Touring bike sizing
Discussion
Hi guys,
I'm looking for a bit of advice on touring bikes and their sizing. Now I have had a MTB for years and know my sizes in that respect but am completely new to racers/touring bikes etc and their sizing. I'm 177cm 5' 9" and a half and have been looking at a claudbutler dalesman tourer. 2009 model, nice spec Frame appears to be pretty much exactly the same as a Dawes galaxy. Problem is as follows, the LBS is doing a cracking deal on them for £699 but have no more 55cm frames which is what they initially recommend for myself. 59 is out of the question so on to the 52. Now I sat on it today (didn't have time to ride it) and it felt ok but again I don't really know how it should be. I had about 1 and a half to 2 inchs top tube clearance, Seat tube was just under half way up and reach felt okay. I will ride the bike tomorrow when I have the time and see how it feels. Any advice? It will be doing a tour or europe so needs to fit.
Also I ride a 16" HT with 140mm travel at the mo if that helps?
Thanks in advance.
John
I'm looking for a bit of advice on touring bikes and their sizing. Now I have had a MTB for years and know my sizes in that respect but am completely new to racers/touring bikes etc and their sizing. I'm 177cm 5' 9" and a half and have been looking at a claudbutler dalesman tourer. 2009 model, nice spec Frame appears to be pretty much exactly the same as a Dawes galaxy. Problem is as follows, the LBS is doing a cracking deal on them for £699 but have no more 55cm frames which is what they initially recommend for myself. 59 is out of the question so on to the 52. Now I sat on it today (didn't have time to ride it) and it felt ok but again I don't really know how it should be. I had about 1 and a half to 2 inchs top tube clearance, Seat tube was just under half way up and reach felt okay. I will ride the bike tomorrow when I have the time and see how it feels. Any advice? It will be doing a tour or europe so needs to fit.
Also I ride a 16" HT with 140mm travel at the mo if that helps?
Thanks in advance.
John
The 52cm seems to be the second smallest of 4 men's sizes so isn't entirely out of the question. But (from what I've seen) the bikes seems to have a roughly level top tube so instinctively seems to me to be a little on the small side.
I'd not worry about standover height, that's almost irrelevant for a road bike. When you ride it, think out the reach to the bars. You definitely don't want to have a massively long stem to get the bars far enough away. Also think about the height difference between the seat and the bars when you have adjusted the saddle properly. Obviously the stem can be raised/lowered as necessary but there's no point buying a decent bike and then having to compromise by having a weird set-up to make it work.
I'd say that, if in doubt, walk away. I should think that every keen cyclist has at some point walked away from a real bargain bike because it wasn't actually the correct size. And I don't think that any of them has regretted it.
I'd not worry about standover height, that's almost irrelevant for a road bike. When you ride it, think out the reach to the bars. You definitely don't want to have a massively long stem to get the bars far enough away. Also think about the height difference between the seat and the bars when you have adjusted the saddle properly. Obviously the stem can be raised/lowered as necessary but there's no point buying a decent bike and then having to compromise by having a weird set-up to make it work.
I'd say that, if in doubt, walk away. I should think that every keen cyclist has at some point walked away from a real bargain bike because it wasn't actually the correct size. And I don't think that any of them has regretted it.
Randy Winkman said:
I'd say that, if in doubt, walk away.
Agree with this, but obviously take a test ride anyway.Whilst 52cm sounds too small for your height, it's difficult to say without knowing the exact geometry and your body measurements. I'm 5ft 7.5", and I ride a 52cm traditional geo (non sloping) frame, I have short legs (30" inseam) and a normal length torso. OK so my saddle is pretty low in the frame (and I only have about an half an inch of clearance between the family jewels and the top tube in standover height, but for the rest of my torso the fit is perfect with the OEM 100mm stem.
Get someone to measure you up and run the measurements through this calculator
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_...
I am worried about getting the wrong size. It's going to be toured so it has to be the right size. I will be riding it tomorrow but I did pop in and have a sit on it yesterday. Guys seem to thing it was a close call on size. They though a 55cm frame would leave me with not enough clearance and not enough seat post showing. it has an 80mm stem on it at the moment and they will stick a longer one on it and slide the saddle back a touch. then I will see. I have always ridden a smaller frames but am worried in this case how that will affect me on big mileage runs.
John
John
Here's a 55cm http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/claud-butler-dalesm...
Or maybe look at the Ribble Audax/Winter bike, you can spec it to your budget
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?acti...
Or maybe look at the Ribble Audax/Winter bike, you can spec it to your budget
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/bikebuilder.asp?acti...
The Ribble doesn't quite look tough enough for what I have in mind, plus it needs racks etc. That's not a bad price on the dalesman. I was another at uk bike outlet or something for £660! looks like an ebay shop though so dubious about them. If only I could get the cycle to work sceme then the evans cycles dalesman would be great but I would still need to ride a 55cm first. Just have to see how it goes on the test ride tomorrow.
John
John
Obviously it's best to have a bike that fits really well. But on balance, I'd say that I'd rather have a (road) bike that was slightly too big, rather than slightly too small.
If you walk away you'll have forgotten about it in 2 months. If you buy it and it's no good you'll regret it for much longer than that.
If you walk away you'll have forgotten about it in 2 months. If you buy it and it's no good you'll regret it for much longer than that.
But it does mean that the 55cm frame would be perfect. I managed to find it on the internet on a site called the bike outlet store for £660. It should be with me in a couple of days and should be the perfect size 
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