bike too big?? help..

dazed01

how much clearance do you need on your bike when you stand over it?
and is it the distance between the top tube and the very top of your leg/pubic bone or is it between the top tube and your valuables?

just bought a bike off the net as it was half price and it feels marginally too big.. just touching if you know what i mean :shock:


so yeah, where do you measure the clearance from? and is that too close for comfort?

jay12

if it's touching then it's too big. depends what you ride though. if xc then you can have smaller clearance than dirt jump or dh bikes

tri-sexual

whats the bike make and model?
what size is it?
how tall are you?
whats your inside leg measurement?
what style of riding do you do?

dazed01

yeah just xc and trail centre riding... not in to downhill or anything crazy like that.

dazed01

its a carrera zelos 18"
im about 5 9" / 5 10" and my inside leg is 31" ish

freeride-mike

dazed01 wrote:

its a carrera zelos 18"
im about 5 9" / 5 10" and my inside leg is 31" ish

seems right to me.... im 5ft 11 with 31" inside leg and i have a 19" it fits perfectly

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Get yourself some platform style shoes, to give yourself a bit more clearance?

On a slightly more serious note, what do you all think about replacing the presumeably 26" wheel with a 24", thereby lowering the crutial back end of the bike (if its really too big and you cannot/don't want to sell)? :?:

dazed01

don't want to go in to too much detail obviously but it makes a difference when stood over the frame in casual trousers and impact shorts which tend to help hide the valuables a little further out of harms way in which case i have about an inch of clearance over the frame to my pubic bone..

have moved the seat back a touch which has helped.

its so close to being ok !

could the front suspension be lowered 10mm or something? its a reba sl fork.

tri-sexual

the bike seems about right for your height and leg length

blister pus

if you haven't got a decent 2" clearance between nuts and top tube then you'll be struggling if you have to do an emergency stop where your knees bend.

*AL*

dazed01 wrote:

its a carrera zelos 18"
im about 5 9" / 5 10" and my inside leg is 31" ish

freeride-mike wrote:

seems right to me.... im 5ft 11 with 31" inside leg and i have a 19" it fits perfectly

So from that I assume that the Zelos & Giant have identical geometry ??


(IMHO) the bike either fits, or it doesn't.

You can adjust certain aspects (seat position/bar reach/bar height etc) to dial in the bike but if the frame's too big it's never going to feel right.

freeride-mike

*AL* wrote:

dazed01 wrote:

its a carrera zelos 18"
im about 5 9" / 5 10" and my inside leg is 31" ish

freeride-mike wrote:

seems right to me.... im 5ft 11 with 31" inside leg and i have a 19" it fits perfectly

So from that I assume that the Zelos & Giant have identical geometry ??


(IMHO) the bike either fits, or it doesn't.

You can adjust certain aspects (seat position/bar reach/bar height etc) to dial in the bike but if the frame's too big it's never going to feel right.

:roll:
unless u ride the exact same bike have the exact same inside leg and yup u guesed it the exact same height your not goin to be able to give perfect advise! however should you be roughly the same hieght/inside leg etc... and ride a roughly similer size frame then u can give reasonable input/advice IMO

blister pus

freeride-mike wrote:

*AL* wrote:

dazed01 wrote:

its a carrera zelos 18"
im about 5 9" / 5 10" and my inside leg is 31" ish

freeride-mike wrote:

seems right to me.... im 5ft 11 with 31" inside leg and i have a 19" it fits perfectly

So from that I assume that the Zelos & Giant have identical geometry ??


(IMHO) the bike either fits, or it doesn't.

You can adjust certain aspects (seat position/bar reach/bar height etc) to dial in the bike but if the frame's too big it's never going to feel right.

:roll:
unless u ride the exact same bike have the exact same inside leg and yup u guesed it the exact same height your not goin to be able to give perfect advise! however should you be roughly the same hieght/inside leg etc... and ride a roughly similer size frame then u can give reasonable input/advice IMO

yeh but that's the difficulty when you're talking inches with top tube height and ball clearance. It's either right or wrong and nothing much you can do about it if it's too high and not right. It just doesn't fit properly.

And if you've ever had to do an emergency stop and hop off the seat and plant your feet firmly on the ground to stop you'll know you're knees are forced to bend taking you a good 2 - 3" lower. If you dont have that clearance built in then you're not only in pain but potentially a dangerous situation.

*AL*

freeride-mike wrote:

:roll:
unless u ride the exact same bike have the exact same inside leg and yup u guesed it the exact same height your not goin to be able to give perfect advise! however should you be roughly the same hieght/inside leg etc... and ride a roughly similer size frame then u can give reasonable input/advice IMO

I didn't offer 'perfect' advice on what size he required, I just stated that not all 18" frames are the same size and if the frame's too big, no amount of tinkering will change that.

You and dazed01 have the same inside leg, your 19" Giant frame fits ok, his 18"Carrera is too big :?

I'm 6' with a 33" inside leg and an 18" Stumpy fits me perfectly, similarly a 18" Fury is spot on, but to me a 20" Kracken feels huge.

Going by your rule of thumb my "reasonable input/advice" would be he needs a 16" Carrera frame, but not having seen him astride either size frame, I wouldn't make that call.




.

dazed01

*AL* wrote:

freeride-mike wrote:

:roll:
unless u ride the exact same bike have the exact same inside leg and yup u guesed it the exact same height your not goin to be able to give perfect advise! however should you be roughly the same hieght/inside leg etc... and ride a roughly similer size frame then u can give reasonable input/advice IMO

I didn't offer 'perfect' advice on what size he required, I just stated that not all 18" frames are the same size and if the frame's too big, no amount of tinkering will change that.

You and dazed01 have the same inside leg, your 19" Giant frame fits ok, his 18"Carrera is too big :?

I'm 6' with a 33" inside leg and an 18" Stumpy fits me perfectly, similarly a 18" Fury is spot on, but to me a 20" Kracken feels huge.

Going by your rule of thumb my "reasonable input/advice" would be he needs a 16" Carrera frame, but not having seen him astride either size frame, I wouldn't make that call.




.

Took your advice... please have a look and see what you think.
Bear in mind im in socks and I could move the seat back a touch so there would be probably another half inch I could add to the clearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cy2ZEsuSw

*AL*

dazed01 wrote:

Took your advice... please have a look and see what you think.
Bear in mind im in socks and I could move the seat back a touch so there would be probably another half inch I could add to the clearance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cy2ZEsuSw

It says the video is private :shock:

You sure you posted the correct one

dazed01

haha sorry try again...

robertpb

The last time I landed on the top tube was back in the late 80's, so it's not an everyday occurrence.

That bike was a rigid with a narrow steel top tube, so a bit of clearance was comforting.

With my current bike the clearance is very little, but it has a wide top tube and 140mm of suspension, so if I do land on it there is a lot of impact absorption.

You could probably sit on the top tube and bounce the bike down 3" before you'd notice any discomfort, plus you don't tend to tuck you're wedding tackle under you're crutch anyway.

Unless your a masochist doing it for kicks.

blister pus

just - with no room to spare. but shoes will jack you up a bit more so you might just get away with it..