Help with reach ....
bristolpete
Posts: 2,255
Wonder if anyone can advise on this.
I am moving to endurance geo as my days on race / uber stiff bikes are over.
I have narrowed down the bike and want a Giant Defy and await UK stock.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/defy- ... pro-2-2020
However, I am back to being confused on the size required.
My current bike a TCR has a reach figure of 38.3 which is great and a stack figure of 54.5 as a medium.
The Defy Medium Large has a reach figure lesser than the medium TCR which confuses me at 38.1. Not much, but shorter which I assume is relative to the higher stack / taller head tube / slack head tube figure.
Basically, the Medium large feels like my fit - a good fit yet I look at the giant consumer site and apparently I am smack in the middle of a medium which felt too small for me. I am 5' 9. I felt super crammed on the medium and felt that the medium large with the stem slammed better for me.
Anyone sized up on endurance geo ?
Is reach the be all and end all or is feel more important than paper fit. The suggested M/L opening fit is 5'11 - nothing like that but I do have large UK shorter inseam to body scenario
I am moving to endurance geo as my days on race / uber stiff bikes are over.
I have narrowed down the bike and want a Giant Defy and await UK stock.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/defy- ... pro-2-2020
However, I am back to being confused on the size required.
My current bike a TCR has a reach figure of 38.3 which is great and a stack figure of 54.5 as a medium.
The Defy Medium Large has a reach figure lesser than the medium TCR which confuses me at 38.1. Not much, but shorter which I assume is relative to the higher stack / taller head tube / slack head tube figure.
Basically, the Medium large feels like my fit - a good fit yet I look at the giant consumer site and apparently I am smack in the middle of a medium which felt too small for me. I am 5' 9. I felt super crammed on the medium and felt that the medium large with the stem slammed better for me.
Anyone sized up on endurance geo ?
Is reach the be all and end all or is feel more important than paper fit. The suggested M/L opening fit is 5'11 - nothing like that but I do have large UK shorter inseam to body scenario
0
Posts
Yes, felt good if a little too tall.
Go with what feels comfortable reach wise, as you say, you can always move the stem down on the steerer tube to get the bars lower. 2019 Models on, the Head Tube is 5mm shorter than previous iterations.
Well, looking at the Geo table the difference between the M and ML (and your current TCR) is mostly in the height.
The reach is within a cm or so on each of them, and they all come with a 10cm stem which I'm assuming hasn't been changed.
The M defy is 2cm higher at the front than your TCR. The ML is 4 cm higher.
Any other differences you felt were either a consequence of the seat not being set up in the same position (relative to the bottom bracket) on both bikes (which wouldn't necessarily be obvious), or of course differences in stem/spacer setup (which would be more obvious).
Given you tried the ML and it felt too tall, unless there is plenty scope to drop the stem I would be picking the M all day long - it's what the size guide recommends, it's the size you've been riding, and more importantly it's a lot easier to raise the front of a small bike that to drop the front of a big bike.
Speaking of which, have you looked at a stem with a bigger angle to bring up the front of your TCR? If you use this calculator (and your existing stack and reach numbers) you can calculate exactly what stem is required to match the setup between the bikes: http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/stem.php
I suppose my concern is the holy grail of reach and the M/L well within my known fit parameters.