see there are a bunch of us on 21 mm tubulars.

THAT has me inspired to complete my rebuild of my other Mondonico (built of lowly standard-diameter Columbus SL) in 22 mm classic Vittoria CX tubulars.

noglider 

I never struggled with my weight, but then I noticed I was getting a bit too heavy, so I cut back on junk food and lost a lot of weight. In fact, according to some, I was too thin. I put a bunch back on by lifting weights, and my waist is still small, so I guess I'm better off now than before my weight loss.

Bad Lag

I ride a 28 in the rear and a 25 in the front. This allows me to run the pressure I need in the rear to avoid flats yet retain the svelte looks and lively feel of a narrow, light tire in the front.

ryansu

Ride what puts a smile on your face man, the rest is just details

noglider 

Narrow tires might be more uncomfortable than wider tires, more so as you get heavier, but they're not inherently more wheel-breaking-prone. Or not unacceptably so. As you add weight, the importance of keeping your tires inflated fully increases. There are 300-lb riders on 25mm tires. They must have a way of inflating their tires hard and frequently.

anotherbike

I've ridden on 27x1" tires quite a bit in the past, never an issue, just make sure they're fully inflated to the max.
I never tried tubulars though. My biggest concern was to reduce rolling resistance, larger tires and my size just made for lots of extra rolling resistance.

arex

I'm 290. The 27x1-1/4 tires on my Univega are inflated to 95, and they're not uncomfortable to ride on. I can't really bomb around off and on curbs like I do on my 26x2.0 MTB-turned-commuter, but that's normal anyways. The 27's sure roll smoother.

mstateglfr 

2 of my 3 80s road bikes dont fit 28s.
25mm Conti GPs meadure 26.5mm on both at thats as much as i can get behind both frames.

i dont find this width to be uncomfortable on paved roads and im 235# so they are run at 95-105psi. My paved road rides are 25-65mi, so maybe i would want something wider if i rode longer, but for rides at 5 hours or less, im good with that width.

cant imagine giving up the frames, just not interested.

RiddleOfSteel

At 6'5" being a "Clyde" at 215 lbs is not surprising. I'm just (still) fairly proportional. Sure, I could trim down to...205? Knock off the craft beer (I am in this industry professionally, after all) and a few chips here and there, and yeah, I could whittle it down. Kinda been meaning to as I've been used to having not much stomach squishiness.

I run 23s and 25s often, 23s at 90F/100R and 25s at 85F/95R with no problem. Good response yet comfortable over Seattle's streets of gold... I do watch the pavement carefully--that's helped a lot. Like others, I really do like my race bikes an awful lot.

Road Fan

Yeah, Tom, I would say so! Kudos!

Road Fan

Thanks, ryan, that's what this thread is bringing me back to!

Fidbloke

Lascauxcaveman (with beer, naturally) sitting next to his skinny pal, Dave

I love this photo! Pretty much every photo of me on Facebook shows me holding a beer glass.

Oh... Hang on? That's not a good thing is it?

fietsbob

around here? not me I'm not in the northern midwest..
rarely ride my road bike any more..

my folding bike is good enough , I get to park it in side the bar where I socialize ..

Small old town on the NW Coast..



....

ElDeluxo

+1 this. 25 in the front, 28 in the rear, 180-190# typically, but just picked up and started riding an old Trek 930 and I'm almost certain a 28 is gonna be too big!

Road Fan

Looks fine to me!