Road Bike under £1000 for tall guy - Which one to choose?

fred.camargo

Good morning all,

I am looking into a new road bike using Cycle to Work Scheme in the UK as my current BTWIN Triban 500SE is not worth upgrading, and I want to climb up the ladder of quality + weight.
My use would be mostly to commute, weekend rides (includes events) and eventually - if I manage to create the habit to train - triathlons, but I'm not choosing the bike much because of the latter one.

The options I came across are very similar, but my height (6'4"/ 197cm) "helps" to scratch a few bikes off the list, leaving me with just a small bunch of bikes that have 61+ frame size.
Unfortunately the obvious choices, Canyon or Rose don't accept the C2W and that's why I'm cracking my head around these ones below that I believe to be the best options in the market

Trek Emonda ALR 4 - Tiagra
Giant Contend SL 1 - 105
Giant Contend SL 2 Disc (not sure about that one) - Tiagra
Specialized Allez Elite - 105

I read reviews, videos and everything related to them but can't seem to make up my mind - I'm even comparing if it has internal cable x external cable to help me make the choice.
In terms of groupset I know Tiagra and 105 now are very similar, and coming from Claris any of those would be a nice upgrade. Neither of them have full Shimano groupset (different chainset) and V brakes.

What do you guys think? I'm due to ride the bikes during the next few weekends from a LBS to test, but would be great to get a view of some more experienced riders.

Thank you in advance!

lostboysaint

6'4" isn't 197cm. I know because I'm the same height (the 6'4" bit), it's 193cm. It's also a bit irrelevant as to how tall you are overall it's about where your height is - whether it's in your legs or your torso etc. The really positive thing is that you have the right idea which is to go to your LBS and try a few out. Don't get hung up on specs and stuff at this stage - get on the bikes and try them, you'll quickly find that some "fit" and some don't.

I can offer you an example in that I ride a Cube Agree as my main road bike. Cube reckon I should ride a 62cm but it doesn't work for me as it's too long. My height is in my legs (36in inside leg) so I ride a 60cm with a lot of seat post and a shorter stem to make the reach work.

Your motivation should be all about which one works best for you, not about the spec and the name on the downtube.

timothyw

Agreed. I'm 6ft4 and most frames over 60cm (and plenty below) are too big for me - I'm short legged and need a low front end to get a decent position.

Last bike I bought on cyclescheme was a Giant TCR Advanced with Tiagra, and that was in a size L rather than XL. It might be a bit aggressive for you but if you are even halfway serious about Triathlon then you'll want something fairly aggressive to help fitting it with tri-bars.

It's much easier to size up a small frame with a longer stem, seatpost etc than it is to size down a too large frame - I'd always recommend going for the smaller option until you have your fit absolutely dialled in.

Seat tube measurements are a very old fashioned way of measuring frame size and pretty meaningless with modern geometries - best is to compare stack and reach measurements.

fred.camargo

Ah sorry, I must have assumed 197cm was 6'4 (think it's 6'46" or 6'5"). I measured my inseam yesterday and it's 92,5cm which should be a 64 frame size according to tables taken from the web.
Already asked LBS for a 61 (biggest) Specialized Allez Elite frame and going to check out the Contend SL 60 frame available.

Am also looking at the Focus Izalco Race AL which has a 60 frame and is a bit more aggressive (thinking on the competitions)
I agree that the solution will have to be to size up a 60 frame. Let's see how it goes.

shortfall

FWIW I'm 6'5"" and long in the torso. I definitely need frames that are on the larger size and anything under 61cm creases me. As has already been said, there are so many geometries and stack heights etc etc out there that if you're in any doubt it might be worth paying for a bike fit. That way you can compare the data from your fit with manufacturers published measurements. Definitely pays to ride before you buy as well.