Frame sizes for The Good Lady

cjcp

I have a spare road frame lying in my shed and am debating whether to sell it or build it up for my wife. She mentioned she'd be interested if I built it up.

The top tube length (c-c) is 55cms. My wife is 5'9". If I put a short stem on it, reckon it would fit?

jonginge

In theory I think the frame would be ok.
My winter hack is 57cm (c-c), 90mm stem but a big saddle setback. I'm 5'10" and my position is a bit stretched out. Well, you've seen me ride that bike so you can make your own judgement
In practice the position may be a bit too racy for your good lady. Not sure there will be much room for manouevre on having a low saddle if the frame is of standard geometry.

Of course, I could be talking rubbish.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Probably need to know your wife's inseam/torso length. That frame may be ok lengthwise, but I suspect it will depend on how long her body is.

Then, as JG says, there's the issue of how long the head tube is and how high she wants the front end to be (which in turn will depend on how high her saddle is relative to the front end - see her inseam for that).

More numbers, please!

redddraggon

I ride 55cm Top tube bikes with an 11cm stem and I'm 5'7" with long legs/short torso, so I'm sure it'd be fine with a 90mm stem...

itboffin

i think it will be too big for her, phew look at the depth of my reply.

biondino

I reckon you're easily within the margin of error where you can compensate satisfactorily with seat and bar position. Good luck!

cjcp

She says she has a longer torso. The seat tube is around 57cms. Will look into it a bit more.

JG's position is way too racy!

Ta all.

katrum

I'm a girl. I'm 1.7m tall (so about 5'7.5"). My new bike has a top tube horizontal length centre to cente of posts of 52cm and a 100mm stem.

My old bike which in retrospect was too big, had a top tube length of 60cm.

Therefore for someone a bit taller than me 55 doesn't sound unreasonable. Could you get her on something a similar size....

lost_in_thought

Sounds good to me - I'm on an effective top tube (as measured by epic) of 53.5, with a 100mm stem, and I'm about 5'7 with a short torso.

Unless it's a super-tall frame, the seat tube length should be fine.

Sit her on it and have a look!

always_tyred

Interesting geometry - suggests a fairly long head tube. This will mean the bars will bea quite high, which should limit how stretched out she would feel on the bike.

My guess is that its not ideal. If you are building a bike, I assume your wife isn't currently into cycling in a big way. As such, she'll probably want to have the saddle lower than you would suggest and I would bet that you would not have much seat post showing. Not a big issue in itself, but suggestive of a slightly large frame.

All that said, I rode a 58cm for years and, as an off the peg sort of 5'10" bloke, my ideal frame size (other bikes) is a 56cm. An 80cm stem did the trick. The odd cm here and there doesn't make that much difference.

tardington

I had an adjustable stem on my first commuting bike... I know it was great for getting my position right over time... I started off in a pretty upright position and went lower as I got better. Once I had it how I liked it I got a normal stem.

cjcp

katrum wrote:

I'm a girl. I'm 1.7m tall (so about 5'7.5"). My new bike has a top tube horizontal length centre to cente of posts of 52cm and a 100mm stem.

My old bike which in retrospect was too big, had a top tube length of 60cm.

Therefore for someone a bit taller than me 55 doesn't sound unreasonable. Could you get her on something a similar size....

I was going to try her on my Scott, which has a 56cm top tube and 11cm stem (to confuse matters, my commuter is a 58cm tt with a 12cm stem and feels more stretched out).

AT guessed right that my wife isn't really into cycling and my gut reaction is that it's a bit on the big side for her. A hybrid (the Trek 7000 series?) is probably more her thing.

I was considering building it up for me anyway and leaving it with the family in Wales. If she wants to try it, it should only be a case of buying a shorter, angled stem.

always_tyred

cjcp wrote:

katrum wrote:

I'm a girl. I'm 1.7m tall (so about 5'7.5"). My new bike has a top tube horizontal length centre to cente of posts of 52cm and a 100mm stem.

My old bike which in retrospect was too big, had a top tube length of 60cm.

Therefore for someone a bit taller than me 55 doesn't sound unreasonable. Could you get her on something a similar size....

I was going to try her on my Scott, which has a 56cm top tube and 11cm stem (to confuse matters, my commuter is a 58cm tt with a 12cm stem and feels more stretched out).

AT guessed right that my wife isn't really into cycling and my gut reaction is that it's a bit on the big side for her. A hybrid (the Trek 7000 series?) is probably more her thing.

I was considering building it up for me anyway and leaving it with the family in Wales. If she wants to try it, it should only be a case of buying a shorter, angled stem.

"Happy Birthday, dear, I've bought you a year's subscription to Sky Sports for me to watch."

cjcp

He he.

biondino

Chris, build it up - she's already said she's interested. I am 90% certain you can make it fit her, but if not, you'll have had fun doing it and I'm sure you could either change the parts to make it work for you or sell it for a healthy price.

cjcp

biondino wrote:

Chris, build it up - she's already said she's interested. I am 90% certain you can make it fit her, but if not, you'll have had fun doing it and I'm sure you could either change the parts to make it work for you or sell it for a healthy price.

Yep, think that's what I'll do. I've spoken to Holdsworth Cycles about re-spraying the frame metallic silver, so, if I decide to sell it, it'll appeal to a slightly wider audience. I'll hopefully have a third wheelset shortly too, so makes sense to add those to a frame.

It'll only accommodate a 1" steerer though, and the choice isn't great. Ribble have some when I last looked. This will be a nice little project.