Is this bike too big for me?

grovelleur

Hello from a new member here. Long story short, I've been a very occasional cyclist over the last 20 years. I have an old hybrid that I bought following some guidelines I read about standover clearance. Unfortunately, I'm a comical shortarse (5'6") with even more comical stumpy little legs so I ended up with a very small frame size that's never felt right. Given my ..err.. portly build, the overall look is like an aged gorilla who has just stolen a child's bike.

I told my cycling-mad brother I was saving for something a bit better and he's given me one of his to try, a Ribble CGR. He doesn't really use it any more and will happily part with it for a very low price.

Thing is, he's a couple of inches taller than me. I've therefore had to lower the saddle and now there's not much seatpost showing (about 7cm). This is on a bike with a sloping top tube so if it was a straight crossbar the saddle would be almost fully down!

I'm guessing this means that the bike is too big for me? I seem to be able to ride it OK although it's early days and I've only been out for a couple of slow rides (10 and 20 miles respectively). The whole drop bar thing takes a bit of getting used to but I'm not sure if the odd twinge in the shoulders and elbows is just me being generally knackered or something to do with overreaching?

Any thoughts or advice would be welcome. I really would love to get the bike but I'm guessing that even a super cheap bike is useless if it doesn't fit properly.

Just to show you how odd the thing looks compared to the typical "yard and a half of seatpost on display" setup that everybody seems to use these days:

cougie

Impossible to tell.

Ask your brother to take a look at you ? You don't want your legs to be stretching to get the pedals wrong and you didn't want to be over stretched to the bars, but without seeing you in the bike - we can't tell.

Matthewfalle

'bars are in the wrong position as well so along with the seat post issue its all looking like its too big for you.

loads of deals out there at the mo' so just buy something that fits.

grovelleur

Thanks for the comments. I realise the bars look a bit too "upturned". Will have to alter that before my next ride.

It looks like the bike is too big for me. Another option might be to get a smaller frame and get someone to swap the components over to that. Not sure what that would cost but even at £300 for the frame and (guessing here) £200 for the labour, it would still be a lot cheaper than a new one.

Couldn't get a proper shot of me on the thing in the riding position. Took a quick snap reflected in a mirror (low quality) hopefully it shows that the legs aren't too far off in terms of pedal (slightly bent at the bottom of the stroke). Will try and get a better picture over the weekend.

Pituophis

I am also a shorta*se of 5' 6" and also have the good fortune to have shortish legs. Great isn't it. :roll:

By coincidence I also have two Ribbles, both frame size 49 (childrens bikes to many on here! ) My seat is a little higher (maybe an inch) than the one on the bike in the photo, so I guess yours may be the next size up?
I started out on a 52 (not a Ribble) but found I had to use a short stem and never really felt 100% comfortable. More fexible riders may have been fine, and you may be too? Only time will tell.
I'm pretty sure I don't look cool though, not least because I am in my 50's and not very quick. I'd have to ride a bmx to get any more seat post showing.

kajjal

What you can try is moving the spacers above the stem to drop the front a bit to see if that gives you a better riding position. It does look like the bike is on the large side for you but you could be OK as the main thing is to get the saddle and bars in the right position for you. You don't have to ride in the drops and many people just use the bar and the hoods when riding a road bike.

Your brother should be able to help you with this and other changes to help set up the bike to fit you. If you can't get the saddle and bars where you want them then unfortunately you need a different size bike.

To give you a comparison my road bike has a lot of seat post on display as I was between two sizes and preferred the smaller. For my mountain bikes there is a lot less seat post on display but they fit me well.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

To me, it looks like you could raise the saddle a fraction, with a pedal at 6 o' clock and your heel on the pedal the leg should be locked straight without you having to tilt your hips towards that side.

For a ballpark saddle height, get your "cycling inseam" (not your inside leg requirements for clothing) using the thick book wedge method against a wall while standing barefoot. Deduct 10cm from your measurement. Use that figure to set the bottom bracket centre to the top of your saddle, staying in line with the downtube.

It's not a convention system, but works for many. ~83cm cycling inseam here and I've used ~73cm BB-saddle top for years (before I came across this system/observation). I only have ~15.5cm of saddle showing on my 58cm Cube, from above the seat tube clamp to the saddle clamp, which is quite low but I have short legs for someone ~178cm tall (so I need longer frames).

Convention would say you still need to rotate the bars a bit more, so the brake levers are ~90 degrees to level ground... But not all "rules" have to be followed.

StillGoing

Too big. With a compact frame, you should have more seat post showing. I'm a short arse too and ride a 47cm Reacto and Ride from Merida giving me a relative top tube of 51.8cm. Sizing wise, they're at the very extreme of the smallest frame size for me, but its better to make them fit well than move up to the next biggest frame size and have to compromise on things and ruin the aesthetics of the bike. The smaller frame means I can have the seat higher, coupled with the right length cranks giving me more clearance going over the top in the pedal stroke, enabling me to get on the power with less restriction.

chunkytfg

Saddle looks low to me plus the bars need some attention. Rotate them round so the hoods(the bit on the shifter where your hand rests) is horizontal.

Then see how you feel.

As long as the reach isn't too long then you can fit fine on it imo. in the grand scheme of things it could be that a smaller bike would make it look better but that doesn't necessarily mean your fit will be any different.

Philthy3 makes a good point though regarding crank arm length. I would guess it has 170mm cranks on it being a smaller frame size but you could benefit from going down to 167.5 or 165mm cranks which would in theory give you a few extra mm seat height too.

Need a better picture though. preferable in focus with your feet on the pedals properly with crank arm at it's lowest point and you on the bars as you would be when you ride normally.

