Ftrain, by Paul Ford

Back on the narrow today. The key is not to eat out, or if I do to be very vigilant, just get something to help with hunger and come home, where I have all the calories I want. The minute I open a package or smile at the hostess I'm screwed. This was on Ask Metafilter last night:

Gigantor Needs Commuter Bike
July 17, 2009 3:13 PM
I'm huge. I want to get a commuter bike. What's a good one?

I'm 5'11", 350 pounds on a large frame. I want to get a commuter bike for about a 1.5 mile each way commute over flat terrain, preferably one with minimal gears. What's a good bike? I like the look of Electra cruisers.

posted by anonymous to travel & transportation

My response--there were other good ones, and some correcting me:

My advice is based purely on personal experience, so take it as you will. I've been riding regularly for three or four years and I'm slightly taller and bigger than you are. There's no perfect answer except AWESOME! GET THE BIKE! Don't worry too much about finding one for giants--the industry as a whole doesn't have a lot of time for giants.

I started with an upright $300 Fuji cruiser with a heavy frame, soft seat, and seven gears. Weighed a ton, held me fine. Aside from shearing off a pedal when I was in a hurry, I had no complaints--but it was sluggish on very hectic streets (Brooklyn/Manhattan). If you are only ever going to use the bike on the route you describe, this sort of bike will be a cheap, easy option.

After a while on the Fuji I felt an urgent need to have a lower center of gravity and a smoother ride, especially as I was smashing into potholes and swerving between box trucks. I upgraded to a $450 hybrid Trek with a thick aluminum frame (I asked the bike shop owner what he had for giants). I'd suggest this over the cruiser/fewer-gears approach because it will give you more options in case you want to go somewhere besides to and fro work; the other gears won't get in the way (and in fact I find them easier to maintain and less likely to slip the chain); you'll get more value out of the bike.

I know you don't want many gears, but at our size you don't want to push too hard on the pedals; if you're going up even a tiny hill and decide to push it you can shred the gears, bend the crank, and break the chain. The front gear materials are just not made for the forces we exert, unless you want to spend serious money. Broken chain/messed-up gear teeth happened to me twice when I was starting out, because I thought that I was doing the right thing by pushing harder; I had to teach myself to feel if I'm being too hard on the bicycle, and I've had no problems with chain/gears since.

All that said, big folks are hard on bikes, no way around it. My current bike, the frame cracked at a weld after I bumped a curb wrong to avoid getting hit by a truck. The store where I bought it was fussy but the frame had a lifetime guarantee. Trek honored the warranty. The repairman insisted that an aluminum weld should never have gone like that, regardless of how big I am. Of course if I weighed 150 it probably wouldn't have happened, but it didn't say "lifetime guarantee EXCEPT FOR FATTIES."

With the new frame in place everything has been dreamy. I ride a lot--usually eight miles a day during the week. Lately more. I blow spokes in the rear tire every few months (lots of potholes and jumping up on curbs to avoid double-parked trucks and NYC street craziness). My shop fixes them and tunes up the bike. The crank gets a little creaky sometimes, because I still push a little too hard going up the Manhattan Bridge. After two years I bent my rear wheel by bumping off a curb and needed a replacement; that cost $85 bucks.

A small seat is fine--your ass is always sore on a new bike, then it gets used to it. Padded seats are useless when they start to tear, whereas harder seats can be kept useful for a few years if you add some duct tape. Disc brakes are very nice if you're riding in the rain, but hard to adjust without help. Bell makes helmets for big heads (I've got a Bell Alchera, which is fine except snug in winter with a hat.)

As you know there's a cost to being giant, and this is no different. It probably costs me about $70-$100 a year more than it would cost a non-giant to keep the bike in good order. Still, I love riding.

posted by lucius at 9:02 PM on July 17

But also as I was writing wondering why I was still a giant after four years on the bike.

Such questions pointless. Off to ride my bike.