can a overweight male ride a fixed gear bike?

You are overweight, but that will not be relevant if you buy a bicycle. You only weigh about sixty pounds more than me. I carry at least a ten-pound pack every day. The point that makes me wonder is the reason that you are buying a single-speed bike.

If you are going to really ride any miles, you want a dedicated road bike. You should invest in a good quality, aluminum-frame road bike if you want efficient transportation on pavement. I found that switching from a hybrid comfort bike to a low-end road bike increased my commuting speed 30% over my sixteen-mile daily ride.

I found a Trek 1500 that weighs about 20 pounds with narrow tires. I travel downhill at 42 MPH, level at 25 MPH, with an uphill speed of about 8 MPH. Total terrain average is 12 MPH.

I shopped around year-old models at 20% discount, but found a Trek 1500 demo model at a 40% discount in a 60 cm frame size. I am 6'2" at 195 pounds, a perfect fit. With accessories, I spent $800 with a tire repair kit, pump, and lock.

Within the first 1,000 miles, I had five flat tires. I replaced the tires with a Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the rear and a Continental Gator on the front. I had no flat tires over the second 1,000 miles. The tires cost about $100.

I spent more than $100 on Night Rider 15 watt headlight and rechargeable battery pack. I bought a back-up Cat Eye lamp with four rechargeable AA batteries. I also bought red flashers for the seat post and helmet, with a duct tape loop on the helmet to hold the LED lamp. Since I ride in below-zero windchills, I paid $160 for Hotronic electric footbed heaters in leather shoes that cost $100. I also wear layers of fleece with North Face waterproof pants and Spyder backpack cover, figure another $200.

So, I spent about $1,600 on everything that I needed for 2,000 miles of riding in the past year. Spread over five years, bicycle commuting will cost me less than $0.15 per mile, which is cheaper than driving a car and provides great fitness.

Regarding your weight loss program, I can give you the following ideas:

Check a BMI calculator to set your weight goal.

http://www.aarp.org/health/healthyliving/bmi_calcu...

Your BMI should be between 19 and 25.

http://www.aarp.org/health/healthyliving/bmi_calcu...

You should find exercise that fits into your daily routine, like walking to school, bicycling to the grocery store, and hiking through a local park. Try to perform these moderate exercise activities for at least an hour every day. Eat more fruits and vegetables, since these are both filling and filled with the nutrients that your body needs.

Let me give you a summary of my meals in a typical day:

Breakfast: A high-fiber cup of oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. A pint of coffee or green tea.

Alternatively, a high-protein scrambled egg with an Anaheim or Pasadilla pepper, a handful of mushrooms, and half-cup of cheese, with a topping of Greek or Italian spices. Two bananas.

Lunch: Snacking and a meal at work is one orange and two apples; ten-grain, flax-meal, psyllium home-made crackers or rice chips with an ounce or two of spreadable soft feta; a quarter-cup of cinnamon-sugar almonds; a pint of coffee; a quart of water.

Alternatively, a soup of clam chowder with a half-cup of added mixed seafood such as clams and octopus or split pea soup; dried figs and apricots to satisfy hunger between meals; a quart of water.

Dinner: A half-head of lettuce with thousand island or blue cheese dressing. Two bananas with a glass of milk. Two cups of herbal tea.

Alternatively, a high-fiber, multi-grain and flax meal pasta with red sauce, adding mushrooms, peppers, bok choi, and a few black olives. Another meal is stir-fry vegetables in a ginger terriyaki or vegetable spring rolls with duck sauce. A cup of brown rice or wild rice, not a true rice, as a high-fiber side dish is very filling with green tea or herbal tea.

My daily exercise routine is 16 miles of biking, unless the weather is nasty. If the weather is bad, I run 4 miles a day with a backpack. On my days off work, I usually hike about 5 miles in winter due to snow on my paths and 10 miles in summer. Try to do at least an hour of moderate exercise per day, which can be a commute to pick-up groceries, get to work or school, or a hike in a park or neighborhood.

Look-up healthy eating and other topics related to your health at WebMD as well:

http://www.webmd.com/default.htm

http://www.webmd.com/diet/default.htm

The best colon cleaners: strawberries, bananas, oatmeal, apples, psyllium husk powder, and flax meal. If these do not work, try a cheap laxative like generic calcium polycarbophil or sennosides. If you still want to pay more for roughly the same effects, try "Acai Berry Cleanse" or Cellular Research Formula "Colon Clear" and "Total Body Purifier." Buy a juicer and pulp apples and ot

I'm going to assume you're not riding brakeless, which would be brainless.

Frame's probably not an issue, but not having low gears is really tough if there are real climbs or even very short stretches that pitch up sharply. Independent of weight, even a strong sustained headwind can be humbling.

Now, the fact that it's so tough CAN be a motivator to get fitter... if you're stubborn enough to turn gassing into a motivation to try again, not a de-motivator, AND if you don't injure yourself in the process.

I don't know your personally, but you're carrying around a lot and forces required while climbing will be correspondingly higher without low gears... I'd say best to just work your way into things slowly and avoid injury. Use a full range of gears and let your impatience to get where you're going be your motivator to get fitter..

Now, when you're gotten to the point that even pushing for time it's easy and/or you're just bored, that's another story. You can work your way toward a single gear by gradually shifting less and less... spinning fast downhill, still fairly high tempo flat, and standing and mashing your way through climbs.

Best to do that incrementally though. I'm a lot lighter and was a regular cyclist so when winter trashed my geared bike and I had the option to pick up a SS/Fixie flip flop I did so and started riding it exclusively. It was very hard on my body, and not smart.

Lotta stretching, more breaks from riding, a little more selectivity about the hills, glucosamine, and just built up strength and a 10 pound drop... all of that together and I'm not dreading things anymore, it's still tough, but not quite so crazy. But I don't wish that adjustment period on anyone. And actually, I'm not fully habituated, I still ride it as a single speed. I haven't worked up the mental discipline to do 130 rpm when I could just coast and relax on the long descent in my commute. I'm hoping to get there before next winter.

Because they are mindless trend whores. And a fixed gear is appealing because it is easy to operate and repair despite the fact that pop culture has completely mangled their minds. I used to have a fixed gear back in the day, before this whole rage sparked off. It was an antique Frejus handed down from My great uncle raced them on velodromes in the 60's (ask these new kids what they know about velodromes) I could ride so fast on it despite the fixed gear. I found it to be a pain in the knees however, pedaling constantly. I rather have a single speed with a freewheel sporting some chrome 20"s with pegs, AKA a BMX bike!

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will be fine

except fixies don;t go up or down hills well

at your weight that will be aproblem both ways

also if it doesn;t have brakes, more of a problem for heavy guys

if i just had one bike it would not be a fixie, not versatile enough

in fact i have 4 bikes and none of them is a fixie

i can think of 5 more types or reasons to get another bike before a fixie

though if someone gave me onei might try it and ride it a couple times a month where there are no hills and no traffic

wle

I am about the same weight, I have a 1992 GT Tequesta bike made of steel. It still works today, only some rusts and changed the tires. I didn't use it that much, yet it supports me. Only the cheap, aftermarket suspension forks gave out in 2010.

I just got a Mongoose XR75 at Walmart and rode 5 miles with no problem.

Just don't do any crazy stunts or jumps.

You won't have any problem if you are ridding on the flats. If you need to climb any hills a fixed gear bike is going to be a big problem with your weight. The frame will handle it without any problem. If you are looking to get into shape a road bike with gears would be a better choice. Most riders own more the one bike.

overweight male ride fixed gear bike

Bicycles For Heavy Riders

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Drink plenty of water daily