Without getting too humiliating, I have found myself pushing (and perhaps over) the weight limit for my Trek Speed Concept + Tac Neo 1 trainer. Has anyone used (or know someone who has) this combo safely when the combined weight of bike and rider is around 300 pounds?
…asking for a friend
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@GPLama I think has tested like 20 different bikes and tried to break them and hasn’t broken one yet? Only bike manufacturer to come out with a “safe on trainer” marketing is Canyon. Clever by them.
I don’t personally try and sprint 100% full gas out of the saddle on the trainer, maybe it’s a fear of breaking my bike.
Can you pick up a aluminium or cheap trainer bike from the classifies and use that instead?
certainly could though the Tac Neo itself has a similar weight limit
(and I am currently working on the most obvious remedy which will make this question moot - losing weight)
I can’t speak for Tac Neo, but I worked out on Wahoo Kickr with bike + rider between 260-270 when I started. Wahoo says weight limit is 250. I didn’t experience any issues.
Even though I can’t answer your question, I felt the need to say that you should not be embarrassed at all. Exercise is one of the best things you can do for yourself — physically and psychologically. And this community is open to people of all stripes.
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There is commonly some extra left in these ratings, but I would be nervous to get 300+ lbs on the combo.
If using the trainer is helping you loose weight keep riding.
There’s a safety factor built in.
Worst case, you bust a bearing or bend something.
Nothing indoors compares to the G-force of hitting a big pothole.
Ride on!!!
Well, I’ve seen and heard of relatively serious injuries from indoor crashes and failures. One from a failed seat post clamp screw sent a rider off the back of the bike and into the wall directly behind, with bad sandwich effect between the wall, trainer and rider). Rider was hampered for months as a result of the related injuries.
Likely an odd situation, but the lack of rolling speed doesn’t remove the potential for injuries if something fails in use. I’d say it’s lower in general compared to outside, but not risk free either.
Although I can’t really say if the internals are bearings are affected, I run my Kickr on a rocker plate and I get zero shifting or stress noises from my trainer + Trek 5700 carbon bike. I am 90kg and my FTP is 310watts so you can extrapolate my max target wattage during intervals and sprints.
I think you probably want to seperate the two things:
A) What’s safe for the frame
B) What’s safe for the trainer
Frankly, I personally wouldn’t mess around with frame safety limits. It’s just not worth your life. Like others have said there’s some safety factor built in, but you don’t really want to find out at 50MPH descending that you went over that safety factor 3 years ago.
Whereas a trainer - I’ve yet to hear of anyone breaking one physically due to weight. And in a worst case scenario there you’d just end up on your couch or in your TV. Ideally with video footage so you can recoup the costs via viral video. Yes, you can still get hurt depending on how it falls as Chad has pointed out, but far less hurt than dead when a frame cracks/snaps out on the road.
My recommendation would be that for the interim, see if you can find a cheap aluminum frame somewhere that doesn’t have these limits. Like, Craigslist who knows what frame. Something you don’t plan to ride again if over the limits.
Just my two cents…
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I am not going to lie, Ray.
I was like, “Dang, DCRainmaker replied to my post, nice!”
Never really thought of this angle but it makes a ton of sense.
Certainly not worth it.
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Hi,
My dad is wanting to get into cycling again and was asking for recommendations on trainers. He will definitely want to go Direct Drive. Right when I was going to recommend the Wahoo Kickr Core (which I had and enjoyed in the past), I noticed that it had a weight limit of 250. He hasn’t told me how much he weighs, but he’s a big dude (6’7” and I’d say at least 275). Any Direct Drive trainers you all would recommend for a bigger dude?
I kinda think it’s a lawyer rule.
I can’t see 25 lbs doing anything against the frame or the trainer.
I would guess these tolerances are like 50-100% conservative for real world applications.
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I believe the Saris H3 Direct Drive has a 300lb weight limit. Never used one, so can’t say if it’s good or not. I have a Wahoo Kickr 17
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so just to shut down the thread here - lost about 50 pounds and got back on the bike and trainer - well under the weight limit. Might have stretched the limit on the Tacx Neo Smart Bike but not worried about the frame failing going 40 mph down a hill!
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Awesome. Well done!
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Well done on the weight loss! For the sake of sharing, I have cracked a kurt’s kinetic rock and roll trainer when under the weight limit (version 1) and when just over the weight limit (version 2). Both times kurt’s replaced it, but we all agreed a static trainer would be best. It’s a shame - big men like to rock and roll too!
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