Matthewfalle

We MFs have said that they would sack that off completely and either get a bike that fits in the sales or a groupset and frameset, put that bike next to the bare bones of the new bike and just build up the new one yourself.

Its not that difficult (its only a bicycle) and using that one you know what is meant to go where.

Any problems post on here.

Should take you 3 hours and spend the balance of money you have saved on drugs and hos.

They are pretty good at this sort of things so I'd personally go with them. MF1 says that the anticipation, trepidation and final completion of the new bike is quite fulfilling. MF2 said to ignore anyone who says that it is difficult, especially people in bicycle shops.

Matthewfalle

Grovelleur wrote:

Thanks for the comments. I realise the bars look a bit too "upturned". Will have to alter that before my next ride.

It looks like the bike is too big for me. Another option might be to get a smaller frame and get someone to swap the components over to that. Not sure what that would cost but even at £300 for the frame and (guessing here) £200 for the labour, it would still be a lot cheaper than a new one.

Couldn't get a proper shot of me on the thing in the riding position. Took a quick snap reflected in a mirror (low quality) hopefully it shows that the legs aren't too far off in terms of pedal (slightly bent at the bottom of the stroke). Will try and get a better picture over the weekend.

As an aside, do you know someone has stolen your head?

grovelleur

OK. Have attempted to get a better shot. I feel utterly embarrassed about this - I'm a fat, old git and, naturally enough, I wouldn't normally want to post any image of my grotesque body anywhere.
A few points:

1) My brother isn't local and we only see each other every few years. The bike was handed over at a motorway services so I had no time to set it up and ask him what he thought. It's a Ribble CGR Medium 52cm (seat-tube) with a 55cm effective top tube length.

2) I've dropped the bars down by one spacer, just to see if it helps/hinders. I've also straightened them as per @chunkytfd's guidance. (EDIT: Looking at the photo, they still look a bit "pointy-uppy" but they're a lot better than they were.)

3) I'm really greatful for everyone's advice and, yes, I do know that my head has been stolen. It's still missing so if anyone has a spare, along with a 49cm Ribble CGR frame, I'd be very grateful for those.

Fat gorilla on a push bike:

BikerGroveish

Take it to a lbs with an iron horse. See if they can get it to fit. It’s harder to make a modern bike that is too large fit you than one that is marginally too small. I used to ride bikes with big frames and less seatpost and the way you generally chose your size was to buy the biggest frame that wouldn’t leave you suspended in mid air when you stopped.then work from there. Stems and bars in particular are more modular now and there are more options for fitting.

jgsi

My opinion... it's probably not a million miles off.
Just ride it (probably best to have some bibs under the baggies if you want to ride so).
Road riding is never ever going to be 'comfortable' but it should never ever cause you pain.
If your helmet has a peak, take it off.

cougie

That doesn't look too bad at all really. Maybe try a smaller stem if you can't get on with the original but I reckon that will do you.

StillGoing

Grovelleur wrote:

Fat gorilla on a push bike:

Looks to me like you've a long torso and arms, but short legs. That kind of muddies the waters a bit. Whilst the reach looks ok, the saddle height clearly isn't. Dropping the saddle will mess the set up up with the bars probably ending up higher than the saddle. If it were me, I'd forget it and look for a more compact frame to give you the saddle height and reach you need. That could simply be a smaller frame with a longer stem and more set back.

StorckSpeed

It doesn't look too far off. I'd now go for a long ride something nearing the 2hrs mark. If you have no aches and pains (apart from your tired legs), then it's a good fit. If your back and wrists get sore then you're probably overstretching and you need a more upright position, you can either get a shorter stem (although the one fitted looks pretty short), or a smaller frame.

grovelleur

StorckSpeed wrote:

It doesn't look too far off. I'd now go for a long ride something nearing the 2hrs mark. If you have no aches and pains (apart from your tired legs), then it's a good fit. If your back and wrists get sore then you're probably overstretching and you need a more upright position, you can either get a shorter stem (although the one fitted looks pretty short), or a smaller frame.

Cheers @StorckSpeed

...as luck would have it, I've just returned from a 34 mile ride - possibly the longest distance, and time, I've done on any bike ever. It took over two hours. Out of embarrassment I'm not saying how much longer (and it's pretty flat round these parts).
Anyway, with the latest setup suggestions above (dropped the bars by one of the three spacers, levelled them out a bit more) it felt much more comfortable. I can't believe how much better it felt to be honest. Absolutely no elbow or wrist pains and I really enjoyed the fact that there are so many different ways to hold the bars. I even did a few miles down on the drops (heading into the wind) and that felt good too. The only thing is that it felt like I was really bending my neck back to see down the road ahead but no aches or strains so I'm guessing it's another "get used to it" thing.

Here's the latest iteration of the setup. I've drawn a line to show that the seat and bars are approximately level now. This still seems like a mile off the massive difference between saddle and bars that proper cyclists use. I've got a potential 2cm more (i.e. 2 spacers) that I can lower the bars but I'm tempted to keep it as is for now as it felt so comfortable today. Thanks again for everyone's comments, it's much appreciated.

cougie

Don't worry about your speed. You're just beginning and sounds like a decent ride. Consistency is the key. All year round.

Don't worry about the drop you see on other people's bikes. They've probably adapted over years. Just do what's right for you.

Bike looks really nice.

BikerGroveish

Curved top tubes are great.

Moonbiker

Looks fine too me & you not any fatter than the average mammil.

bikes`n`guns

Looks like you could rotate those hoods down a wee bit further.

You now have the saddle above your stem so have in effect, a "drop" They don`t look level to me.

TBH in my numbskulls opinion, it looks pretty good. If it`s comfy, ride it , if you get into it, get it fitted properly, or as near as can be done on that frame.