Sizing querry

JimD666

If you're bang on the cusp between two sizes which one is the generally advised to go for?

eg Canyon Endurance. I'm 177cm and the Small tops out at that, while the Medium starts at that.

Canyons own sizing advise (including inside leg) points me towards the Small.

pblakeney

Smaller will be marginally lighter.
Either will fit with the correct component choices, stem length for example.

seanoconn

JimD666 said:

If you're bang on the cusp between two sizes which one is the generally advised to go for?

eg Canyon Endurance. I'm 177cm and the Small tops out at that, while the Medium starts at that.

Canyons own sizing advise (including inside leg) points me towards the Small.

I’m at the very top end of a medium (6ft 89cm inside leg) Canyon Endurance and prefer the feel and adjustability of a smaller frame if there’s a choice. If you’re relatively slim and flexible, saddle height to bars shouldn’t be an issue. The only slight problem is I run my cleats quite far back and get a little toe overlap in slow tight turns because of the shorter wheel base.

First.Aspect

Normal advice is size down, but there's no right or wrong answer. I've done that on rental bikes and felt like I'm riding a circus clown bike.

Hazard of mail ordering is that you are going to have to take an educated guess. Its going to depend how much drop you want from the seat to the bars, and how much reach or ett difference there is between the two sizes, among other things. You shouldn't assume they all scale together with one another.

How do you measure up on the hypothetical ideal frame size for your height on other bikes? How does your current bikes measurement match the two sizes and which is closer?

rick_chasey

Extending the stem etc is easier than the other way around.

Most pros are on tiny tiny frames, so it is doable.

First.Aspect

rick_chasey said:

Extending the stem etc is easier than the other way around.

Most pros are on tiny tiny frames, so it is doable.

Absolutely, and judicious selection of the bars can also help, but both within reason. If you are looking at anything over 120mm to get the bars where you want them, perhaps the next size frame would have been better.

drhaggis

Do you have a road bike to compare? Do you know your inseam or saddle height? That'd make things much easier.

Manufacturers' size guides aren't all that great. I'm 176 cm, inseam of 82 cm, and my Giant Defy M feels a touch on the smaller side. At those numbers, Canyon does recommend an S. However, the stack of the Endurace is 1 cm less than the giant, and the effective reach will be another cm shorter, because the stem is 90 mm (vs 100 on the Giant). So the position will not be identical.

It seem a medium Endurace and a 90 mm stem would more closely resemble a medium Defy. But what do I know...

TL;DR: If you already have a bike, it's much easier for random strangers on the interenet to advise you.

JimD666

Thanks all. It wasn't the best worded question to be honest. Was more aiming at a general Larger/Smaller question than specific advise.

The Canyon was used as an example as they've seem to of reduced UK prices, so was having a quick gander at them.

Seems smaller is easier to adjust up than larger is to go down. Which was kind of what I was wanting to know.

My Merlin is a Large, my Synapse is a Medium. One of these days I'll have to do a bike fit on them both because neither feel quite right. Though the Synapse is closest.

drhaggis

JimD666 said:

My Merlin is a Large, my Synapse is a Medium. One of these days I'll have to do a bike fit on them both because neither feel quite right. Though the Synapse is closest.

What do you mean "Synapse is medium"? A 54? As far as I know, Cannondale use numbers for their sizing. For example, check the current synapse

Even more so than for clothing, each brand will label small/medium/54/56 their own way. However, the frame dimensions won't change. You care about the seatpost angle, stack and reach, determining where you seat, and how high and far, respectively, the handlebar will be.

The synapse 54 has a 73 deg seat tube angle, and 57.0/38.1 cm of stack/reach. The Canyon Endurace has, for sizes S/M respectively, a 73.5 degree seat tube (both), and 55.7/37.6 or 57.8/38.2 cm of stack/reach respectively. The exact handlebar location needs knowing the spacers and stem dimensions, but I don't have that info.

While neither is a perfect match, M is closer. Whether you'd choose one over the other would depend on how you feel about the synapse. Or what the bike fit said. What the numbers allow you is to make sure the frame will be in the ballpark, irrespective of manufacturers' labelling.

drhaggis

Why TF did this appear today, rather than like a week ago?