Big bikes look worse

mfin

You can get pretty much any bike, high end or low end, and in larger sizes they always look out of proportion.

That's why all the marketing shots are of the size where everything looks best, for instance, if say, Colnago did a brochure full of all the largest sizes, everybody would think they looked crap.

This is a fact.

Shame really, cos lanky people can spend as much as they like on a bike that will always look worse than one in a medium/ just under medium size, sort of like this... (but not like this at all)



At least lanky people can have the same choice of good looking cars as everyone else eh.

Can close the thread now

saprkzz

This is why I have ended up with bike too small for me, at 6"1 ok not massive, but in mtb's I always had to buy 17 or 18", just didn't want a 19" or 20" cos they looked crap. Now older and wiser I don't care so much

My dream bike in the pic below, always looked better in the small than large

AchillesLeftKnee

OP... that's not a bike for big people, that's one of the bikes for next year's Giro. It's being used so they won't have to cancel bits of stage due to deep snow.

saprkzz wrote:

My dream bike in the pic below, always looked better in the small than large

Is that because it says "small" on it? Would you consider riding a Giant?

rolf_f

Everything in moderation. Small bikes have too short head tubes, large bikes too tall head tubes. Middle looks right. In classic steel, I found that 23.5 inch was a better fit than 24.5/25 inch. This was a relief both in terms of comfort and that my old bikes are in the best looking size (though 22.5 is pretty good too!).

morstar

I concur although I think really small likes look cr*p too. Everything just too squidged up and proportions all wrong.

Maybe there's a market for completely proportioned sized bikes. Just think, it's a marketeers dream with different sized components and wheels all needing to be stocked by the bike shop.

AchillesLeftKnee

morstar wrote:

Maybe there's a market for completely proportioned sized bikes. Just think, it's a marketeers dream with different sized components and wheels all needing to be stocked by the bike shop.

See mountain biking for details.

mfin

Here's an example, an R3

54 (or 56) looks about right (even despite it having some shimano on it)


58 looks rubbish


61 oh dear (dont think they bothered to put wheels in this one as it would look even more out of proportion)


The other thing is these bikes can't be alike to ride, (although no one person would ever know) as the tubes get longer and the joins stay the same surely. Maybe reviews on large bikes should surely be done separately, perhaps attention would be paid to a good blog reviewing larger frames, I dunno?

...down the other end of the scale 51cm, looks wrong too


Only saying that bikes only look good enough in certain sizes for marketing shots

declan1

This looks amazing in a small size:



Giant TCRs don't look too bad in the larger sizes. I think it's due to the fancy headtube design instead of Cervelos' standard tube.

declan1

This looks amazing in a small size:



Giant TCRs don't look too bad in the larger sizes. I think it's due to the fancy headtube design instead of Cervelos' standard tube.

MattC59

mfin wrote:

You can get pretty much any bike, high end or low end, and in larger sizes they always look out of proportion.

That's why all the marketing shots are of the size where everything looks best, for instance, if say, Colnago did a brochure full of all the largest sizes, everybody would think they looked crap.

This is a fact.

Shame really, cos lanky people can spend as much as they like on a bike that will always look worse than one in a medium/ just under medium size, sort of like this... (but not like this at all)



At least lanky people can have the same choice of good looking cars as everyone else eh.

Can close the thread now

Utter bollox. I'm 6'2", put me on a 54 frame and that looks out of proportion.
You do talk some sh1t sometimes.

Tom Butcher

Big bikes best - that Venge looks like it's got a set of giant wheels - black with a bit of green is horrid too - something about 58-60cm with a flashy (loud) paint job wins every time.

declan1

Tom Butcher wrote:

Big bikes best - that Venge looks like it's got a set of giant wheels - black with a bit of green is horrid too - something about 58-60cm with a flashy (loud) paint job wins every time.

It's the bike Specialized gave to Cav for 100 career wins. I think it's beautiful (if you can find some close-up pictures it has a metallic paint)!

mfin

MattC59 wrote:

Utter bollox. I'm 6'2", put me on a 54 frame and that looks out of proportion.
You do talk some sh1t sometimes.

Wasn't talking about people riding undersized bikes, just what the bikes look like on their own in marketing shots.

(Thanks though, cos I pride myself on talking sh1t, I think I'm rather good at it! )

Tom Butcher

declan1 wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Big bikes best - that Venge looks like it's got a set of giant wheels - black with a bit of green is horrid too - something about 58-60cm with a flashy (loud) paint job wins every time.

It's the bike Specialized gave to Cav for 100 career wins. I think it's beautiful (if you can find some close-up pictures it has a metallic paint)!

I know it is - horrible - its the cycling equivalent of a footballer's Bentley.

rolf_f

declan1 wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Big bikes best - that Venge looks like it's got a set of giant wheels - black with a bit of green is horrid too - something about 58-60cm with a flashy (loud) paint job wins every time.

It's the bike Specialized gave to Cav for 100 career wins. I think it's beautiful (if you can find some close-up pictures it has a metallic paint)!

Funnily enough, I looked at that pic and thought "that looks like it fits Cav"!!