Cycling Fat

For anyone of a hefty persuasion who is considering cycling I have learned a two things which I’ll share here.

Comfort

It is never going to be a realistic proposition when you are big, bike saddles aren’t that comfy for anyone, but weighing twice what you should and then putting it all on a seat a third the size of a really uncomfortable bar stool is not going to be fun. So you look for some proper “padding” and very soon find that in the UK, as far as cycling is concerned, you are XXL if you have a 38inch waist and nothing bigger is even made, let alone stocked. Now I haven’t been close to having a 38inch waist for over 15 years, so what to do?

Luckily I found http://www.aerotechdesigns.com. In America I would pass for merely “a bit chunky” and these guys supply proper padded cycling comfort in sizes that would make me goggle. I have got several of their shorts and they are great, and they’ll happily ship outside the US.

Your Bike

The other thing I have found is that my weight, not surprisingly, had a detrimental effect on my bike. Towards the end of last year my 5 mile, twice a day commute through the potholed delights of Cambridge was pinging spokes in the back wheel every other week. Now I don’t mind replacing the odd spoke, but its fiddly and I never got the hang of truing the wheel quickly so I would take it to one of the many repair shops in Cambridge.

After the third time this had happened in a couple of months I took the radical step of asking some advice. The conclusion we came to was that I should invest in a stronger rim on my back wheel, with stronger spokes laced in a 4-cross pattern. This means each spoke intertwines 4 others, it is sort of explained here: www.danscomp.com but if I’m honest I don’t really get it, but, the guy was convinced that this would either solve to problem or, realistically I should just give up and get the bus.

I coughed up the dosh and had them rebuild my wheel.

Wow!

What a difference. no longer worry about avoiding every last glitch in the road and haven’t lost a spoke since.

So 2 hot tips, Padded shorts in a correct size and reinforce your rear wheel: You’re good to go.