It's all about the size apparently

Dudders29

I'm wondering the good folks of this forum think I should do when choosing a frame size for a road bike ?
I'm 5'7" but have a 29" imseam. There's so many guides out there but none seem to cater for us stumpy buggers. I've sat on a Specialized Allez Elite size medium and there's is no top cover at all, infavt my nuts are pretty tight onto the top tube. Even a small gives me no top cover. For me to get the recommended 2cm of top cover I'd have to get a kiddos bike !
Does it really matter about top cover ? What size ya reckon I should go for ? I currently have a Moser 111 sized at 50cm, and feel if I went any smaller I'd be cramped on the bike

Grill

Top cover? Do you mean standover? If you do it's pretty much irrelevant to a proper bike fit, although medium in the Spec range is too big for you (it's what I ride and I'm 5'11"). My advice would be to go to a shop that has a fitting service.

Dudders29

Apologies, I meant stand over.

Wily-Quixote

I have a similar problem, although my legs are slightly longer.

Testicle clearance is not a huge issue on a road bike although I would recommend some clearance when stopped and unclipped. The biggest problem you'll face is getting a saddle position that is right for the bike. The short er your legs are in relation to your torso and arm length the more your saddle will have to come forward and downward on a frame that fits your torso.

Your choices may be a small bike with long stem and saddle far back on the post or a larger bike with saddle forward and not much seatpost showing. I went the second option (54 cm cannondale and I'm 5'8" with 32 cm inseam)as a larger frame also assists my poor flexibility. I don't have the 'recommended' 2 cm gap beteen goolies and frame but in 20 years of riding I thing I've banged my balls on my frame perhaps once.

rolf_f

Wily-Quixote wrote:

Your choices may be a small bike with long stem and saddle far back on the post or a larger bike with saddle forward and not much seatpost showing

Frame size should be chosen for your torso length (since you can make sgnificant changes to saddle height but not top tube length). Mucking around with the saddle position to accomodate your torso is never a good idea. You need to get the top tube length as near as possible correct and tweak reach by stem length. Fore and aft position for the saddle should be down to limb lengths. If standover is a problem, find a bike with a more compact frame.