Bike sizing help - please

Silly Car
Silly Car Posts: 10
edited March 2011 in Road buying advice
I am the current proud owner of a GT GTR Series 3 2010 road bike in size large and I have been offered a new cycle via the C2W scheme from work, so I thought why not!

I am 6'1" 32" inside leg and have found the current bike to be a very good fit, I did suffer from a trapped nerve last year in my neck, attributable to a ride, but following a tip from a fellow cycler, I flipped the stem over from -ve to +ve and everything seems OK

I am looking at a Ribble Pro Evo carbon, but the sizing is foxing me slightly...

According to the Ribble website, I need a 52cm (M) frame, which is slightly surprising as the current bike is a 56cm frame.

However I can work with that as Ribble states that the sloping top tube frames mean you need a smaller frame.

What stem length should I be looking at?

What chainset length (I am going for a 105 Triple, so sizes are 170, 172.5 and 175)

And one last question, just to be cheeky, what is the value of a 1 year old GT Series 3 road bike with less than 1000 dry miles on it? I am tempted to sell it in favour or a trail bike as well as the carbon Ribble.

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • I can't answer your questions regarding stem length etc however you will not be disappointed if you buy an Evo Pro Carbon. I bought one 3 months ago, what a bike!

    I am 5' 10" and visited them and ended up with a 52cm - as you are 3" taller my opinion would be 52cm may be a little small. It is certainly worth visiting Ribble as I did and the bike is perfect as a result and I spent a bit extra by opting for 105 componentry.

    Good luck!

    Rick
  • pianoman
    pianoman Posts: 706
    If you want to go with a direct sales operation and don't know your perfect size why not give Planet X a call? They have an experienced team to help you and they even do bike fittings. Ribble used to do so but I don't think they do anymore now that they only operate out of their warehouse.
  • wombler
    wombler Posts: 85
    Also if you have neck problems you should take care over the drop height from saddle to bars. You have correctly identified that flipping the stem raises the bars to a less aggressive position, but if you start with too big a drop you may not be able to achieve the position you need. I would advise comparing the geometries to see if it will work for you. No point in having a whizzy new bike if you won't be able to achieve the right fit.