Who's riding widely different sizes?

[tsarpepe]

I'm one of those people. My SS is 58cm TT, my Serotta Legend is 61, and my IF Club Racer is 63. Each has a different feel, of course, but none is uncomfortable (I do run different stems and stacks) . In general, I believe that the human body is a pretty adaptable thing, and have always wondered at people who make a big deal over 0.5cm. I guess if I were racing for a living, I'd feel compelled to dial in some ideal size frame. But since I am not, I just ride whatever bikes I happen to own. Who else is on the low-res spectrum when it comes to sizing?

[Mike V]

Paging everyone's Pal!

[jtbadge]

I ride a slightly different fit (drop, reach, etc.) based on what terrain and what kind of riding I'll be doing on a bike, but the actual frames I have on hand right now are all within 5-10mm any direction of each other.

[weisan]

Paging everyone's Pal!

Who's calling me?

Sorry ah...now in different time zone, just woke up.

How can I help?

[Ken Robb]

Grant Petersen feels that many riders can get comfy on bikes of different sizes by playing with stems and seat posts. I have been ok on a 58cm and really good on 60-62 cm because I like my bars up around my saddle height. Top tubes varied from 57.5 to 60 cm.

[Saxon]

My bikes range from a 50 to a 55. I’ve got the smaller bike set up much more aggressively.

[jamesdak]

My bikes range from 53 cm

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/163817826.jpg

to 57 cm

http://www.pbase.com/jhuddle/image/168355729.jpg

All have the same saddle height and setback in relation to the bottom bracket and the same reach from the center of the saddle to the handlebars. Only real variation is how I set the saddle to bar drop.

[azrider]

56-62 frames in the queue

6’2, 32” inseam, with long torso and orangutan arms and extremely flexible. If I could get a do-over on high school sports I woulda been a swimmer

[Heisenberg]

6'1, long limbs, short torso. Flexible. Used to race for a living. My race bikes varied from 51cm-58cm. Currently have a stock 54cm carbon bike, and two custom bikes that are 57ST/55.5TTish with fairly short headtubes.

As long as I can get the saddle to 80cm and have long stems at my disposal, I can usually make it work. You are correct, OP - the human body is very adaptable.

[ultraman6970]

IME is easier to to that in steel than in new carbon bikes. Steel react differently and kind'a adapt.. carbon and aluminum IMO when you get the wrong size for way too long the bikes tend to become death rides.

[tsarpepe]

My race bikes varied from 51cm-58cm.

Oh wow! That's quite a range. I take it that you raced those at different times during your life, not simultaneoulsy.

[Heisenberg]

Oh wow! That's quite a range. I take it that you raced those at different times during your life, not simultaneoulsy.

I moved toward smaller bikes later on, and I still favor smaller bikes on the road. I like more weight over the front wheel, and run a fair bit of drop. But, I spent a winter training on a 60cm bike loaned by a friend. I'm lucky being tall and flexible enough to make most **** work.

[Saxon]

I moved toward smaller bikes later on, and I still favor smaller bikes on the road. I like more weight over the front wheel, and run a fair bit of drop. But, I spent a winter training on a 60cm bike loaned by a friend. I'm lucky being tall and flexible enough to make most **** work.

There’s a different feel to a smaller frame where you can really get your weight out front and get on top of the frame. I’m faster on a smaller frame.

[mtechnica]

Not me I only want 56cm (top tube) no more no less

[oliver1850]

I ride a wide range of both frame size and saddle to bar drop. I have longish legs for my height, and have found out over the years that if I don't have the saddle quite a bit higher than most with my leg length, I will have knee pain. As a result, not many stock frames are a good fit (with conventional seat post length/stem configuration). I've held on to frames ranging from a 56 cm Match built Paramount to a 63 cm Cannondale and can comfortably ride that range. I just finished a 63 cm Bianchi Saturday night. It doesn't pass the old standard standover clearance test but looks to have the least saddle to bar drop of any bike I've ever built. Looking forward to riding it Monday if we can melt some ice off the roads today.

