Riding a bike can be a daunting prospect if you are overweight. Feeling awkward, being conscious of how you might look to passers-by, or worrying about potentially injuring yourself is absolutely normal. So, can you be too heavy to ride a bike?
Due to the large variety of bicycles on the market, most people under 400 pounds (180 Kgs) will be able to find a suitable bike to ride. Those in the 400-500 pounds (180-226 Kg) range will likely have to get a sturdy, steel frame bike custom built to suit their weight.
Really, cycling is one of the best ways to lose weight and I would implore you to not worry about being too heavy for riding a bike. My co-writer on this website, Col. Pande lost around 35 pounds (15 kgs) of weight just through cycling.
However, given your current weight, you may not be able to ride all kinds of bikes. Let’s start off by talking about how much weight different types of bicycles can usually take.
Weight Limit On Bikes
I researched a few of the major bicycle brands and collated the general weight guidelines given for different types of bikes:
- Road bikes: 220-250 pounds or 100-115 Kgs
- Mountain bikes: 300-350 pounds or 135-158 Kgs
- Hybrid bikes: 300-350 pounds
- Fat Bikes: 350-400 pounds
- e-Bikes: 250-300 pounds
The above figures are just averages and you can get customizations done to a bike that traditionally would be suited to a lower weight grade. For instance, there are newer road bike models coming out with wide 32c tires that can carry larger people.
Other customizations such as frame strength, getting sturdier wheels are also possible and I’ll detail those in the next section.
Consider These While Buying A Bike For Overweight People
#1 Bike Seat
Overweight people require a wider saddle than the regular ones that most bikes come fitted with. You shouldn’t shy away from testing out a couple of saddles before finalizing a saddle for you. Even for people in the normal weight range, getting a saddle that suits them can be a process of trial and error.
#2 Handle Bar Tape
The handlebars will be taking a significant portion of your weight, and so putting a thick bar tape on the handlebars wouldn’t be amiss. It’ll give you a bit of nice padding that would put less pressure on your hands and make your ride more comfortable. You can also consider putting two layers of the handlebar tape. In case you need some, I liked this one on Amazon.
#3 Bike Frame
Bicycle frames are primarily made out of three materials- Steel, Aluminium and Carbon Fibre. Out of all these Carbon Fibre frames are the most lightweight and hence, aren’t recommended for overweight riders (anyone over 200-220 pounds or 90-100 Kgs), as they won’t afford the strength to support your weight.
Aluminium frames are sturdier and heavier than Carbon Fibre, and for someone in the 250-350 pound (approx. 115-158 Kgs) range, these will make sense.
Steel frames are the sturdiest and heaviest out of all these, and generally, if you weigh north of 300-350 pounds, you would be most confident riding a steel frame bike.
#4 Wheel and Tire Size
Your bicycle wheel should be sturdy with a higher number of spokes than the normal bicycle wheel (let’s say around 30-36 spokes).
This is important as it makes the wheel able to take much more stress and distributes the weight throughout the wheel much more uniformly. While researching this particular aspect of biking for overweight people, I found plenty of accounts where the wheel simply gave in while cycling because of being unable to handle the rider’s weight. This is dangerous and can seriously injure someone if it happens on a ride.
If you can’t find a wheel set for your bike that has a higher number of spokes, then consider getting it custom made.
While you’re at it, try and get deeper rims (bicycle wheels having a larger than average width). This can provide additional support for heavier riders, as you’ll have a larger bicycle tire with a higher air volume. A decent ‘deep’ rim size would be around 40-60 mm.
Lastly, your tire size should be as wide as your rim can handle. For overweight cyclists, as a general rule, try and ride on 28 mm tires or higher. There’s plenty of evidence that riding on wider tires makes for more comfortable and faster rides.
#5 Get a Gear Bike With A Large Gear Ratio
Firstly, do seriously consider getting a geared bicycle instead of a single speed bike. As an overweight cyclist, there’s a high chance that you will tire out faster and in order to last longer on rides, gears will help you a lot. The aim, after all, is to enjoy cycling and make the exercise do-able.
Now, coming to the technical part. Gear ratio refers to the number of teeth in the chain rings near your pedals divided by the number of teeth in a particular gear. The higher the gear ratio for a particular gear, easier it is for you to ride.
You should try and get a bicycle with at least two chain rings in front (let’s say having 34 and 50 teeth) and a 7 speed gear sprocket will be fine (the largest should have around 9-10 teeth).
#6 Prepare For Wear and Tear
Even for heavy duty bikes, the wear and tear is something that you cannot really get a clear idea of unless you start cycling regularly. For most overweight cyclists though, the bikes tend to require a bit of extra care as they’re put under additional stress.
It may be something as small as noticing that your tires wear out faster than normal. So, really pay attention to your bike, oil the chain and gear sprocket regularly, check the brakes regularly and get it serviced every 6 months.
#7 To Get An Electric Bike Or Not?
If you’re in the weight range that e-bikes can generally handle, you can get an e-bike as your first bicycle, absolutely.
If you want to start off easy with cycling, getting an e-bike makes sense. However, do keep in mind that e-bikes require a bit extra maintenance due to the added machinery and also are more expensive than regular bikes.
#8 Cycling Gear
Cycling gear for overweight people can be hard to find, as most of the manufacturers don’t cater to them. You might have to dig around a bit at your local sports shop or find them online.
A must have is a nice pair of padded shorts. For those under 240 pounds, I found a nice pair on Amazon that offers multiple sizes going upto 3XL.
Suggested Bicycles For Heavier Riders
For overweight males and females, your really cannot go wrong with a fat bike. I suggest you check out The Mongoose Fat Bike on Amazon.
Is 300 pounds too heavy to ride a bicycle?
People weighing around 300 pounds can easily find a suitable bicycle to ride. In fact, other than road bikes, they can ride any type of bicycle they like. There is no reason why anyone weighing 300 pounds cannot ride a bike.
Is 400 pounds too heavy to ride a bicycle?
People weighing around 400 pounds can find suitable fat bikes or mountain, hybrid bikes. They can also get bicycles custom built and start cycling.