Too Fat to Ride??? (Gear shifting problem)

[planetluvver]

Can a woman be too fat to ride? I weigh about 264, and am 5'6" tall.

When I stop, and dismount from my seat, my belly bumps against my shift levers. I have a 1980's Schwinn, with shifts levers mounted near the handlebars. The bruises are bad enough, but it is the fact that I move the levers, and I am not in my proper gear that is my concern.

Has anyone else had this problem, and what did you do?

Thanks!

[Tuckervill]

I assume they're friction shifters? Just move them back to where they were. The chain will stay in place because you're not pedaling when they move.

You could also dismount your bike (by leaning it way over) in a way that allows you to stay more upright and not bend at the waist so far.

Keep riding and you'll shrink and it won't be a problem anymore!

Karen

[planetluvver]

I am not bending at the waist! There is no room for my girth from front to back between the tip of my seat and my shifters. I guess I could try to lean over and stand to the side.

Or just ride more! I used to be active in the past, and I never lost weight. (However, I also had a BF then who browbeat me, and I wouldn't eat at his house, because he was so harsh. So I would scarf down Big Macs before or after visiting him.)

[Biciclista]

Maybe you need a bike that fits you better.

[dex]

Can you look into getting bar end shifters? Otherwise, I think you're probably going to just have to move them back into place after each dismount.

Mimi, this isn't really a "bike fit" issue. Some of us are just bigger front-to-back than side-to-side. I'm built that way--I carry my weight all out in front, but proportionally I have very little in the way of hips or butt. On some of the bikes I've ridden, this has made for very little room between my stomach and the stem when standing over my bike.

I often knock my bento box off-kilter when I stop and dismount my bike. I just push it back into place when I start riding again. Not a big deal, but a minor annoyance. I suppose I could look for a bike with more room to stand, but that would make the top tube too long while trying to ride it...and since riding is the point of the bike, I just deal with the lack of room when I happen to be not riding. *shrug*

[Tuckervill]

Oh, I was thinking it was "unstraddling" issue. Yeah, I get what you're saying...when you're just standing there, astride the bike, you don't have any clearance. That's okay, still. Just move the levers back after you get back on the saddle.

My road bike saddle hits me in my lower back right where my scar from surgery is, unless I move all the way forward so the drop bars are hitting my thighs--and that makes the bike a little unstable for just standing over it.

In addition to continued riding, you might want to start keeping a food journal (there are tons online like calorie king and SparkPeople.com) to see what your true intake and output is.

Karen