Galego92

I am in my late twenties, am currently at 314 lbs, 6' 1" and looking to get my first Road bike. Covid has done a number on most of us and I definitely fell victim with a desk job and new baby. I have been looking for a good road bike and found a Trek 5500 OCLV series carbon fiber with borntrager tires. I am hoping to lose weight pretty quickly but don't want to break the bike as it shows that it has a 275lb weight limit. I live where there are few hills and I can avoid the few there are until I lose more weight if necessary.

1979schwinn 

Count Spokes, you will 32 or more on the wheels.

blamester

Why start with a road bike?
Most likely it will be the wrong bike and you won't be able to get comfortable and then you wont ride it.
You have to learn how to ride a bike. So get a cheap hybrid or mtb which fits and use that as a start.
Work up to a roadbike. Patience always wins

customsound79

You will be fine. My struggles have seen me from 480 to 295 and back up and back down. I have ridden carbon road bikes a couple thousand miles from 360lb down to 295lb , a Trek FX1 at 450lb, Trek 1000 at 400lb,. Around 300lb I never had a single issue. I even rode Ultegra low spoke count wheels for a while. At 350 and up I popped a couple spokes. Bikes are much tougher than they might seem.

ClydeClydeson

The bike, assuming it is in good condition, will hold you up just fine. As mentioned above, though, the wheels might be a little light, and if they have a low-spoke count (less than 32), plan on upgrading to something a little more burly in the medium term. Wheel failures are generally not catastrophic, though. What is likely to happen is that, esp. on the rear wheel, spokes will start breaking, or cracks will develop around the spoke eyelets in the rims. Neither of these failures is likely to cause you to crash or lose control, but you may need to call for a ride home.

ALso ensure the bike is a good fit. At 6'1" you probably want what is today called a 'LARGE' size bike. An older model like a 5500 is probably sized in cm, so you will likely want a 60 cm or thereabouts.

I'm not sure, but I think Trek stopped making the 5500 model quite some time ago, so inspect closely for any problems with the frame - those were carbon lugs bonded to carbon tubes, and the primary mode of failure would be the bonding letting go.

Feldman

Any rider of any size should use the widest tires that will safely fit the frame--better handling and ride comfort.

Andyota

I would agree that the bike should have no problem holding you, but the wheels at at least 32 spokes will mean less potential for spoke breakage and help the rims stay straight. I'm 6'0" 312lb, and ride an aluminum frame, all carbon fork State 6061 Black Label gravel bike with 28 spoke rims. I had one spoke pop on the first ride, repaired it, balanced spoke tension, trued them (not entirely straight from the factory), and have had a couple hundred trouble-free miles since. Go for it if it looks like its in good condition!

Andy

Leisesturm

Pull that bike up in Google Images and come back here and say that. I doubt I'd lose any money betting 25's are all that will fit under the brake bridges.

Leisesturm

The other poster did not recommend starting with a hybrid because of any fear that a racebike wouldn't hold up 300lbs. They (correctly) assume that the more accessible ergonomics of the hybrid platform will make for an easier transition from non-rider to Cat3 contender. I agree.

grizzly59

I ride a Trek 2200, nice bike. Goofy wheels. Do the wheels on the 5500 have the spokes arranged around the rim in pairs, with gaps between the pairs (not every spoke evenly spaced around the rim)? If these are the wheels, I would be very leery of riding them at / above Trek's limit. These wheels might be the reason for the limit. I'm going to guess most guys who ride a 5500 with those wheels at 6'1" weigh less than 190lbs.