Lend Me Some Insight

[PapaScottsy]

Mark- I had a zero offset Thomson before the setback, and to be honest thought I was pretty close to perfect then. I bought the setback just for peace of mind when it came to maxing out rail tolerance. When I went "setforward" I found I could put more power down for a longer period of time over my pedals and ended up in pretty much the same spot on the rails!

The saddle used for the fitting was different, and in hindsight I should have used my own, but the shape and dimensions are practically identical. Crank arm length (167.5) was matched as well.

[semdoug]

Perhaps I am stating the obvious but seems like you should be looking for a frame with a much shorter top tube, maybe in the 50 range. Sounds like your 54 Classic is way too long in the top tube. Of course angles will come into play as well. You mentioned your old Trek and what a great bike it is, does it fit well and what size is it?

It also seems like there is some missing information here. For example, your height, inseam, etc. and is there something about your physiology that may make a good fit difficult. The short stem, reversed seat post, and 167.5 crank length suggest this, unless your frame is simply too big.

[PapaScottsy]

semdoug- My Classic is a 55cm and I know I recognize it’s too long for me. I’m about 5’ 8” with a 31” inseam and as far as the weird fit issue, I feel like I might have short femurs. The problem with going to a 50 is the drop gets bigger (shorter HT).

[msl819]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

Welcome to the forum!

Portland-er here myself - and have some thoughts - plus an offer to meet up for some in-person assessment - but it's late - so back atcha tomorrow...

Leaving this so I remember to come back to it

I’d take Clean39T up on his offer because as the Farmers Insurance Co. commercial say, he knows a thing or two because he has seen a thing or two. Fit, function, how to source what you are looking for, Clean would seem like a great local option to make your next buy a good one to last a good long time.

[PapaScottsy]

I’m definitely gonna take clean up (ha!) on his offer!

[weisan]

If I live in the same town as Clean pal, I would move in with him....whether he likes it or not.

[weisan]

Papa pal, the only advice I would give you is this :

Take your time.

Try different things.

Keep an open mind.

There's no rush.

Savor the moments.

It's a journey.

Not just a destination..

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by PapaScottsy

semdoug- My Classic is a 55cm and I know I recognize it’s too long for me. I’m about 5’ 8” with a 31” inseam and as far as the weird fit issue, I feel like I might have short femurs. The problem with going to a 50 is the drop gets bigger (shorter HT).

Go to the competitive cyclist fit site and input your measurements. It will give you an idea of how your body stacks up against standard sizes.
https://www.competitivecyclist.com/S...ulatorBike.jsp

It is not a substitute for anything else, such as test riding or the fit you already had, but it will help you narrow your scope.

[semdoug]

Originally Posted by PapaScottsy

semdoug- My Classic is a 55cm and I know I recognize it’s too long for me. I’m about 5’ 8” with a 31” inseam and as far as the weird fit issue, I feel like I might have short femurs. The problem with going to a 50 is the drop gets bigger (shorter HT).

True, if you limit yourself to a single model. Head tube length is only one element when looking at stack and reach. As mentioned before, angles also come in to play. As others have suggested, best to look around and test ride.

[PapaScottsy]

I went on some test rides last week to get a feel for modern carbon fiber, new components and all while staying on bikes with almost identical geometry to what I'm (mostly) decided on (a 52cm Litespeed T3 Disc).

First I took a Giant TCR Pro Advanced Disc out and really enjoyed the ride. Its amazing to feel the responsiveness to acceleration the stiffness of new carbon affords you; between that and the sheer effortlessness of climbing, due to the low weight I was extremely comfortable on it. The Giant comes with carbon wheels and generally had much better components. Di2 seems very worth it to me now as well, when it comes to my overall ethos on whatever I end up on: get it as right as I can the first time.

Then I went out on a SuperSix Evo (Hi Mod I believe) and felt a little less excited with it, but still enjoyed the experience immensely.... I feel like I had hyped it up in my head a little from all the chatter I'd read on the interwebz. While neither is aesthetically my cup of tea, the Giant was hideous enough to completely detach any kind of desire to even consider purchase despite clearly being my favorite of the two on the road.

Another factor in still favoring a bike I have NO seat time in is the the harshness of CF as an everyday commuter. I ride to work early in the morning and would hate to sustain an injury from the jarring impact I might imagine sustaining from the unforgiving stiffness of carbon, a pothole and the idea I'm not fully awake until my third cup of coffee.

I was planning on trying an Emonda SL6 from another shop, but they didn't have the one listed on their site built up and their rental was in use.... I'll be giving that one a ride tomorrow.

I just wanted to update you all and resurrect this thread and get some more last minute advice before I pull the trigger on the T3.

[weisan]

I ride to work early in the morning and would hate to sustain an injury from the jarring impact I might imagine sustaining from the unforgiving stiffness of carbon,

hahaha hahaha....wait, let me read that again....hahahaha....haha....

Papa pal. You are just kiddin' right? That was a good laugh.

Ok. Let's get serious here for a sec.

No, you are not gonna sustain any injury.

I got two tips for you.

1) Get the Giant.

2) Use wider tire, lower the tire pressure to get a nice cushy ride. Make sure whatever bike you ended up getting can accommodate wider tires (25-28mm)

[PapaScottsy]

Oh, pal.

My job is very physical and is literally hands on; I CAN NOT afford to get jacked up on the way to work.

The short version of it is: if I could afford to have a stable of bikes, I would have one for every occasion, but in my search for a race(y) bike I can commute on, CF just won’t work for me.

I guess I could buy a steel bike for my commute and/or gravel and an aluminum racer for crits with the $ I’m dropping on one nicely equipped Ti bike, but I’d rather have one bike to rule them all. I’m glad I made someone laugh today, that’s kind of one of my main mini goals in life. But in regards to carbon being too stiff for me, maybe I should have noted that YMMV.

[weisan]

I hear you.

Carry on.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by PapaScottsy

Another factor in still favoring a bike I have NO seat time in is the the harshness of CF as an everyday commuter. I ride to work early in the morning and would hate to sustain an injury from the jarring impact I might imagine sustaining from the unforgiving stiffness of carbon, a pothole and the idea I'm not fully awake until my third cup of coffee.

Dude, buy what you want to buy, but let me assure you that this is a completely irrational reason to not buy a bicycle with a CF frame.

[PapaScottsy]

Originally Posted by Louis

Dude, buy what you want to buy, but let me assure you that this is a completely irrational reason to not buy a bicycle with a CF frame.

Fair enough. I’m used to fooling around on my way to work, jumping speed humps, bunny hopping over things and the like. While on my test rides I was disappointed to find my ability to do those kind of things lacking, but in all fairness its probably just not from me not knowing (where the line is in regards to the limits of) the bikes. The first speed hump I hit doing like 25 might as well have been a speed bump or even a small curb and I nearly got high sided.

A couple of weeks ago I inadvertently jumped over a railroad crossing and to be honest don’t know if I would have gotten away with it, not on a ti (or equally forgiving) frame. Again, I’ve taken your statement into consideration, but (knowing it’s NOT suspension) I’m excited to try some of the more compliance inducing (even if it’s just marketing snake oil) technologies from Trek and Specialized.