Winter Bike Sizing

Rearcogs2112

Interested in buying a second hand winter training bike. My normal road bike frame is 58cm but the winter one is 56cm. Would this be ok. I haven't had a chance to look or get a test ride yet . Just curious as to what the general opinion would be.

Bronzie

I'd say that the 56cm will probably be fine for a hack bike - I tend to ride a more relaxed position in the off season anyway (for comfort) and a more stretched out one for racing.

And you could always make the adjustment in reach to the bars (if you wanted to set up the same as your main bike) by fitting a slightly longer stem, provided you don't go over 120/130mm which can start to affect the handling.

Steve I

The actual frame size doesn't really matter. Measure the effective top tube length on your bike and compare it with the one you're thinking of buying. As Bronzie said, the reach to the bars can be fine tuned by swapping stems.