paulypauly

Hello, I'm wondering if anyone can give some advice on weight limits on a bicycle.
Specifically I'm looking at a Trek Dual Sport 3. Online it says weight limit including rider, bike and accessories is 300lbs. Bike weighs 30lbs.

A couple reps at bike stores have told me that being at 350lbs on this bike should not be a problem if not on intense trails. Can anyone give me any advice? Are there other options for higher weight limit bikes?

thanks.

powermatt99

Besides the primary concerns to your life and limb, I'd be worried about potential liability issues if over capacity on a bike and something goes awry.

KraneXL

Well if you weigh 350 you're not going to be on a 18 lb racing bike. Not for long anyway. Other than that my Cannondale hybrid is recommended @ 275 but I wouldn't worry about the frame not taking a higher load. The wheels however, are another matter altogether. If anything fails due to weight, that's where its likely to occur first.

CliffordK

I've requested that your topic be moved to Clydesdales where this subject comes up quite frequently. You might also browse other topics in that subforum for answers to similar questions.

A few considerations. As mentioned, the heavier riders most frequently have issues with wheels and tires. That bike has some pretty generic 32 spoke wheels. They may be adequate, or you may need some heavy duty 36 spoke wheels.

Frames tend to be quite strong... and are designed to take dynamic impacts. If you are careful... avoid off-road, curbs, and big bumps, you should be fine.

The common interpretation is that the cheaper suspension forks are calibrated for lighter riders, and tend to bottom out with heavier loads. I haven't confirmed that, but you may do well looking for a bike with no suspension (front or rear).

Many things can be upgraded, so if you don't like the seat, then get something new.

You may look at some of the Surly bikes. They are designed to take abuse, and heavy loads.

wphamilton

I'd tend to agree with the bike store reps on this one, assuming you're not going to fly off curbs and ramps and thrash over rocks and tree roots etc. I'd mainly be concerned about how the front shocks would hold up but the Trek guys should know.

I'm not clear on where they even get the weight limits such as 300 pounds vs higher - is it an actual engineer's load limit or a legal disclaimer? Since some really big guys ride these (similar) bikes I suspect the latter. The most common issue I've read about (in general) were with the wheels, and I'd focus on those and the shocks were I you.

Kedosto

Avoid suspension type bikes. Low budget suspension systems can't handle the weight (for long) and high budget barely handle Clydes any better and are really expensive to fix/replace. Buy something unsprung and invest in a quality wheelset (36 spoke minimum). General rule of thumb regarding tires; don't run anything smaller measured in millimeters than your waist size measured in inches.


-Kedosto

cyccommute 

Your advice is too broad. Yes, avoid cheap suspension forks but more expensive forks are up to the task. If most of paulypauly's riding is on paved trails, I would also agree that suspension is unnecessary and counter productive. However, if paulypauly wants to ride off-road, suspension has a place...even cheap suspension.

jpescatore

To help a friend (who weighs about as much as you) get going in biking, I took him to a local bike shop that I trust. There first recommendation to him was a mountain bike because all the pieces were generally stronger. When I said "he will be doing 90% paved rail trail, local streets, almost no dirt at all. If you were to recommend a hybrid, which one?" the DS3 was one of the ones they recommended. It has 32 spoke wheels, disc brakes, 38mm tires and a 26 tooth small ring up front, and the front suspension - all major plusses for his weight. They were fans of the front suspension for heavier riders even for road riding - less damage to the bike if you hit a pothole, large bumps where rail trails cross roads, etc.

You are paying extra for the disc brakes and the suspension, compared to a hybrid that costs $100 less - they felt it saved you problems and money in the long run but of course your mileage may vary...

good4u

Regarding the Trek wheels: I ride a 2017 Trek DS 2 at 245 pounds or so. In 525 miles this year I have replaced one spoke and then two spokes all on the rear wheel. Now is that due to my weight compared to last year at 235# and no broken spokes or something else? I really don't know. I ride cautiously on a MUP and slow down and stand out of the saddle for curb cuts. Not sure if last years DS 2 wheels are same as 2018 DS 3 wheels.

The LBS charged $1.25 per spoke plus $20 per visit. Annoying but not the end of the world. I check my spokes before and after each ride now. OTOH if I were 20 miles from home and popping spokes all over the place then that would mean a call to have me fetched. It is on my to do list to look up spoke repair on Youtube if I can't lose some weight or it happens again.

There is a Trek DS thread in the Hybrid forum.

intransit1217

velojym

Good4u, if they were adjacent to the one that broke before, then they may have been damaged when it broke, and just failed later. I lost a spoke on a club overnighter some time after bunny-hopping over a really big dead armadillo in the road (downhill, fast group, chip-n-seal road... wasn't gonna be able to stop in time, and couldn't swerve either way... besides, a couple of the ladies in our group were pretty impressed )
After we replaced it with a kevlar spoke and got home (and rode for a week or so after), I had that wheel re-laced with wheelsmith double butted spokes. Never a problem after that, but I did tone down my hucking a lot after that incident.

Now... years, a marriage and many pounds later, that bike (2000 Jake the Snake) is hanging on the wall, and I'm reluctant to try riding Jake at 350 lbs. I have a Surly LHT, which doesn't have the emotional attachment that I have with Jake, but I'm building up a 'fat guy' bike from a Cannondale M500 frame that I got from my LBS, their mechanic inspected it and told me he thought it would do me fine, so long as I used the right wheels. Velocity's shipment got here yesterday, a pair of Atlas rims, velocity hubs, 40h rear, 36h front. They're specifically clyde wheels, and are advertised as such. I slapped them on, and almost have a bicycle! I have most of the parts I need, but will still need to order some brakes and cables, then I can give 'er a shot.
Ah, yeah... still need to figure out what to do saddle-wise. This one is just here to help maneuver the bike around the garage. The post is also slightly too small. I may just use the one from my Montague, which is the same size. I can only ride one bike at a time, after all.


Also.... though it'd be perfectly fine, functionally, I don't like the way the crankset looks. Gonna need to fix that, too.

starkmojo

I am 318 today and am riding a Cannondale CAAD 8 that's a little over 18 lbs- maybe 20. But not much. I started riding it at 331. 350-330 I rode a Kona.

If you are overweight (like me) the big thing is to be careful to avoid point load impacts. And be ready to replace stuff that breaks. But the sooner you get riding the sooner you lose weight.

I combined a diet and exercise plan and am very happy with the results. Get a bike you will ride regularly whatever that means to you. To me is means aluminum frame, drop bars, carbon forks.

Rock71

Either have your LBS torque all the spokes or spend $130 on a set of 36 spoke weinmann wheels or have someone build you a weinmann 40 spoke DPX rim set for just a bit more.

velojym

Stark, you rode the Kona CX bike at that weight? No problems with the frame or anything?
Jake and I were pretty 'attached' for a few years, and now all I want to do is get back to those days. Obviously I wouldn't be younger again, but that was the only time I remember feeling happy in general.