MTBer to Roadie - Any Pointers to Frame Sizing

Wormishere1

Hi,

I am longstanding mtb'er but I'm buying my first ever road bike as I've moved to Cheshire from the Yorkshire Dales...

I am 6ft 2" with a 34" inside leg and currently have a size Large Canyon 29er which fits me comfortably (though with a fair bit of post exposed).

How should a road bike fit compared to this - from what I have been looking at I think I am going to be needing a XL frame (60cm) in most bikes. On mtb's I have tended to get a slightly smaller frame to give me room to manoeuvre, but I guess this is not as important on a road bike?

Can anyone give me any pointers as to how the bike should fit too - having never even sat on a road bike I am not sure of how stretched I should be? I just intend to do 1-4 hour efforts really - nothing too racy either - more just to keep my fitness up.

Thanks again for any advice you can give me.

alan_sherman

The trouble with sizes is that manufacturers aren't consistent. You really need to go to a shop. I reckon you'd be after a 58 nominal size, but brands vary so definitely worth trying.

mfin

For rough guesses if that's all you want it's much better to mention specific bikes you are after if you can.

As above, what is 60cm in one make and model can be quite significantly different to 60cm in another.

If you know which one(s) you are interested in, there are so many people on here who will be able to give you some initial pointers.

Wormishere1

Hi,

I am looking at the BTwin Ultra's - not sure which model exactly though. I am not sure how clued up the Decathlon staff are though so thought I would get some advice here...the XL frames are few are far between so they may try and get me onto a large so that is why I was wondering about fitting etc.

Here are the dimensions of the Ultra frames.



Thanks.

arlowood

Wormishere1 wrote:

Hi,

I am looking at the BTwin Ultra's - not sure which model exactly though. I am not sure how clued up the Decathlon staff are though so thought I would get some advice here...the XL frames are few are far between so they may try and get me onto a large so that is why I was wondering about fitting etc.

Here are the dimensions of the Ultra frames.



Thanks.

Based on the dimensions of the Ultra I would suggest the XL frame is the one for you. I'm 5'11" with a 32" inseam and I have always ridden frames with a TT as close to 56cm as possible. With your height and inseam I would reckon the 58cm TT would be right for you.

However there is no substitute for getting your leg over the 2 sizes of frame to see what you feel most comfortable with. Ask Decathlon to source both sizes so that you can test them for size.

andcp

alan sherman wrote:

The trouble with sizes is that manufacturers aren't consistent. You really need to go to a shop. I reckon you'd be after a 58 nominal size, but brands vary so definitely worth trying.

+1 for what alan and mfin say - size varies and set up is everything. For what it's worth I'm also 6'2" with a 34" inseam and the current fleet includes:
a 58cm Cervelo
a 60cm Trek
a 58cm Racelight
a 58cm CAADX
an XL Cube 29er

the CAADX feels huge compared with the others, the Trek has the shortest stem as the tt length is relatively long, the Cervelo is perfect and the Racelight is set up with 'relaxed' commuting geometry - but they all fit me, albeit with different riding positions. As before, go to several shops and pick their brains for a bit.

Wormishere1

Hi,

Thanks for that. I ended up going for the XL - the large just felt way too cramped and upright. The XL admittedly feels a little too stretched out but that is mostly due to the the 130mm stem I think. I will swap it for a 110mm and that should sort it all out.

Thanks again for your advice.