Height/Road frame sizes

paulcuthbert

Hi. I'm 6'0" tall. What size bike frame should I be looking at?

Thanks

Scrumple

one that fits you
never buy a bike by guessing. Try some.
Depends on the shape of the frame.

Go find a bike shop and sit on some!!!

paulcuthbert

I ask because I had a 60cm Trek 1.2. It got stolen, and I can get the same bike but in a 58cm frame.

I have tried the 58, and it seemed OK- but that doesn't seem right if I fit a 60 and a 58...

mfin

Well, you just have to try things... Im 6ft dead too... one of my bikes is a 54cm and the other a 58cm, different ones measure up differently and then there's the position you want and your proportions, height is only one factor and is not enough to go on. Get all your fit measurements worked out or go for a fitting session to work them out (then try and adjust/tune)... then you should be able to apply these heights and lengths to individual bikes geom tables to find your best frame size fit for each bike you look at. Either that or buy from somewhere that'll do a fitting as part of the process?

LazyLoki

To be honest it sounds like your first bike was a bit big for you. I'm only 4 inches shorter than you and I ride a 54/52 depending on frame geometry. Did you feel very stretched out on your 60cm Trek? What length stem did you have on it?

Probably the most important measurement on a bike it the top tube length rather than the seat tube and you can generally make for example a 58 'fit' like a 60 or the other way around by changing the length of the stem.

paulcuthbert

One of the things I'd said was that I could see the front hub- and the guy said they'd fit a longer/shortet stem to combat that- can't remember which way round it was, if I could see the hub in front of or behind the handlebars... So the stem length has been thought about.

The 58 felt OK though. Leg length was good on it, after the guy had adjusted the saddle. One thing I didn't try, that someone suggested on another forum, was toe overlap - i.e. my toes hitting off the front wheel when I turned it side to side. Must try that one too.

I don't know what length stem was on the 60cm frame I had before. I guess it must have been whatever stem was supplied with a Trek 1.2! I never felt stretched on it though. To be honest the 58 and the 60 felt very much the same- the only thing I noticed was that I could see the front hub relative to the handlebars, which I'd read somewhere shouldn't be the case if the bike fitted properly.

JohnnyAllez

Have a look on the Trk website, sure they`ll have the differnt frame size geometrys listed, so you can see where the size differences are.

For example, Spesh Allez frame differnces between 58 and 61 - 18mm longer top tube, seat tube length difference is 40mm (these won`t be the same on a Trek, just example I have available) but you can see where they "tune out" any differences to suit you (sir) with longer/shorter `bar stems and raising or lowering the seat post. You will be able to get virtually the same riding position on either size frame, using the various methods available, but the bikes will then feel different to ride.

Cycling Weekly did this in the magazine a few months back, using two different size frames bult up to be the same riding position, to show what can be done and then how different they feel to ride afterwards.

soveda

Scrumple wrote:

one that fits you
never buy a bike by guessing. Try some.
Depends on the shape of the frame.

Go find a bike shop and sit on some!!!

+1
I'm 6ft1" and ride a Giant "Medium" (equivalent to 54ish) because if fits my body shape. Your height is one part of the equation, do you have long arms for your height? A long or short trunk? Long or short legs?

I have a relatively long trunk for my height but an ape index of 0 (my wingspan is the same as my height) so I need a different frame to someone who has a shorter trunk but longer arms/legs.

The Spiderman

6ft here and ride a 58cm Trek 1200.56 definitely felt small,58 is perfect.

Alex1988

I'm 6ft and ride a 56cm Spesh Secteur, go and sit on/ride as many sizes as you can!

warrior4life

I used to ride a 60 trek 1000, then a 58 madone 5.0 and now im on a new shape56 madone performance fit with a slightly longer stem.
The trek website says at 6ft i should be riding a 56.
All 3 bikes felt good in different ways...
Ride what feels best