Mountain Bike or Road Bike for a Big Guy

Jeff is a big guy and has asked us whether or not he would be better with a mountain bike or a road bike, not a big problem, but it depends on what he wants to do or which he would enjoy the most?

Question: I was wondering if a road bike or mountain bike would suit me better. I am 6 foot and 225 lbs, but in shape, after riding for awile, 200 lbs. Are road bikes strong enough for 200 lb guys. Are older refurbished road bikes strong enough?? Jeff

Hi Jeff,
Road bikes are as strong as mountain bikes, the difference is that you might be going over rough terrain on the mountain bike, so it has to be stronger for the reason of where you take it, not so much the weight it has to carry.

Roads are normally smooth, so your road bike is built for that purpose, most people with mountain bikes use them off-road with suspension, this takes the bumps out of the ride on rough terrain, if you were riding on the road with suspension this gives a sloppy ride, but a comfortable one. The mountain bike with suspension could be good idea for a heavier man, like yourself, but you will find you loose a lot of the effort you put into your cycling. When you cycle up hill, the suspension frame flexes as you pedal and as you lean on the handlebars the suspension fork will also compress taking away some of your effort. If you are going to get a mountain bike possibly a rigid frame with suspension forks that you can lock out the forks so they can be rigid when you are climbing out the saddle, then if you are off-road you can make the forks solid so you don’t waste your energy

A refurbished road bike should be strong, but with anything second hand you have to be careful, check out the frame as much as you can, look for any cracks or places where the frame may have been damaged, stand on the pedals and listen for any creaks or groans from the frame itself. All old frames flex, the bigger the frame the more it will flex, if the bike has been hard ridden it will feel sloppy when ridden and will be weaker and more likely to break.

Mountain bikes take a lot of hammering in there use, so maybe weaker and not last long, if you can meet the old owner you might get an idea of what kind of riding he has been doing. Be careful, maybe a new bike might be a better idea?