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GCN Has a video of a Clyde racer and bike fit...

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GCN Has a video of a Clyde racer and bike fit...

Old 04-22-20, 12:41 PM
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zjrog
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GCN Has a video of a Clyde racer and bike fit...

It's a very interesting video to watch...
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Old 04-23-20, 12:49 PM
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Holy cats, that head tube is ginormous. It sounds like he's not a fan of sloping top tubes either, although he compounded it by riding on a frame that was undersized.
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Old 04-23-20, 12:53 PM
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Wait, that's a Clyde? He's just tall, not Clydesdale-ish. I've always thought "Clydes" were those on the more substantial side of the scale.

Just can't keep up with the new meanings of things, I guess.
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Old 04-23-20, 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by Chinghis
Wait, that's a Clyde? He's just tall, not Clydesdale-ish. I've always thought "Clydes" were those on the more substantial side of the scale.

Just can't keep up with the new meanings of things, I guess.
Generally Clyde's are tall and/or heavy. Even if I get under 200 pounds I'll forever be a Clyde at 6'1".
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Old 04-23-20, 11:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Chinghis
Wait, that's a Clyde? He's just tall, not Clydesdale-ish. I've always thought "Clydes" were those on the more substantial side of the scale.

Just can't keep up with the new meanings of things, I guess.
I didn't notice if he mentioned his weight but he's probably 200+, which is the official clyde cutoff. Most of it in his feet, apparently.
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Old 04-24-20, 03:13 PM
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I am sure he is over 200lbs, he's a very tall lad. I love GCN but this is as close as to dealing with anything non-skinny cycling they will ever talk about. He is a great presenter no doubt, had a good pro career and is a fun guy to watch but they are certainly not going out of their way to talk about bigger folks.
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Old 04-24-20, 05:58 PM
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At 7:21 minutes he says he is 90 Kg/198 lbs not quite a Clyde.
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Old 04-25-20, 03:12 AM
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I've seen plenty of guys say they're clydes and then say they're like 210 or whatever. Yes, registering for a triathlon at 210 you'll be in the clydesdale class, so it's no lie, but I just want to shake my head and say "*****, please!"

I brought that video up and when I realized it was just a tall guy who's genuinely heavier than the typical beanpole cyclist, but still looked perfectly normally sized, I just closed the browser again. Move along, this isn't the clydesdale you're looking for...
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Old 05-12-20, 10:50 PM
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Ha, the Clydes forum pulling a reverse fat shame.

I found the video interesting since i am 6'5. It was cool to see in what ways our equipment is the same, in what ways its different, and why.
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Old 05-13-20, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Chinghis
Wait, that's a Clyde? He's just tall, not Clydesdale-ish. I've always thought "Clydes" were those on the more substantial side of the scale.

Just can't keep up with the new meanings of things, I guess.
I always figured I'd always be a clyde, even now that I'm a little under 200lbs. Just like Connor, I get asked how tall I am a lot, though I'm only 2m / 6'7. (And a 48 or 49 shoe size)

I think his advice is for the 'typical' long leg/short back or proportional rider. I'm sort of blessed in that I have short stubby legs (34" inseam) and long arms, so I can get a 'shorter' headtube (I think my Bianchi is a 23cm). My old Ridley was a 56cm frame, even.

I do like the pedal advice. My heels clip the frame occasionally.

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Old 05-13-20, 03:11 PM
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Ha, the Clydes forum pulling a reverse fat shame.

I found the video interesting since i am 6'5. It was cool to see in what ways our equipment is the same, in what ways its different, and why.
Ha ha... I was thinking the same about the "reverse fat shame".

I haven't been below 200lbs since H.S., though I am not really a stout fellow. More like "average build on an up-sized frame". When you move much North of 6' you're probably going to be heavy. I have a buddy who is 7', and when he was playing sports in college some may have said he looked like a "bean pole"... yet he was still close to 250lbs.

Good video for us taller riders with some good ideas on how to mitigate living in a world built for people between 5' 2" and 6'.
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Old 05-14-20, 04:39 PM
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6'8" is properly tall, taller than me at 6'5". He is a skinny guy at 90kg, for his height, and you can see it pretty clearly. I have what I consider an average build at (now) 200 lbs/91kg, down from 210 recently. Regardless, it's great to see a truly tall ex-pro rider. All the cool fast bikes are designed for people 5'10" and under, and it shows (not complaining, just stating). Or maybe it's just Pinarellos. Make the tubes straight and the angles decent, and tall stuff works. Like vintage steel or many, even mostly-modern, Cannondales. Swoopy looks cool on smaller frames, just like curvy sheetmetal looks better on a Lotus Elise (rather than stretched over a '70s Sedan DeVille).

Big bikes are great.
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Old 05-14-20, 11:01 PM
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1980's Nishiki Sebring set up for me. Yes I love riding on dirt roads and that includes my drop bar bike too.

