Bike Sizing

milese

I'm thinking about buying a road bike to commute / exercise on, and am unsure about the sizing.

I'm 5'7" / 5'8" and ride a medium, which I believe is 17.5", Stumpjumper MTB.

What size road bike would I be best suited to?

Cheers!

daniel_b

Hi Milese,

good man, you'll love em just as much as an MTB, they both have so much to offer.

Have you drawn up a shortlist yet, or got a budget?
Are you going new or 2nd hand?

Your dimensions are very similar to my gf's, and she rides a 17" Hardrock, and a 52CM Trek 1000 roadbike

I'm 5ft 11, with a 35" inside leg, and ride a 17" Marin (So 19" in real money) and a 56cm Felt roadbike, though a 54 would have worked as well.

I expect you will be between a 52 and a 54, but you would really have to get out there and try some in the shops, or try some mates bikes.

I haven't been out on mine as much as I would like, but am planning to lay down some serious miles in the new year

Possibly, if santa does his thing, with the aid of a new computer with wireless cadence sensor too 8)

Dan

gkerr4

I'd agree with above - about a 52 - 54 - probably fit on both sizes easy enough as the seatpost wil have a lot showing (especially on the 52)

the diference wil be the reach to the bars - shorter on the 52, longer on the 54 - that said, you will also find that the 54 has a higher head tube and might be a better fit.

I am about your height too and tend to like the 54 size of specialized range.

you need to go look at some though, sit on them, see what you think and take a test ride on a couple perhaps.

beware that ALL sizes of road bike will (may?) feel stretched out after your mountain bike!

milese

Thanks for your advice, I've got a 29" inside leg.

Well, I'm looking to get something as cheap as possible, given that its only meant to be a commuter to save me from constantly changing tyres and leaving the stumpy outside work!

So I'm looking for something second hand.

Would 18.5", 46cm be too small?

daniel_b

Milese wrote:

Would 18.5" be too small?

That's only a 47cm frame, I fear it will be rather too small.

A 54 equates to something around a 21, although going by your inside leg, perhaps a 52(20.5") frame would be better.

Dan

milese

Yeah, thanks.

I just had the brainwave of asking my Dad what size he rides, with him being the same height as me and he rides a 52cm.

cycologist

Milese wrote:

I just had the brainwave of asking my Dad what size he rides, with him being the same height as me and he rides a 52cm.

The brainwave sounds about right to me -i was going to suggest 52cm (C to C)

willbevan

if your looking forsomething cheap tocomute

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/sport-ltd-17602189/

Its very basic, shimano sora and unbrandedstuff, done about 300 milesonmine, imjust about tochangethe brake blokes..

Have toadmit ive been very happy with it,one thing tomention though, it comes with a 52/42 upfront, so if your hilly comute,might want to changethe crank to a compact orsoemthing(got a cheap compag miragefor 20 on ebay),it is a 12-28 onthe backthough unlessthey have changedthe spec recently.

In some respects i wish i had bought a giant SCR instead as they look a bit nicer,but really for the cost it isnt thatmiuch better. a SCR4 is about 300 quid, and has lower components thatthe one above,the scr3 which is nearer 400 hasabout the same (probably no no name stuff),andthe 3 and 2... well gettinh better but fortheprice differnece?

Dont get mewrong i will be buying a better bike and this will be my winterhack(rollonthe spring andthe cycle towork scheme)

Will

ademort

Hi i am 5Ft 8Ins, my carbon frame is a 54cm and my aluminium frame with sloping top tube is 51cm. If you see something between these sizes then it should be ok for you. Hope this helps, and good luck Ademort.

feel

Hi, i am just over 5' 9" and have a 55cm Lemond which i love but with hind sight i reckon a 53 cm would have fit me just as well, if not better. At the time i was a bit concerned that i would be leaning over too much on the smaller frame, as i have a dodgy back, but that has not been a problem at all.

Rich Hcp

I'm 5'8"

My Specialized Allez Sport is a 54

The only way you'll know is to try because different manufacturers have different frame geomatry

redddraggon

willbevan wrote:

if your looking forsomething cheap tocomute

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/sport-ltd-17602189/

Its very basic, shimano sora and unbrandedstuff, done about 300 milesonmine, imjust about tochangethe brake blokes..

Have toadmit ive been very happy with it,one thing tomention though, it comes with a 52/42 upfront, so if your hilly comute,might want to changethe crank to a compact orsoemthing(got a cheap compag miragefor 20 on ebay),it is a 12-28 onthe backthough unlessthey have changedthe spec recently.

It is a good specced bike. I got one, but there was something wrong with the crank threads, it went back twice in the first 5 weeks of owning it. The second time they wouldn't fix it, but gave me my money back.

Perhaps I was just unlucky but I did barely 100miles on it. 52/42 crankset was fine with the 12-28 rear where I live (North Wales).

Whatever people say about Halfords I have found my virtuoso to be pretty good, sub-sora groupset and unfashionable brand, but I've done nearly 2000miles on in since getting it in June and I've had few things go wrong with it that wasn't my fault.

milese

Thanks again for the advice.

My nearest Dectathalon store is probably 250 miles away so I'll scrap that.

The Carerra Vertuso is currently on sale as £225, is that any good?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_240393_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151

Maybe I'll go and poke one.

redddraggon

Milese wrote:

Thanks again for the advice.

My nearest Dectathalon store is probably 250 miles away so I'll scrap that.

The Carerra Vertuso is currently on sale as £225, is that any good?

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_240393_langId_-1_CarSelectorCatalogId__CarSelectorGroupId__varient__categoryId_47151_crumb_33980-33957_parentcategoryrn_47151

Maybe I'll go and poke one.

I've got a Virtuoso, it's a nice bike, does everything I'm currently asking of it. Should have enough clearance for mudguards.

It's not the lightest bike out there but (as far as I'm concerned) its better than the decathlon btwin 16S - my btwin fell apart rather quickly (4weeks) but my carrera has been involved in a biggish accident and suffered no frame damage.

milese

Cheers. What size is your bike Reddragon?

I see your the same height as me (from another thread!)

I guess they have 700c wheels?

redddraggon

Milese wrote:

Cheers. What size is your bike Reddragon?

I see your the same height as me (from another thread!)

I guess they have 700c wheels?

Yeh 700c wheels, both my originals have know died after a collision I had . I got a size large, but I've put a shorter stem on it and taken the two spacers from under the stem, so medium (or even small) would probably have been a better size to get.

It's nice bike, but you can never be sure of the quality of the "mechanic" thats puts the bike together in Halfords - I had a guy who was seriously into MTB racing and it felt to me like he knew what he was doing. If you know about MTBs you should know enough to make sure they put the bike together right.

I only got it for commuting but its got me seriously into this road cycling lark, enough to buy myself a nice Bianchi come spring.