Typical size of a cyclist?

Question

what is the best height and weight to be at for good cycling?

Answer 1

This is a good question.  Although you don't specifically ask, I am assuming you are most interested in professional cyclists.

Climbers are the gods of the peleton.  In the Tour De France, sprinters and time trialists have their moments of glory.  The race, though, is won and lost in the mountain stages.  Good climbers, therefore, nearly always win the Tour.

Climbers typically are very thin.  According to cycling coach, Joe Freil, world class climbers weigh about 2 pounds per inch of body height.  Thus, a 6 foot tall climber will weigh in the area of 144 pounds.  Sprinters and time trialers tend to weigh more than climbers.

The key to being a good climber is power to weight ratio.  Obviously, the lighter you are the greater your power to weight ratio.  Thus, height is not a real important factor in cycliing.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Sprinters are usually between 160-180lbs with tons of muscle.  They get dropped on the climbs because they are primarily fast-twitch muscle that doesn't handle long exertions well.

Climbers are 130-150lbs and very skinny.  They can't do high speeds, but their light weight and slow-twitch muscles are especially adept at putting out constant power over long climbs.

The all-around riders are somewhere in between, with better sprinting/time trialing ability than the climbers and better climbing ability than the sprinters. Lance Armstrong floated between 155-165lbs during his Tour reign (and was about 5'10"), and it is rare for either a pure climber or sprinter to win the overall victory due to their severe weaknesses in the other disciplines.

Answer 3

It depends on what you mean by cyclist.

Many people think that the only cyclists are people like Lance Armstrong and people who do bicycle races, such as the tour de France. These people are the minority of cyclists. To compete against the world's best you have to be in peak physical condition and train for hours every day for many years. They are muscular and have very low body fat. Fortunately, they are the minority of cyclists.

Most cyclists are people who occasionally ride a bicycle around. Two thirds of cyclists are overweight and one third is obese. General cyclists are no different than the general population. Unlike sports like running, your weight really doesn't matter, unless you want to get into racing or something. Most cyclists have an old bicycle in the garage they take out every so often and peddle around for a few miles. Some use them to commute to work or run errands, while other use them just for fun.

Riding a bicycle is a great way to lift your mood up. Also, the bicycle doesn't really matter. Any age/type/speed bicycle works. All that's required to be a cyclist is to be a human and have a bicycle with two wheels and some pedals. That's it. Nothing else needed. No fancy equipment or need to "get into shape" to be a cyclist. Just hop on whatever bicycle you have or can find and you are a cyclist. Don't worry about your height or weight.

Answer 4

Any size or weight is good for cycling. Come one and all. Basically, unless you are looking for what a actual paid or amateur racer size is, you're going to get us all. Short and fat, tall and skinny, it doesn't matter, just so we're having a good time.

Answer 5

Taller is usually better for getting better torque on the pedals. Weight is usually 160-180 with muscle mass concentrated in the legs.