I’m new to the sport and had a few questions about buy a bike. I’m about 5’5 and weigh about 215lbs. Should I lose a few pounds first before I purchase a bike? Anyone have any suggestions for entry level bikes? I was looking to spend in the $1000-$1300 range. I found a Specialized Transition for about $1100; I think it was the multi-sport. Thanks for the help!
Buy a bike, ride it, the weight will melt away…oh…and HAVE FUN while you are doing it. Many in the sport take it a bit too seriously…
I say, buy the bike. Then spend your time losing the weight. Riding a bicycle makes weight loss much more enjoyable!
ahh!! you beat me to it! 
I may have beat you…but your name has a ‘monkey’ sound in it, soooo…
the score is:
Jon499 1
Gasmunky 1
Thanks!
I say, buy the bike. Then spend your time losing the weight. Riding a bicycle makes weight loss much more enjoyable!
NOPE : Put on over 1100 miles on my bike this year and went from 6’ 230 lbs to 6’ 235. A bike is the most efficient means of transportation. You use less energy to travel by bike than any other mode, not a great way to burn off extra weight.
I had the same height & weight last year (5-5 & 215). Hold off on buying the bike. I trained and “raced” on my mountain bike for the first 4 sprint tri. When it came time for the Olympic distance race I purchased a decent carbon road bike.
Training on the mountain bike is like riding uphill EVERY mile and really strengthened the leg muscles. Originally I planned on spending $1500 on the bike. After a year, I knew I was going to keep training and decided to splurge and spent more to get a better bike.
As to weight loss, I found that those long-slow runs were most effective at losing the fat.
if you get a nice road or tri bike, take off the saddle and keep it (if it is a good saddle).
while you ride in the beginning if you are a bit on the heavier side, you may find more comfort and more pain-free miles on a bigger and more cushy aftermarket ‘cruiser’ saddle (get an inexpensive one at a local shop or ebay?). then less pain = more miles = more fun = more wt. lost.
then as you get lighter, put the original saddle back on.
Sorry it didn’t work for you, but I was able to lose 33 lbs off of my “almost” 5’6" frame. I am down to 139 and shooting for 135. I guess a good eating plan and diet takes care of the rest. That and I rode almost 3000 miles this past year including a ton of racing.
However, you can train longer since the impacts are significantly less. Or Aquajogging.
Not to be rude, but running might kill your joints if you go that long–even if you are burning a significantly higher amount of calories per hour.
Daniel
I’m also new to the sport - just did my first sprint in early October. I debated the bike thing for quite a while (wait, road vs. tri, etc.) and ended up buying the same bike you’re asking about - got the Specialized Transition elite for $1,000 and just couldn’t pass it up. Turns out to be a GREAT first tri bike because I don’t think it has the true extreme geometry of a “tri” bike. But I really don’t know (*&^ so take that last comment with a grain of salt. And I can’t comment on the weight issue because I had already lost 25 lbs. just by training in the three disciplines (I love this sport) when I bought the bike. It was great not having to do my first race on a mountain bike though, because the speed improvement has me really confident for the next time around…
1100 miles seems like a lot, but it works out to only about 1 to 1.5 hours a week depending on your speed. I don’t think there is anything you can do for that duration weekly that is going to affect your weight.
NOPE : Put on over 1100 miles on my bike this year and went from 6’ 230 lbs to 6’ 235. A bike is the most efficient means of transportation. You use less energy to travel by bike than any other mode, not a great way to burn off extra weight.
huh?
Well, really it was more like, April 50 mile, May 140, June 185, July 170, Aug 300, Sept 160.
And if I look at times, May 11 hrs, June 15.5 hrs, July 15 hrs, Aug, 22 hrs, Sept 13 hrs.
Hey Im weak and Fat.
Now Im not saying Im not in better shape then before that, but weight loss has more to do with diet, especially if your biking for exercise, its just to easy to push all the time.
In contrast I did little to no running. I have started to run. I could not run for a mile, I could run/walk a mile in about 13min. I have gotten better at pacing on the run and can now run continuesly for a mile in about 12:30. But have now extended the run/walk into mile 2. I bet I would weigh less if I had but 1/2 the bike time above into running.
Thats all Im saying.
Diet certainly is key, but the original post asked about waiting to buy a bike until he lost weight, not the best way to lose weight.
As far as cycling to lose weight being effective, especially for someone getting started, cycling is far and away the most effective. Running at all, for someone overweight is going to be tough on the joints and can’t be done for long. It certainly should be included in a tri training plan, but I’ll bet a motivated overweight person could find themselves riding 10 hours a week within a month or two of buying a bike and NOT stress their joints/ligaments/tendons in the way running would. In this case, the more hours spent, the more weight lost.
Weight loss is a simple formula that doesn’t have more to do with either one.
Calories in - calories out = weight loss/gain. Period.
Burn more calories than you eat you lose. Burn fewer and you gain.
Weight loss is a simple formula that doesn’t have more to do with either one.
Calories in - calories out = weight loss/gain. Period.
Burn more calories than you eat you lose. Burn fewer and you gain.
Yes, but biking does not burn lots of calories fast unless you get up in the 15 + mph range at least and really need to get above 20. Dont have the link here but there is a calore calculator put in your weight and speed and it tells you calories burned. I did a 53 mile ride just under 4 hrs, burned 3K calories (1lb). Would not take 4 hrs of other types of workouts to burn that many calories thats my point.
I have a coworker who rides all the time and has for years and is in worse shape then me. Of course he thinks 11 or 12 mph is fast.
TO get back on thread. Use your old bike, it will have more resistance than a lightweight skinny tire tri bike. but do other things to lose weight and cut back on the calories.
Oh ya get sleep, I was doing much better getting 6-8hr sleep. Work has gotten crazy sleep is down to 4-5 hrs stress through the roof and things are getting ugly.
I’m new to the sport and had a few questions about buy a bike. I’m about 5’5 and weigh about 215lbs. Should I lose a few pounds first before I purchase a bike? Anyone have any suggestions for entry level bikes? I was looking to spend in the $1000-$1300 range. I found a Specialized Transition for about $1100; I think it was the multi-sport. Thanks for the help!
I would go ahead and buy a bike but I wouldn’t pay more than $600 for it until I had lost the weight. Otherwise, when you lose the weight you are going to be looking for another bike anyhow and the extra you paid for your first bike is pretty much entirely wasted.
I don’t think it is the speed of the ride, as much as it is the effort level for the rider. Lance and those of his ilk can ride at 20, and it’s nap time, while for us mere mortals it may be near our Aerobic Threshold. I have a morbidly obese sister-in-law, who rides 10 mph and puts her heartrate over 150 at that effort on the flats. She’s doing it, however, and has been losing weight as a result. I’ve had 1500 mile months, and not lost anything. But I’ve eaten enough to make up for the caloric expenditure on the rides. Way too many variables, and too much involved for simplistic conclusions.