New Cyclist after frame size advice

Dicko21

Hi all.

I’m looking at getting my first bike. I think I’m going to get something decent 2nd hand rather than buying something with a lesser spec brand new. Regarding frame size, how important is it to get it bang on? I’ve measured myself using an online guide and it seems like I need a 55cm frame. Would it matter if that was slightly out (say 53-57cm) or is this a no no? I plan to use it for hill training in Lancashire if that affects the decision.

Cheers for adding me !

cld531c

Dicko21 wrote:

Hi all.

I’m looking at getting my first bike. I think I’m going to get something decent 2nd hand rather than buying something with a lesser spec brand new. Regarding frame size, how important is it to get it bang on? I’ve measured myself using an online guide and it seems like I need a 55cm frame. Would it matter if that was slightly out (say 53-57cm) or is this a no no? I plan to use it for hill training in Lancashire if that affects the decision.

Cheers for adding me !

Too small is better than too big but each manufacturer seems to have a different interpretation of size. Old steel frames seem to pretty standard but with a modern bike the only way to see if it fits you really is to sit on it! Good luck with your search.

Dicko21

cld531c wrote:

Dicko21 wrote:

Hi all.

I’m looking at getting my first bike. I think I’m going to get something decent 2nd hand rather than buying something with a lesser spec brand new. Regarding frame size, how important is it to get it bang on? I’ve measured myself using an online guide and it seems like I need a 55cm frame. Would it matter if that was slightly out (say 53-57cm) or is this a no no? I plan to use it for hill training in Lancashire if that affects the decision.

Cheers for adding me !

Too small is better than too big but each manufacturer seems to have a different interpretation of size. Old steel frames seem to pretty standard but with a modern bike the only way to see if it fits you really is to sit on it! Good luck with your search.

Yeah I’ve noticed the size tends to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. I’m looking at a canyon, a ribble and a pinarello at the moment. All seem to vary on the brands official sizing guides

keef66

Be aware that different manufacturers measure their frames in different ways, that racier bikes have longer top tubes / shorter head tubes, sportive or endurance bikes are the opposite, and there's lots in between. I for example have a 51 and a 54, but the contact points are in the same place on both. The only sensible way to compare different bikes on paper is to look at reach and stack. Helps if you already know those for a bike you know fits you.

And if you have longer legs / shorter body than average for your height, or the opposite, online calculators or the manufacturers' size guides may not be correct for you.

Best thing is to sit on a few bikes, if possible with short test rides, to see what feels comfortable.

If you appear to be bang in between 2 sizes, always choose the smaller one. Far easier to make a smaller bike fit with a longer stem, longer layback seatpost etc. You'll rarely be comfortable on a bike that's a bit too big, and since you mention climbing that would be even more of a problem.

Dicko21

keef66 wrote:

Be aware that different manufacturers measure their frames in different ways, that racier bikes have longer top tubes / shorter head tubes, sportive or endurance bikes are the opposite, and there's lots in between. I for example have a 51 and a 54, but the contact points are in the same place on both. The only sensible way to compare different bikes on paper is to look at reach and stack. Helps if you already know those for a bike you know fits you.

And if you have longer legs / shorter body than average for your height, or the opposite, online calculators or the manufacturers' size guides may not be correct for you.

Best thing is to sit on a few bikes, if possible with short test rides, to see what feels comfortable.

If you appear to be bang in between 2 sizes, always choose the smaller one. Far easier to make a smaller bike fit with a longer stem, longer layback seatpost etc. You'll rarely be comfortable on a bike that's a bit too big, and since you mention climbing that would be even more of a problem.

Yeah I would say I have short legs and a long torso. I’m 183cm tall and my inside leg to the floor is 86cm. I suppose I’ll have to be cheeky and go in a bike shop for a test ride even though I’m looking at buying something 2nd hand. I’ll bear in mind that smaller is better than large like the replies are saying though

mrb123

If you manage to ride a few bikes, try to find out their stack and reach measurements. You can usually find these on the websites of the manufacturers or the size guides on the websites of online retailers.

The stack and reach figures will be better to use for comparison than the sizes of the bikes because the sizes vary so widely between manufacturers as has been said.

