Rider height

Gamblor

So I got my Carerra Vulcan with an 18" frame. It feels strange to ride compared to my previous 20" Apollo bike.

I'm hoping its just because different bikes feel different and take some getting used too, but I feel like my knees are coming quite high up when peddling and I'm also feeling hunched over the handlebars.

I've been told I can't adjust the handlebar height so will have to tinker with the seat height instead, thing is, the more I raise the seat, the more I feel like I'm hanging over the bars.

So my general question is, is an 18" frame sufficiant for a 5'9'' man?

According to this chart between 17-18" should be fine for my height.

http://www.winstanleysbikes.co.uk/page/1528/Bike_Sizing

Can someone put my mind at ease that its just a case of getting used to a new bike? Or on the flipside, is it actually the case that I'm supposed to feel this way, and the Apollo was the wrong way?

The Northern Monkey

All bikes are different... I've comfortably ridden from 17" to 21", but the Rocklobster at 17.5" feels slightly small for me.

angry_bird

What TNM said... bikes are different, both in the way they're measured and the riding positions they put you in, but in general you would kind of expect an 18inch frame to be a reasonable fit for someone your height. I'm 6ft and ride anything from 18-21 inch depending on the type of bike and manufacturer... Might just take some time for you to get used to, or you might never get used to it.

You say you're been raising the seat, how high is it, I mean is it massively higher than the handlebars now?

eternalstudent

As the others have said all people sit bikes differently, I am 5'10 is and ride a 18" carrera kraken. I found that i was also hunched over the bars but a bit of adjusting it is the right size.

However, what I did was raise the handle bars and move the seat back.

The other thing might be to set your preload a bit more on the forks as if they are soft you will be leaning over the bars even more.

cooldad

eternalstudent wrote:

The other thing might be to set your preload a bit more on the forks as if they are soft you will be leaning over the bars even more.

Not a solution. If the sag is right, all it will do is ruin the ride to reduce it.

LJ.

I'm 6ft and ride an 18" frame, I could ride a bigger frame easily if I wanted but I prefer to dominate the bike if you get what I mean

The Northern Monkey

LJ. wrote:

I'm 6ft and ride an 18" frame, I could ride a bigger frame easily if I wanted but I prefer to dominate the bike if you get what I mean

Not really.

Gamblor

I was told I wouldn't be able to raise the handlebars for one reason or other. Can anyone confirm this?

Its currently in the bike shop having the gears tuned, so when I pick it up tomorrow I might ask them to adjust it to my height.

cooldad

Depends how many spacers are present, and where they are, but unlikely.
You can get a stem with more rise, and/or riser bars.

The Rookie

As CD says, you can raise the heights of teh grips by one of three means
1/ Moving spacers (if there are any) from above to below the stem
2/ Fitting a stem with more rise
3/ Fitting bars with a higher rise.

However unless your saddle is more than about 1" HIGHER than the bars it's likely it's you that needs to adjust to the riding position that is correct athn the bike having the wrong riding position as such.

A larger frame would lift the bars more (longer headtube and associated steerer on the forks) on most OE bikes, but at 5'9" you would expect to be on a 16 or 18" anyway (I'm just under 5'10" and ride a 16" Kraken - see link in sig).

sloppycowpat

I'm 5.9 and I ride 2 16" and an 18" for xc

you want to be able to move around on an mtb, a lot of people ride a frame that is on the smaller end of the manufacturer recommendations because they are 'easier' to chuck around.

frame that is to large feels like riding a gate

you don't want (too big)
straight arms on bars
less than 1-2 " stand over clearance
stretching forward to use your brakes etc

other (cheaper) things to try and alter your position on the bike,
try moving the saddle backwards
change the angle of the seat tilt (relative to the ground) my be maing you lean to far forward
thinner grips

but bars stem and spacers have a greater effect, the above are minor corrections

shigllgetcha

The spacers on the vulcan are already under the handlebars so you can only lower the handlebars

Im 5'7" and ride a 16 if it helps