Frame size, new bike fitting, questions

[Nefarious86]

I'm 6' 1" and a 54 Cervelo fits me perfectly.

Pic?

[Fiery]

http://m.io.ua/img_aa/medium/3282/31/32823168.jpg
This frame is 57 cm and I am 182 cm tall. Should I keep looking for a smaller one or it might be good enough?

What are your proportions? Short or lobg torso? Big or skinny in the upper body?

This bike is towards the upper range for your height. You will most likely be able to put the contact points in the right spot, but that doesn't mean that the bike will ride right. If you have a short torso and/or skinny upper body, it is possible you won't be able to put enough weight on the front wheel and it won't feel as secure when pushing it hard. If it's not possible to have a test ride, I would try to get the chainstay and front center measurements and compare them with the current bike.

[jdecraene85]

Hi all, first post!

Looking to order a Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 9.0 SL. I am unsure about the correct size, as I have a bit disproportional long legs. Apparently the Aeroad also comes up big for size.

These are my measurements: length 194.5 cm / weigth 81 kg / inseam 96-97 cm / torso 64 cm / shoulders 45 cm / arms 66 cm.

My current bike is a Ridley Noah 1303 AM in size XL.
Geometry on this bike: seat tube (cc) 560 - top tube horizontal 585 - head tube 230 - wheelbase 1012 - stack 625 - reach 405.
In the back, I have added the maximum of 20 mm of spacers in the saddle clip, in combination with a Selle SMP Carbon Lite.
In the front, headset cap + spacers totals 35 mm, stem is 110 mm and the handlebar (3T Aeronova) reach is 104 mm (! thus adds some reach).
I am happy with my position on the bike. The saddle might ideally be a little bit higher, but is not possible with the ISP. The reach and the saddle to bar drop is fine, the drop might even be a little more but not too much.

The Canyon size calculator says I should take a 2XL. If I keep all measurements but inseam unchanged, the recommended size goes to XL for an inseam of 93 cm or lower.

My main concerns are:
- The XL with a longer stem probably looks a lot better and is probably a lot more nimble than a 2XL. I'm afraid a 2XL would be sluggish and look out of place, kind of defeating the purpose of an aero bike (unfortunately I can't find a picture of a 2XL Aeroad CF SLX anywhere). I would like to keep a 'racey' position
- The ISP on my Ridley is 800 mm, plus 20 mm spacers. Distance from bottom bracket to saddle totals probably around 880 mm. Should I worry that the seatpost on the Canyon is not long enough for me, on neither size?
- I am quite lean, but the saddle to bar drop on a XL might be very big for my measurements. Not sure.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[cyclenutnz]

@adecraene85
880 is a massively high saddle for your inseam length, I'd suggest it could be worth refining your bike position before purchasing a new bike.

The biggest H11 bar is 130mm stem with 70mm reach. Which means that the much longer frame reach of the canyon is compensated for by the difference in bar reach.
However, the Canyon is very low stack so you will need a lot of spacers on the 2XL.
If you did find a lower saddle to be better for your fit it could mean lower bars too, so less spacer stack.

[Felixhase]

I would love to by a used Trek Speed Concept Leopard RadioShack - and use it for Time Trail Races (10km - 70km).

It is a M sized frame and it could be a bit to small, but hopefully it fits good.
My size is 186cm an inseam 89cm.

The frame geometry is to be found here:
http://trekbikestoreusa.com/product/fea ... tentOnly=1

Thanks for advice

Sorry posted in wrong fred before

[Lightweenie]

Hey all,

what is the easiest way to figure out the exact geometry of a frame (in case it cannot be found online), in order to choose the right next frame that fits in the same way? It is of course easy to measure lengths of various tubes, but I am having trouble with precisely measuring angles and stack/reach accurately enough.

[cyclenutnz]

Measure the saddle height and setback - that will let you figure out the seat tube angle you need (regardless of what the current bike is)
Then measure the Handlebar X & Y (reach and stack):
Put the back wheel against a wall and measure from the wall to BB and wall to bar centre. The difference is Bar X
Then ground to BB and ground to bar centre - Bar Y
Then you can calculate which frame/stem combos will get you there (note that the tool to do so is free on the velogicfit site at the moment).

[Lightweenie]

thanks, this subtraction method is great: I was able to measure my stack and reach at 535 and 390mm respectively, which already is very helpful in choosing a new frame. I would however still be very interested to somehow find out the exact angle of my headtube (and perhaps also the seattube angle. Any further ideas?