When I was looking to buy a frameset for a bike build I set out a table of the bikes that I'd had or ridden together with the framesets that I was considering. With all the stack and reach measurements set out it was easy to compare the different bikes and figure out what was likely to work for me.

Dicko21

MrB123 wrote:

If you manage to ride a few bikes, try to find out their stack and reach measurements. You can usually find these on the websites of the manufacturers or the size guides on the websites of online retailers.

The stack and reach figures will be better to use for comparison than the sizes of the bikes because the sizes vary so widely between manufacturers as has been said.

When I was looking to buy a frameset for a bike build I set out a table of the bikes that I'd had or ridden together with the framesets that I was considering. With all the stack and reach measurements set out it was easy to compare the different bikes and figure out what was likely to work for me.

Thanks this is really helpful. So if I make a note of the frame size and models I test I should be able to look up the stack/reach online and therefore buy something with the same stack/reach which should fit me?

mrb123

Dicko21 wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

If you manage to ride a few bikes, try to find out their stack and reach measurements. You can usually find these on the websites of the manufacturers or the size guides on the websites of online retailers.

The stack and reach figures will be better to use for comparison than the sizes of the bikes because the sizes vary so widely between manufacturers as has been said.

When I was looking to buy a frameset for a bike build I set out a table of the bikes that I'd had or ridden together with the framesets that I was considering. With all the stack and reach measurements set out it was easy to compare the different bikes and figure out what was likely to work for me.

Thanks this is really helpful. So if I make a note of the frame size and models I test I should be able to look up the stack/reach online and therefore buy something with the same stack/reach which should fit me?

Correct. The figures are pretty self explanatory. Higher stack means a higher front end. Higher reach means longer/more stretched out.

You can also work out the stack/reach ratio to give you an idea of how aggressive the geometry is. Just divide the stack figure by the reach figure. Endurance type bikes will typically come in around 1.55 and above. Anything under 1.45 will be pretty racey.

Dicko21

MrB123 wrote:

Dicko21 wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

If you manage to ride a few bikes, try to find out their stack and reach measurements. You can usually find these on the websites of the manufacturers or the size guides on the websites of online retailers.

The stack and reach figures will be better to use for comparison than the sizes of the bikes because the sizes vary so widely between manufacturers as has been said.

When I was looking to buy a frameset for a bike build I set out a table of the bikes that I'd had or ridden together with the framesets that I was considering. With all the stack and reach measurements set out it was easy to compare the different bikes and figure out what was likely to work for me.

Thanks this is really helpful. So if I make a note of the frame size and models I test I should be able to look up the stack/reach online and therefore buy something with the same stack/reach which should fit me?

Correct. The figures are pretty self explanatory. Higher stack means a higher front end. Higher reach means longer/more stretched out.

You can also work out the stack/reach ratio to give you an idea of how aggressive the geometry is. Just divide the stack figure by the reach figure. Endurance type bikes will typically come in around 1.55 and above. Anything under 1.45 will be pretty racey.

Nice one. This seems easy enough to find what I’m looking for. Really appreciate the help from yourself and everyone else.

cougie

It's not on to test ride bikes when you've no intention of buying from the shop.

They've a business to run. Don't take the pee.

Fwiw in terms of bang for the buck -

Ribble
Canyon
Pinarello

In that order.

mrb123

cougie wrote:

It's not on to test ride bikes when you've no intention of buying from the shop.

They've a business to run. Don't take the pee.

Fwiw in terms of bang for the buck -

Ribble
Canyon
Pinarello

In that order.

He may decide to buy one of the bikes he test rides. He may buy one from there in the future. If the shop are helpful he'll probably take his second hand bike there for servicing or buy something else from there.

cougie

Apart from him saying he's buying second hand....

A shop is the best way to get fitted but you pay for the privilege.

dmont

MrB123 wrote:

cougie wrote:

It's not on to test ride bikes when you've no intention of buying from the shop.

They've a business to run. Don't take the pee.

