It’s Fat Simple

[Catrike16]

Hi all. Well life threw a curve ball.
Used to be pretty fit, nice titanium road bike with full dura ace etc.
Anyway, I have piled on the pounds, I really do mean piled.
Now at 305lbs
Long story short, looked at weight limits on Specialized Sirrus sport, 300lb max structural weight, so I bought one, special deal and all that.
However having done a double check that was the 2016 weight limit I was looking at. Having checked the 2018 limit, it’s down to 275 on the same bike, carbon fork might be the culprit.
So will I be alright if I take it easy, i.e. no jumps, kerbs potholes etc, or should I seriously consider returning it and going for the base model whic still has a 300lb limit? ( same price for a less well specced bike)
Any thoughts ?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Weight limits on bikes and wheels are arbritary. A 70kg person can wreck a bike by jumping off a building with it and a 130kg person can wreck the same bike by going around a velodrome once too many.

There is no scientific way of calculating a weight limit on a bike because of the variables which are user-derived as in the example above.

If you do nothing stupid, your bike will be safe. However, if you pile on the miles, durability will suffer and show up in premature spoke breakages, which are not catastrophic.

Go ride in whatever you have and deal with wear and tear as and if it happens.

 

[fossyant]

What Yellow Saddle says.

It's subjective to use. Folk say mountain bikes 'snap' - yeh if you jump massive gaps and stuff, and 'mess it up'. I've yet to break any bike in 33 years of riding and racing all sorts of bikes. 3 of those bikes in my ownership are around 30 years old (owned from new).

Smashing a pot hole will take out a rim, what ever weight you are.

 

[fossyant]

Your Titanium bike with DA will be fine.

 

[Drago]

I'm fairly heavy at about 270, but I ride very light on the contact points. Other than the very occasional spoke I've never broken anything structural.

 

[subaqua]

Only times I ever broke a bike were

Front spring on a bike that should have had an engine ....
breaking the actual bottom bracket off same bike ..

I may have been jumping off a large ramp as a kid ...


Oh and snapped frame on a Raleigh steel frame as a teenager. In gear 10 ( big ring on front small cog on rear) broke the dropout where derailleur attached .

Claude Crimes in Chester were very nice about replacing frame .

 

[Catrike16]

Cheers folks.
Much appreciated

 

[Dave 123]

I'm fairly heavy at about 270, but I ride very light on the contact points. Other than the very occasional spoke I've never broken anything structural.

Just hearts eh?