Commuter for a Super Heavyweight (150kg+)

[Scott_C]

Looking for an all-seasons commuting bike for on-road and good quality path use for a 150+ kg 6' 4" rider with a 12km commute with a couple of slight hills (max 7% grade but only for ~100m). Budget is mostly not an issue.

Are there any mass market options available or do I have to go straight to a custom builder? If so are there any recommendations for a Perth based builder.

Thanks.

[10speedsemiracer]

Not so much the bike, rather the wheels. I'd be leaning toward one of the steel framed touring bikes with some wheels made up to suit the application. There's a wheelbuilder based in Perth or thereabouts who is highly spoken of on this forum but would probably need to know what sort of bike we're dealing with first. I would suggest something like a Surly/Vivente touring bike, and have build some wheels up with hefty hubs and lots of spokes.

Can reach Adrian (I think that's his name) on info@melodywheels.com.au . I haven't seen a bad thing written about him, but I also haven't used any of his wheels as yet.

In terms of bike, I'd be thinking something like a Surly Trucker
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/disc_trucker/bike_specs



Frame sizes up to 64cm, steel frame, can either spec with discs or rim brakes, clearance for 700x42mm with guards and double or triple cranksets, 11-36 10sp cassette etc etc.

[Thoglette]

The usual advice applies.
Firstly: avoid anything with suspension, avoid skinny tyres and get a decent set of wheels (if you've bought something new and cheap).

Tandem grade wheels are available off the shelf (e.g. Kotavelo) or custom (e.g. MelodyWheels) if you really feel the need to spend. 26" wheels are significantly stronger than 700C but spoke count and build quality count even more so.

The second bit of advice is usual that: tourers are designed to carry a whole pile of weight over bloody awful roads. And do so forever. So any old tourer (Fuji, Surly, Vivente) will do nicely. Frankly, anything with a steel frame and space to fit 32mm tyres is likely to do nicely. Likewise most Al "hybrid" bikes. Just forget suspension.

Thirdly, this topic comes up about every six to twelve months, so use your google-fu to find the old threads.

Finally, at 150Kg you're barely cracking the "big" league. Ernest Gagnon started at over 500lbs.

[IamGroot]

Maybe consider the Merida Crossway 100, back in 2012 after having a Lap Band installed at 180kgs and taking up cycling again I purchased the 2013 model and wow what an amazing bike. Still have it and have rode many a highway klm and its still going great but after 4 years I did have to replace the shocks.

[jacks1071]

Looking for an all-seasons commuting bike for on-road and good quality path use for a 150+ kg 6' 4" rider with a 12km commute with a couple of slight hills (max 7% grade but only for ~100m). Budget is mostly not an issue.

Are there any mass market options available or do I have to go straight to a custom builder? If so are there any recommendations for a Perth based builder.

Thanks.

Did you end up getting a bike?

[Scott_C]

Looking for an all-seasons commuting bike for on-road and good quality path use for a 150+ kg 6' 4" rider with a 12km commute with a couple of slight hills (max 7% grade but only for ~100m). Budget is mostly not an issue.

Are there any mass market options available or do I have to go straight to a custom builder? If so are there any recommendations for a Perth based builder.

Thanks.

Did you end up getting a bike?

Not yet. Have had a terrible month with family members going through 2 emergency surgeries and 1 planned surgery which has seriously eaten into my spare time and prevented me from getting to a Surly dealership. Hoping to get out there soon as I will probably need to wait on delivery to get a frame in my size and if I don't act soon it will be spring before I get the bike.

[Baalzamon]

I'm thinking of parting with my Surly Long Haul trucker 26" which is fully setup for touring. 36 spoke wheels and is built for heavy. On tour me = 130kg with 30kg luggage and no problem.