New frame 56cm or 54cm ???

Unknown

At the moment I ride a 56cm frame which I think fits me ok but as I am in the market for a carbon frame now I want to get the sizing right.
I am just wondering if a 54cm frame will fit me better.
I am 5'10 inside leg 30"
the reason I think a 54cm will fit me better is I have been told as a rule of thumb when pedaling with your cranks horizontal if you imagine a vertical line your knee should be directly over your pedal axle.
On my 56cm its back a little further

hope this makes sense !!!!

2191flint

Hi,

search <u><b>www.bikefitting.com </b></u>this will give you your nearest bike shop that provides a full bike fitting service cost about œ35, IMO money well spent, as the process will not only give you your body stats, but will also give you an ideal frame size, together with an ideal geometric set up, then the bike shop will be able to steer you (excuse the pun) in the direction of the manufacturer whose geometry best suits your body shape.

Any tweaking can then be done by the bike shop swapping out items like stem, cranks and 'bars to get that milimetre perfect fit for the style of riding you do.

When I had my fittng recently at AW Cycles Caversham Reading, the guy there, Rikki sorted my bike for me, which incidentally is a frame size too small! but he has made the adjustments and set up the bike, so it is now almost perfect, ideally I need a 56cm frame with a TT of 561mm, he achieved near perfect fit by putting on a 120mm stem and raising my seatpost and adjusting the saddle fore and aft position, my cranks are 170mm I really need a 172.5.

Get properly measured, you wont regret it.[8D] the system will set a riding position for Audax, TT/Triathlon, sport/racing, I went for the sport /racing set up, I don't race, but I do ride for fitness and fun, so that was the best option for me.

A turkey is just for Christmas, not for life.


Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

Mollie

I think 2191flint's advice is absolutely right. But if you just want an opinion I would say that you would be fine on the 54cm frame. I am 6'2" and have both 54cm and 56cm framed bikes. They both fit me though the 54cm frame has the saddle quite far back and I am positioned a bit more upright than on the 56cm frame.

dave5ncp

5,9' and a 54 is great with a standard geometry and a 10cm stem. For 'cross, I ride a 52, but it is a bit small on the road.

<font color="purple"> <font size="1"><i>please pretend there's a horizontal line here. I couldnt work out how to put one in.</i></font id="size1"></font id="purple">
You stir my natural emotions

giant_man

it purely depends on the geometry of a particular frame. i am the same height and inside leg as jerrie but most 56cm frames are too big for me. Best thing to do is to get measured properly and then apply that to the frame you are choosing. A good LBS will tweak and get it right for you.

fit is very important!

---

SIZE IS EVERYTHING! or at least that's what my LBS tells me.

Unknown

"I am 5'10 inside leg 30""

Relatively short legs? Be sure you are measuring correctly (not trouser size!) before you start. If really 30", then by rule of thumb a 54 easily "big" enough. Also depends on riding position, especially saddle to bar height difference.


d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

caracolito

1. some sloping frames 56" is closer to a 54" of a "standard" frame.
2. It is better go go shorter and put a slightly longer stem
3. I wish I'd done 2


A'z

<hr noshade size="1">
<font size="1">
<font color="violet"><b>Going uphill fast, is easy; all you need are legs and lungs. Going downhill fast is hard... you need... balls.</b></font id="violet"></font id="size1">
Only one way to swim 100m free style - you start as hard as you can, then slowly accelerate.

blackhands

Top tube length is more important that seat tube length if you want a bike that steers well. The emphasis on seat tube length comes from the days of more flexible frames where a long seat pin was felt to be dangerous. Also steering was different with much more fork rake.

Unknown

Ok just had a re-measure inside leg 32" as measured the bikefitting.com way.
my bike now is a colnago master extra light. with seat tube 54cm c-c & top tub 55.5cm c-c
having played around with it recently I think it fits well but would be better with an inline seat post to bring me slightly closer to the bars
stem is 100mm of which I would'nt want it any shorter.

I think I should book up for a bikefitting.com session.

Unknown

If I was you I'd try out the frame sizes and see. Just to make life complicated I'm 5'9" and ride a 56.5 top tube road bike, which fits just fine.

2191flint

As posted before, a lot depends on the manufacturers geometry, which varies markedly from make to make, sloping/compact geometry is going to give you a smaller bike than its stated size, top tube is the really critical measurement as seat tube can be adjusted by having more/less seat pin exposed, reach to the bars is a bit more difficult as the steering can be 'upset' with a stem that is either too long or too short in an attempt to compensate for differences in TT length. Obviously the bikes geometry overall is important to a comfortable ride, that is going to make you want to ride the bike more[8D]

A turkey is just for Christmas, not for life.


Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

Unknown

"sloping/compact geometry is going to give you a smaller bike than its stated size,"

Not necessarily, surely? Some state a *virtual* c to t seat tube length - and ditto the top tube.

d.j.
"Like a true nature's child,
We were born,
Born to drink mild"

borisvanhalen

each manufacturer seems to do their own thing... i had a bianchi (alu) size 49 which my better half now rides, however 3 yrs ago i decided to get a full carbon frame and went with the pedal force zx3... again bought a size 49... i ended up having to have the saddle really far forward and used a tiny stem (50mm), this made the bike so unstable over 25mph that i've got rid and gone back to a bianchi with a decent stem length and proper saddle position[}:)]

portuguese mike

You should get a frame according to top tube length not seat tube length. there is far more scope for adjustability with you seat post than with a stem (which if it ends up too long will seriously affect handling) so i would definatley recommend getting a bike fit session. i'm only 5'9" but due to my ridiculously stumpy legs i need a 57cm frame (fortunatley i pedal with quite a toe down style so i still get a reasonable drop from saddle to bars on my road bike)but until i got measured i rode around uncomfortably on a 54cm.

pm