Fwiw in terms of bang for the buck -

Ribble
Canyon
Pinarello

In that order.

i

He may decide to buy one of the bikes he test rides. He may buy one from there in the future. If the shop are helpful he'll probably take his second hand bike there for servicing or buy something else from there.

Totally agree with this.
I was looking long and hard of my road bike. Gumtree & 4 lbs. I almost bought a boardman cx from gumtree at a very good price. Going by the spec sheet, it should've fitted me perfectly until I went into halfords and realised it was the complete wrong size for me. In fact, no size of that bike fitted me at all. Lesson learned at that stage.... I thought.
After visiting all my lsbs I ordered a Cube bike from Pauls, again thinking it will fit me (after much research and measuring) but,and this is a big problem....... My lsb, which I visited numerous times searching for my bike, had the same bike delivered I'm "my size". After they put it together, I tried it for size, again it was wrong for me. The order to Pauls was cancelled. ( very good service from Pauls Cycles by the way)
The annoying this is, one of the
sbs had a bike I tired a few weeks before (Cannondale Synapse Alloy, Tiagra - 2018) which felt great the second I sat on it but wrote it off due to it having cable discs.... This is the bike I ended up buying.

The jist is: try as many as you can. Either from a bike shop or friends. It's your money, not the sellers. You may even find a good LSB to use in the future for spares/repairs. You just need to find a bike that fits you.

bflk

MrB123 wrote:

Dicko21 wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

If you manage to ride a few bikes, try to find out their stack and reach measurements. You can usually find these on the websites of the manufacturers or the size guides on the websites of online retailers.

The stack and reach figures will be better to use for comparison than the sizes of the bikes because the sizes vary so widely between manufacturers as has been said.

When I was looking to buy a frameset for a bike build I set out a table of the bikes that I'd had or ridden together with the framesets that I was considering. With all the stack and reach measurements set out it was easy to compare the different bikes and figure out what was likely to work for me.

Thanks this is really helpful. So if I make a note of the frame size and models I test I should be able to look up the stack/reach online and therefore buy something with the same stack/reach which should fit me?

Correct. The figures are pretty self explanatory. Higher stack means a higher front end. Higher reach means longer/more stretched out.

You can also work out the stack/reach ratio to give you an idea of how aggressive the geometry is. Just divide the stack figure by the reach figure. Endurance type bikes will typically come in around 1.55 and above. Anything under 1.45 will be pretty racey.

Oh. About to pay for a 1.44 model... :shock: :?

Dicko21

dmont wrote:

MrB123 wrote:

cougie wrote:

It's not on to test ride bikes when you've no intention of buying from the shop.

They've a business to run. Don't take the pee.

Fwiw in terms of bang for the buck -

Ribble
Canyon
Pinarello

In that order.

i

He may decide to buy one of the bikes he test rides. He may buy one from there in the future. If the shop are helpful he'll probably take his second hand bike there for servicing or buy something else from there.

Totally agree with this.
I was looking long and hard of my road bike. Gumtree & 4 lbs. I almost bought a boardman cx from gumtree at a very good price. Going by the spec sheet, it should've fitted me perfectly until I went into halfords and realised it was the complete wrong size for me. In fact, no size of that bike fitted me at all. Lesson learned at that stage.... I thought.
After visiting all my lsbs I ordered a Cube bike from Pauls, again thinking it will fit me (after much research and measuring) but,and this is a big problem....... My lsb, which I visited numerous times searching for my bike, had the same bike delivered I'm "my size". After they put it together, I tried it for size, again it was wrong for me. The order to Pauls was cancelled. ( very good service from Pauls Cycles by the way)
The annoying this is, one of the
sbs had a bike I tired a few weeks before (Cannondale Synapse Alloy, Tiagra - 2018) which felt great the second I sat on it but wrote it off due to it having cable discs.... This is the bike I ended up buying.

The jist is: try as many as you can. Either from a bike shop or friends. It's your money, not the sellers. You may even find a good LSB to use in the future for spares/repairs. You just need to find a bike that fits you.

MrB123 and yourself are right. Any shop that treats me right will benefit from my custom for years to come. I’ve been taking my guitars to the same bloke for years and my golf clubs always go to the pro at my old course even though I play else where these days