Sizing for those with long legs & short bodies

The Spiderman

I am looking at road bikes at the moment,in the £500-700 range and am getting really confused with sizing.

I am 5ft 11 with 33" inside leg.

My current steed is an old early 90s steel 531 st framed bike with tradtitional race 74o geometry,which I inherited and always assumed to be too big.It measures 24" (610mm) from bb centre to top of top tube,and top tube length is 22 1/2" (570mm)but since I fitted a 100mmm stem it seems to just about work for me,though I`d (and my nads) appreciate a fair bit more standover clearance!

This week I have tried 2 different Giant SCRs one medium and one large.The medium didn`t actually feel much shorter,but the front end felt very low,as though I was right over the front wheel,the large felt more stable,and was probably the one I would choose,of the 2 sizes though.If only Giant did the SCR in a M/L as they do on the TCR,it would probably be perfect.

Last night,I sat on friend`s Canondale carbon framed Synapse with a 58cm frame,fitted with a slightly shorter stem which felt nearly perfect.(A shame it is well beyond my budget.......)

Today,I sat on a Bianche Via Nirone.I first tried a 57cm,which felt perfect to me but the assistant identified that I have long legs and a short torso,which meant my knee wasn`t centred over the ball of my foot when extending,my leg and reckoned I would be better with the 59cm.

She did mention that Bianchis tend to come up small,but even on a Trek or Specialized she would expect me to be better off with a 58cm.

I`d always assumed I would be on a 56cm frame with Specialized or Trek.

Does this sound right,or is it peculiar to people with long legs and shorter torsos?

Perhaps I just need to try more bikes!

comsense

The Spiderman wrote:

I am looking at road bikes at the moment,in the £500-700 range and am getting really confused with sizing.

I am 5ft 11 with 33" inside leg.


Have you seen Giant's replacement for the SCR? Called the DEFY, it comes in medium large. Might help.

lowe

I also have a short back but long legs. I get on well with Trek bikes as they tend to have a shorter wheelbase.

Juju_uk_68

To be honest, the ball foot thing is easilly sorted moving saddle fore and aft.

Whats more important is the reach to the bars and goods.

If you are over extended, this might not be that safe.

whislt I am of different sizes to you, I am like you short in the body viz my legs. A suit jacket needs to be short on me, and mens shirts all tend to be a bit too long in the arms. However my legs are usually borderline regular.

I bought a Bianchi - and conventional wisdom would have put me on a 53cm for my height, and a 53 frame still gave me plenty of stand over room.

Nut I chose a 50 in the end for comfort, that a 53 left me leaning so far forwamrds to hold the hoods it was never going to be viable. There isnt much difference in the height of a 50 to a 53 as the bottom bracket moves up and down, which also means frame sizing by numbers is a bit of a red herring anyway.

If you felt able to hold hoods without either a significant bend in your elbow or feeling dangerously over extended the frame size was right for you *as the length of the frame* was right for you, and you could simply alter the seat forwards as your shoulders remain more or less static as its the bottom/saddle that pivots more than the shoulders do.

The Spiderman

Good advice,thanks.Anyone know where I can find frame geomery for the Bianchi Via Nirone?

Juju_uk_68

Geometrys a tough one. You can really only tell on a ride. However, whilst I have heard Bianchi's size up small, I tried a few bikes at a Halfords Bikehut and each one I tried that was 53 felt too big, and each 49-50 I tried felt just right, so generally, I'd not say a 50cm Bianchi is that far out that you couldnt order with confidence the right size based on other bikes.

What the mean when they say they size up short is probably not stand over size but toptube length, and Bianchi dont probably vary that much form other manufacturers.

click will help but no diagrams a substitute for trying a bike.

GrahamGillooly

I went down the same road with the bianchi, i should have been a 59 on one of them, and a 58 specialized is what i have now as they didnt have any 59 bianchi's left..

My bike feels spot on to me, so you could also have a look at specialized..
If youre lucky you might find a good deal on an 08..