[witcombusa]

I ride bikes from 56cm to 63cm with top tube lengths from 56cm to 60cm.
It all works out just fine. :banana:

[Tickdoc]

54 to 56 here with 55 being my sweet spot. I like flat top tubes so stand over height is my usual limiting factor. 5’11” with 31” ish inseam if that helps any.

[texbike]

All of my main riding bikes are 56ish. However, I have a couple of classics (Masi GC, Cinelli SC, Colnago Conic) that are in the 58-59 range for the seat tube. The standover is a bit of a challenge on the larger bikes, but I have the contact points set up essentially the same as my normal size. Since they're rarely ridden, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. However, if someone has an early 70s GC or SC in a 55-56 that they would like to trade for a larger version, give me a shout. ;)

Texbike

[roydyates]

I think arm length is getting overlooked in this thread. My guess is that the guys who comfortably ride a wide range of sizes have long arms that can accomodate large drops to the bars on small bikes or long top tubes on larger frames.

...Roy (comfortable on bikes from 56 to 61, shirt sleeve length=36in)

[Elefantino]

My Look 585 is an XXL (59). GT Grade is a 60. Serotta Legend and Fierte are 62s. Bianchi is a 63.

With stems and saddle height tweaks the stack and reach for all bikes are all within ~1 cm of each other.

[Mzilliox]

54 to 56 here with 55 being my sweet spot. I like flat top tubes so stand over height is my usual limiting factor. 5’11” with 31” ish inseam if that helps any.

samesies

i prefer the 54 to 55. Ive found i dont like a small bike with long stem, nor a big bike with short stem.

im picky

[roydyates]

I’m not home to check, but i think my bikes have reach
(center of bars to center of saddle, ie where a seatpist extension would poke thru) ranging from 69 to 74.

Of course saddle height is always the same.

My Look 585 is an XXL (59). GT Grade is a 60. Serotta Legend and Fierte are 62s. Bianchi is a 63.

With stems and saddle height tweaks the stack and reach for all bikes are all within ~1 cm of each other.

[bironi]

I'm one of those people. My SS is 58cm TT, my Serotta Legend is 61, and my IF Club Racer is 63. Each has a different feel, of course, but none is uncomfortable (I do run different stems and stacks) . In general, I believe that the human body is a pretty adaptable thing, and have always wondered at people who make a big deal over 0.5cm. I guess if I were racing for a living, I'd feel compelled to dial in some ideal size frame. But since I am not, I just ride whatever bikes I happen to own. Who else is on the low-res spectrum when it comes to sizing?

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is an SS?
Thanks.

[jim d]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is an SS?
Thanks.

single speed.

j

[tsarpepe]

I think arm length is getting overlooked in this thread. My guess is that the guys who comfortably ride a wide range of sizes have long arms that can accomodate large drops to the bars on small bikes or long top tubes on larger frames.

...Roy (comfortable on bikes from 56 to 61, shirt sleeve length=36in)

Guilty as charged! I definitely have very log arms.

[Whit51]

I’m 5’9 with. 31 in cycling inseam. 54 cm square seems to work well for me, but I have bikes with top tubes as long as 58 cm and I’ve made them fit comfortably. The smaller frames seem to give me more leverage on the cranks.

[Mark McM]

I moved toward smaller bikes later on, and I still favor smaller bikes on the road. I like more weight over the front wheel, and run a fair bit of drop. But, I spent a winter training on a 60cm bike loaned by a friend. I'm lucky being tall and flexible enough to make most **** work.

I suspect that those people who can ride a variety of different sized bikes, but prefer smaller frames, are people who are on the taller side. When bikes get too small, designers have to make too many compromises on frame geometry, often resulting in poorly handling bikes. I could probably ride bikes between 50 and 56 cm, but the smaller bikes tend to have slacker head tube angles, resulting long trail and excessive flop, so I tend to ride bikes on the larger end of that range.

[unterhausen]

my current road bike is too tall for me. Reach is fine. I just say it's "French fit." But I am not particularly happy with it, so I'm moving on from that bike. I don't like a lot of saddle to bar drop, so riding a bike that's too small for me isn't something I would really like.