[cyclenutnz]

It's easy to measure the front-centre (centre of BB to centre of front hub), using reach/stack it's possible to calculate HTA from that. Measuring fork length helps too. Used to have to do this with Colnago geometry as they'd give FC and rake but not reach/stack. Generally was no more than 0.2deg away from actual (usually within 0.1).
For the STA - you can measure the setback of the top of the seat tube and the length of the seat tube and use trig to get the answer.

I'd suggest having a look at bikecad on bikeforest.com - use that to draw up your frame with all the elements you can measure- the unknowns should pop out if you're careful.

[Fiery]

Another option is bikegeo.net - the idea is the similar, measure as many elements as you can, then guess and tweak the unknowns until it all matches up as close as possible.

[RussellS]

This frame is 57 cm and I am 182 cm tall. Should I keep looking for a smaller one or it might be good enough?

In another post you said the top tube was 56cm. You are 5 feet 11.5 inches tall. If you have normal proportions, arm legs torso neck, then this bike is a little too small. I am 5'11" tall and ride bikes with 57-57.5cm top tubes. And 12cm stems and the levers at the very end of the bar curve, not pointing straight up at the sky to make the reach much shorter. I'd suggest you thoroughly test ride this frame size before buying. Putting on 13-14-15cm stems does not seem wise to me.

[AJS914]

Everybody is a bit different. I'm 183cm and I'm riding a 55cm top tube with a 12cm stem (Colnago 52S). The Colnago 52S has a steepish seat tube angle (73.5) which works out to an effective 56cm top tube if it had a 73deg seat tube.

I used to 57 or 58cm top tube in the "old days" when riders rode with less drop but more extension. Going shorter but lower has relieved some mild back of the neck pain. I got the idea by watch the pros on what look like tiny bikes. My old fit was more old school Hinault and now it's more Sagen-like.

[Calnago]

For what it's worth, I don't think I would model fit after Sagan, without understanding the whole story. Not saying he isn't perfectly fit on his bike; on the contrary for him it's obviously perfect, but in pics he looks as if he has relatively short legs compared to his torso for his height. Hence his custom geometry (at least it used to be) where he would be on a fairly "short" frame height wise but with and extended top tube. Not sure if his current frames have the custom geo, but they used to be.

[AJS914]

I'm not saying that I modeled my fit exactly after Sagen. He's an illustration of the newer type of fit I see on pro compared to when I started cycling in the mid-80s. Many Pros these days aren't as stretched out as Hinault (see how much more vertical Sagen's arms are compared to Hinault). At the same time pros are running more saddle to bar drop to be aero but they can comfortably ride on the hoods all day. (Of course, even in the pro ranks you see a wide variation.)

For myself, I shortened my total reach by a couple of centimeters with a 1cm shorter effective top tube and 1cm shorter bar reach. I also lowered my stem by 1cm. I'm finding it very comfortable.

[Sacke]

I haven't cracked out the trigonometry skills that I learned in high-school, but thought I would ask the question here instead.

I have been switching bikes quite a lot over the last few years, and start to know what the ideal starting point is.

My problem is that I would like to be able to find some sort of quick way to verify if a frame would fit the bill.

The ideal set-up for me:

Saddle height: 73-73,5cm
Saddle setback from BB: 6-8cm
Tip of saddle to middle of handlebars: 53-54,5cm
Saddle to bars drop: 7-8cm
Crank length: 172,5mm

The most likely candidates (that would be directly available from the LBS) would be

1. 2016 Supersix Evo HM, 52cm.
2. 2013 Trek Domane Project One, 54cm
3. 2016 Cervelo S5, 54cm
4. 2016 Cervelo S3, 54cm (would have to be ordered - I did have one before. http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=127524)

The biggest question is in regards to seat tube angle. The STA on smaller frames is often steeper than on larger frames, but if I go for larger frames, I end up having 80-90mm stems, which isn't exactly what I want in terms of handling.

Once it's confirmed that I could have the seat in my desired position, the next question is what kind of spacer stack I'll be obliged to have.

So the question is.

1. How do I verify if a frame would be suitable, in order to achieve 6-8cm of saddle setback AND max 7-8cm of saddle to handlebar drop, with preferably a 100-120mm stem with negative 6-8° angle?