Need Help With Frame Sizing Compromise

powder_monkey

Hi,

I am currently looking at bikes in the £200 - £250 price range. The problem I am having is that I am 5 feet 11 inches tall, but have a short inside leg.

This means that all the bikes I have tried seem to be a compromise in that I either have to settle for a bike that gives a long enough reach but no standover clearance (I hear it should be about 3 inches) or one that gives the standover but is apprarently too short.

I can move the saddle back on the rails about an inch or so, or will this cause other problems?

The salesmen I have spoken to have advised me to sacrifice standover for reach,l but Im not so sure. Im looking to ride XC, so I need a little agility.

Can anyone advise? I know there are longer bikes for a given frame size, but they are generally out of my price range.

Ditch Witch

I have exactly the same problem and the b/f sorted me out with a longer stem.

Now all's good

Ditch Witch

a la:

http://www.extremesports.ltd.uk/mtb/mtb-stems.htm

The Rookie

With the nice lady in the pointed hat, I am a similar build, get the saddle back a bit and budget for a longer stem, upto 130mm is easily findable (ebay!) and will lengthen the cockpit by about 2" compared to a reletively standard (on that price point bike) 80mm.

Simon

elPedro666

Be careful though - a longer stem will slow your steering and could make things unweildy. Moving the saddle back is fine, although you will obviously move your centre of gravity toward the rear of the bike & may need to consciously slide forward more on climbs and in corners to weight the front wheel.

I'm a similar proportion & use a very slightly large-looking frame with an 85mm stem and bar-ends (remember them?) which means I get really sharp handling and a front that pops up really easily when I want it to, but can I can stretch out on climbs or smoother/road sections, or get weight over the front on standing climbs.

Best of both worlds 8)

Look out for frames with naturally low standover heights too (Kona spring to mind), so that you can go to a larger size without endangering yourself...