I'm 6ft 5inch at 232lbs. My bicycles are 66,67,68cm tall frames respectively. 180mm cranks on 2 of them. One inch pedal extenders because my size 14, US, feet will hit the cranks and the bike frame otherwise. I like tall frames so my seatpost is not out so far. Seen a couple of bicycles with cracks and broken seatpost tubes because of long seatposts. I always double wrap my bars for better grip from my larger hands or I use something like mushroom grips on my straight bar bikes. More to grab onto. My handlebars need to be far enough away that I never hit them with my knees. On smaller frames that is an issue. So I either buy bicycles that have plenty of top tube reach or I put on longer stems as the gentleman suggests. Headtubes on my bikes are very long. Wheelsets need to be strong. I really like low gearing for overpasses and of course hills. A couple of my bikes have MTB triples up front with 24 tooth low gears. I loved his video and it was a pleasure to know someone even taller than I actually raced professionally. On another note I have been losing weight for over a year now and recently hit 232 lbs. I figure that I need to be sub 200lbs at my height before I finally get this fat gut of mine off of me. The reverse fat shaming made me laugh, wish I had that problem of being too light.
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Old 05-15-20, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
Ha, the Clydes forum pulling a reverse fat shame.

I found the video interesting since i am 6'5. It was cool to see in what ways our equipment is the same, in what ways its different, and why.
I'm 6'2", which I've read somewhere is taller than 96.1% of US men. It's kind of nice to be on the tall end, but 6'2" is still probably an inch or two below the height at which finding clothes that fit, finding cars I can sit comfortably in, etc. starts to be a legit problem. I suppose I could ask you all about that. If I shun certain cars that have sunroofs because my hair is brushing the headliner then you're probably struggling with that car even without the sunroof.

The GCN video actually refers to tall riders, not fat riders, so I think most of us were thrown by the forum thread title referring just to "Clyde" and some assumption that it was referring to weight issues. The video wasn't really aimed at heavy riders, and they didn't claim it was, so no harm no foul. The forum thread title was kind of a bait & switch, actually.

Personally I think the term Clydesdale referring simply to anyone over 200 lbs (from, I guess, the triathlon community) isn't all that useful. The needs, equipment limitations, health issues, etc. of "clydes" who exceed the cycling norms in the Z axis are going to be very different from those of us who exceed the standards in X and Y.

To be honest, GCN really should make some videos dealing with issues for legitimately fat riders. There really are "fat shaming" issues in our society, of course, and even someone like GCN, knowing that probably a lot of viewers who watch them are actually fat themselves, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming to make a video about bike fit and equipment issues for, say, a 5'11" rider who weighs 280 lbs or whatever. Imagine the hateful comments section that would appear under that video!

ps: I'm not a fan of the anti-fat-shaming police, and I'm not a fan of those who can't stop themselves from mocking fat people either. We have to be realistic about healthy and happy body weights, to be sure, but truly fat people know it just sucks to be fat, and they also know that for a variety of reasons, if you're there, it's not easy to change it. Doable, but not easy at all. I'm proud that I used to be 380, lost over 100 lbs a decade ago, and have kept most of it off in the intervening ten years, but I know that it's not "fine" to still be 265-270ish as I am right now. I'm proud of my progress, not my body as it still is. The anti-fat-shamers would hate me for implying that it's not fine to be at the weight I'm at now, but it simply isn't. I know it, probably anyone at this weight or heavier knows it, etc. Sadly, even when I eventually hit my goal weight of 230 lbs I'll still be way above the range at which the "public face" of cycling gives a crap about people. That's so far out from the mean in the weight distribution of typical cyclists that trying to push one's media or business product reach beyond one or two standard deviations from the cyclist weight mean will always be a "marginal gain" they just won't find to be worth pursuing.
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Old 05-21-20, 11:41 PM
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Seth I would admit that no amount of fat shaming ever had any real effect on me. I would deny the fat existed and walk away. Like so many others it was a realistic look at my health and health problems than finally forced me to confront dying earlier from too much body fat. or trying to get lighter and live longer. This didn't happen of course until I was mid 60's and starting to have very real health problems. Like a lot of things losing weight is also a mental outlook change. I've had all kinds of emotions and memories come forth as I've lost weight. I liken it to being at war with yourself. I took a class through my health care provider on weight lose strategies and pitfalls. The room was full of mostly overweight women and only three overweight guys. Most of us were in our 60's and suffering ill health because of being overweight. I was surprised to learn that everyone was very forthright in how they looked. Almost to a person everyone in that class described themselves as being fat and that includes myself. This self assessment leaves little room to hide behind some other reason and gets right to the problem. I recommend this type of nutrition class because it had a bunch of good ideas I use every day to help get and keep the weight off. The GCN young man's height is in itself a real problem trying to get bicycles and bicycle clothing that fits and he addresses some of his issues. I agree that a video about fitting bicycles and clothing to much bigger people would be helpful also. Your point that the person could be of average height and still be quite heavy is well taken. I've learned a lot from this Clydesdale/Athena forum.
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Old 05-23-20, 11:13 AM
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Originally Posted by SethAZ
I'm 6'2", which I've read somewhere is taller than 96.1% of US men. It's kind of nice to be on the tall end, but 6'2" is still probably an inch or two below the height at which finding clothes that fit, finding cars I can sit comfortably in, etc. starts to be a legit problem. I suppose I could ask you all about that. If I shun certain cars that have sunroofs because my hair is brushing the headliner then you're probably struggling with that car even without the sunroof.

