Front-end shimmy, or “high-speed shimmy,” or “death wobble,” is an unpleasant phenomenon that is the bane of many a tall rider. The taller the bike and the heavier the rider, the more likely it is to be an issue.
Big riders are often very familiar with wearing out and breaking bike equipment. You go through tires much faster than lighter riders, your rear rim develops cracks at the spoke holes, and maybe you’ve broken spokes, chains, hub flanges, seatposts, saddle rails, saddle shells, crank arms, and even frames. To avoid breakage in use, big riders need to understand what the impact of metal fatigue is and replace their weight-bearing bicycle parts more frequently than a smaller rider would.