Anybody with a 5'5 wife and a Cross-Check?

[phcollard]

So the wife wants a Cross-Check. She has a Guru bike right now but she says it's too "racy" and she needs something more casual and a better all rounder. Plus she digs the Robin Egg blue

She's 5'5. Her Guru bike has a TT of 51cm but since I am no fit expert I don't even know if it's good for her.

I am looking at the Cross Check geo and I am guessing she would need a 46cm but I would like to hear about 5'5 people with a Cross-Check...

Thanks a lot!

Philippe.

[bargainguy]

Don't have one, but according to this link, the 46cm Cross Check has an effective TT of 52.88cm:

http://www.bikepartsexpress.com/C628/FM7146.html

I'm 5'4 and this TT would be too long for me, even though I ride anywhere between a 43cm and 46cm depending on geometry. I prefer a top tube of 49-50cm, otherwise I'm too stretched out - short torso.

I have a Gunnar Crosshairs in my size which works wonderfully for me. Unfortunately it's not with me right now, otherwise I'd measure the TT and let you know.

Don

[Smiley]

Originally Posted by phcollard

So the wife wants a Cross-Check. She has a Guru bike right now but she says it's too "racy" and she needs something more casual and a better all rounder. Plus she digs the Robin Egg blue

She's 5'5. Her Guru bike has a TT of 51cm but since I am no fit expert I don't even know if it's good for her.

I am looking at the Cross Check geo and I am guessing she would need a 46cm but I would like to hear about 5'5 people with a Cross-Check...

Thanks a lot!

Philippe.

my wife is 5 ft 5 inches tall and rides a Cross Check size 50 I am pretty sure and since this bike has a longer TT than her road bike she uses it as her commuter with straight MTB bars. You want to buy this bike its Red

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and a Cross Check walk into a bar . . .



BBD

[RacerJRP]

I am 5'7 and I used to own a 46cm CC. Great bike but it was too small for me. I would say it should be a good fit for your wife. Of course it all depends on how she likes her bikes to fit and where her height is etc. etc...

[phcollard]

Originally Posted by Smiley

my wife is 5 ft 5 inches tall and rides a Cross Check size 50 I am pretty sure and since this bike has a longer TT than her road bike she uses it as her commuter with straight MTB bars. You want to buy this bike its Red

I couldn't dream of a better person to talk about fit! What if you wife wanted drop bars? Would she still ride a 50?

[phcollard]

Originally Posted by BumbleBeeDave

. . . and a Cross Check walk into a bar . . .



BBD

LOL! Funny guy

[phcollard]

Originally Posted by RacerJRP

I am 5'7 and I used to own a 46cm CC. Great bike but it was too small for me. I would say it should be a good fit for your wife. Of course it all depends on how she likes her bikes to fit and where her height is etc. etc...

Thanks for the feedback. Here's what we got when we played with the CC calculator while ago:

Inseam: 75.5
Trunk: 68
Forearm: 31.5
Arm: 58.5
Thigh: 53.5
Lower Leg: 50.5
Sternal Notch: 135
Total Body Height: 165

I don't know if we measured correctly though because that gave us a STxTT of 50x53cm

She doesn't like too much drop between her saddle and bars, that's why I am very cautious with the Cross Check because I know its quite low and requires a lot of spacers.

[classtimesailer]

Remember that when you bring the bars up with the spacers, you are also bringing them back and shortening the reach. Pretty slack HTA makes it more so.

Jeff

[charliedid]

I would guess....you could make either size fit. That said I assume there is at least one Surly Dealer in Montreal that may stock them? Cross Check is a damn popular bike, try calling around?

How about a shop with a fit-bike to mock it up for her.

It wouldn't be a disaster IMO but why guess?

Good luck!

[AngryScientist]

you listen here, Mr. Phcollard!

it's not just people's wives who are short!

[Smiley]

Originally Posted by phcollard

I couldn't dream of a better person to talk about fit! What if you wife wanted drop bars? Would she still ride a 50?

YES because the cross check has a short HT and if you went to the smaller frame the location of the bars would be too low especially for use as a commuter where I wanted her to have great line of sight. This bike is great cause it does not call out attention and she locks hers up outside her office garage when she uses it to get to work.

[noahgenda]

I just built up a 46cm crosscheck for a friend, I would say she is roughly 5'3", and we had a couple good fistfulls of seatpost. A 60mm Thomson stem and flat bars with a slight sweep to them.

So, 5'5" I would assume a more pro length stem and a handful of seatpost and it would fit here perfect.

Toe overlap is a whole other story though.

[Bob Ross]

My wife doesn't have a CrossCheck, so take all this with a grain of salt...

but she's 5'5" (or maybe 5'4"?) and rides a 51cm TT on her road bike, and was recently looking into a 'cross bike (including the CrossCheck), and what one of the local Fit Gurus (sic) at the LBS told her was that in general you want your 'cross frame to be smaller than the equivalent road frame...so indeed he recommended she take a 46cm frame.

fwiw

[deechee]

My gf is a bit shorter (5'4) but has the same inseam length and rides a 50cm TT custom Serotta. But as others have said, if your wife will go with straight bars, I guess the TT doesn't matter and maybe the larger size will let you avoid toe overlap?

Btw who sells Surly in Montreal? I rarely see them.