Please forgive the off-topic, but since we are talking about sizes now, maybe you can give a bit of advice on how a recreational rider should think about Colnago frame sizes, especially the sizing down question. I am 183cm tall, 87cm inseam, regular proportions but relatively long hands, not so flexible (can't touch my toes on a regular day but get close). The bike I am riding now has quite a relaxed geo:SuperDomestique wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2018 4:36 pmCan't say I've ever had issues fitting the smaller Colnago frames to really think about it before so in that respect is it an issue? For me, no.
I'm mainly fixating on the saddle clamp and handlebar X and Y range available than the frame S/R.
Certainly slack seat angles on small frames cause me more grief.
Bar x = 476
Bar y = 650
555mm ETT
73.5 degree STA
Saddle height is 780mm BB to top. Handlebar position is with 20mm of spacers/headset below the 110mm stem. Not a racing setup for sure; I guess I could try to develop a slightly more aggressive position, i.e. getting longer or/and lower.
So my options that I see in the Colnago world:
1) 54s would be (with the same spacer/stem setup):
Bar x = 480
Bar y = 644
565mm ETT
72.8 degrees STA
Thus, 54s would be longer in the front and back. The slacker STA means I should reduce saddle setback by about 9mm to keep the saddle position. I guess the bike would feel slightly longer than the current one because of the +10mm ETT; not sure if this is a good thing or not.
2) 52s would be (with the same spacer/stem setup):
Bar x = 479
Bar y = 628
550mm ETT
73.6 degrees STA
So 52s would put my front end 22mm lower with the same spacer/headset setup than my current bike. To get to my current position, in total 42mm of spacers/headset setup would be necessary, which would not be much of a looker, but would also reduce the “Bar x” to 472. The saddle setback would not need to be changed since the STA is almost the same.
Am I right thinking that, in terms of a fitting problem, adjusting -20mm bar height would cause more issues, compared to adjusting to 10mm longer effective top tube, of which only 4mm is in the front? What would be the drawbacks of a longer frame?
Sorry for a lengthy post.
PS. I know that there is also 52H, which has the reach of 52s and the stack of 54s, but the proportions of the frame are not to my liking TBH.