Riding a bike

Hi

How many of you ride a bike and do you find it helps with weight loss and tightening muscles?

I am tempted to get one and give it a try but I have artheritis in my knees and hip so a bit worried. I have been walking the dogs and keep thinking I could ride a bike along here and they can run along with me. Great exercise for them to. I would only do it were it was safe for the dogs.

I am not keen to ride on the road as I am a wuss.

Also what size bike would I need as I am very heavy, Would a normal bike hold my weight. I really dont want to go into Halfords and be embarresed by someone telling me I need a reinforced frame :cry:

Thanks in advance

I haven't ridden my bike this year (shame on me!) but I'm a great bike fan.
When I used to go to the gym regularly (shame on me again!) my favourite pieces of equipment were the bikes and I found that my legs really slimmed down and became 'firm' as I was losing weight. It's a great way to exercise and, providing you are in the right gear, doesn't place undue stress on joints (unlike the pounding of running). I'd take advice from your doctor about the arthritis issue first though just to be on the safe side.

There are all sorts of bikes about but if there's one piece of advice I'd give anyone who is overweight and considering a bike, it would be to check the step-through part of the frame is low enough to get your leg through comfortably. They're usually quite high on most mountain bikes (I had an embarrassing incident where I almost fell over trying to lift my leg high enough to get it through on one bike - and I was too short & fat to swing it over!): personally, I'd go for one of those mountain bike hybrids with a lower step-through.

You can get them with chunky frames and thicker tyres so don't panic about your weight. Good luck and have fun