Road bike sizing

jonny_trousers

Forgive me, as this topic must have been done to death, but I couldn't find much that was conclusive when searching the forum. Also please forgive the very general nature of this question, as I know, it varies massively from brand to brand.

I'm actually not such a newbie to road bikes, having had my Genesis Equilibrium for a couple of years, but I'm in the process of looking for something lighter and stiffer second-hand for faster training rides. I was chatting to a chap in the know via email recently and I told him my height was just over 5'10 and he told me I ought to be looking at bikes with top tubes of 53/54cm. This really surprised me as I really thought I should be at the 55/56 mark. I know the pros use shorter frames and longer stems, but that's not a great idea for us amateurs, right?

Have most of the online guides got it wrong? Are people routinely buying bikes with frames that are too long for them?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

ugo.santalucia

Smaller better than bigger... are you sure you are 5 foot 10? I remember finding your bike too low and I am 5 foot 9 on a good day

KevChallis

I am just choosing my first road bike, and am not getting hung up on sizes, just trying it and seeing if I like it, so far I have tested the defy and the allez and both have been 54, I'm 5 9

jonny_trousers

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Smaller better than bigger... are you sure you are 5 foot 10? I remember finding your bike too low and I am 5 foot 9 on a good day

Ha! yeah, I'm 5'10 and a half, unless I've been shrinking without realising.

Pooter

Your original thinking is correct . At 5-10 , a 53/54 top-tube would feel much too short for the vast majority of people. There's no point in buying a frame based on what pros use, but my take on this is they use the standard /normal size frame for their height, but with a longer stem because of flexibility, not a smaller frame.