The GCN video actually refers to tall riders, not fat riders, so I think most of us were thrown by the forum thread title referring just to "Clyde" and some assumption that it was referring to weight issues. The video wasn't really aimed at heavy riders, and they didn't claim it was, so no harm no foul. The forum thread title was kind of a bait & switch, actually.

Personally I think the term Clydesdale referring simply to anyone over 200 lbs (from, I guess, the triathlon community) isn't all that useful. The needs, equipment limitations, health issues, etc. of "clydes" who exceed the cycling norms in the Z axis are going to be very different from those of us who exceed the standards in X and Y.

To be honest, GCN really should make some videos dealing with issues for legitimately fat riders. There really are "fat shaming" issues in our society, of course, and even someone like GCN, knowing that probably a lot of viewers who watch them are actually fat themselves, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming to make a video about bike fit and equipment issues for, say, a 5'11" rider who weighs 280 lbs or whatever. Imagine the hateful comments section that would appear under that video!

ps: I'm not a fan of the anti-fat-shaming police, and I'm not a fan of those who can't stop themselves from mocking fat people either. We have to be realistic about healthy and happy body weights, to be sure, but truly fat people know it just sucks to be fat, and they also know that for a variety of reasons, if you're there, it's not easy to change it. Doable, but not easy at all. I'm proud that I used to be 380, lost over 100 lbs a decade ago, and have kept most of it off in the intervening ten years, but I know that it's not "fine" to still be 265-270ish as I am right now. I'm proud of my progress, not my body as it still is. The anti-fat-shamers would hate me for implying that it's not fine to be at the weight I'm at now, but it simply isn't. I know it, probably anyone at this weight or heavier knows it, etc. Sadly, even when I eventually hit my goal weight of 230 lbs I'll still be way above the range at which the "public face" of cycling gives a crap about people. That's so far out from the mean in the weight distribution of typical cyclists that trying to push one's media or business product reach beyond one or two standard deviations from the cyclist weight mean will always be a "marginal gain" they just won't find to be worth pursuing.
I think it should maybe start at 275 which is where you would start to be sure not to just buy any bike out there, maybe 300.
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Old 05-23-20, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by tallbikeman
Seth I would admit that no amount of fat shaming ever had any real effect on me. I would deny the fat existed and walk away. Like so many others it was a realistic look at my health and health problems than finally forced me to confront dying earlier from too much body fat. or trying to get lighter and live longer. This didn't happen of course until I was mid 60's and starting to have very real health problems. Like a lot of things losing weight is also a mental outlook change. I've had all kinds of emotions and memories come forth as I've lost weight. I liken it to being at war with yourself. I took a class through my health care provider on weight lose strategies and pitfalls. The room was full of mostly overweight women and only three overweight guys. Most of us were in our 60's and suffering ill health because of being overweight. I was surprised to learn that everyone was very forthright in how they looked. Almost to a person everyone in that class described themselves as being fat and that includes myself. This self assessment leaves little room to hide behind some other reason and gets right to the problem. I recommend this type of nutrition class because it had a bunch of good ideas I use every day to help get and keep the weight off. The GCN young man's height is in itself a real problem trying to get bicycles and bicycle clothing that fits and he addresses some of his issues. I agree that a video about fitting bicycles and clothing to much bigger people would be helpful also. Your point that the person could be of average height and still be quite heavy is well taken. I've learned a lot from this Clydesdale/Athena forum.
My mom is in a class just like that. People drop out quickly in general but she has stayed on. The dietician also supports intermittent fasting and says that her patients on it do better, but she does not teach it directly in the class because it's not strictly what a dietician does.
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Old 05-23-20, 07:28 PM
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Oneder, good for your mother. Our class had a few dropouts but most stayed to the end. Intermittent fasting is a good thing in my book but there a bunch of different fasting techniques out there so you have to figure out which one you want to try. Then you have to not stuff food into your mouth for a while. Very tough. Kinda goes directly against the grain, the reason why you are big in the first place. I know this forum has an arbitrary weight of 200lbs or greater but it is possible to be obese at a much lighter weight. Overweight people of all sizes and weights can have greater mobility and flexibility issues so that even a person who is under 200 lbs but obese for their height and build might have very real fit issues with bicycles. However I agree that when you get to 275lbs and greater bicycle strength issues start cropping up. Taller people have a hard time getting proper fits, and if they are very heavy then it is a double negative whammy.
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