Airborne Zeppelin - Should we part company?

etep
etep Posts: 63
edited July 2008 in Road beginners
I bought an Airborne Zeppelin last year but I`m still struggling to find a comfortable position - a couple of LBS`s have tweaked things but I`m not sure if they were too polite to tell me "Your bike is the wrong size friend...."

The bike`s measurements are:

Seat tube is 60 c-t
Top tube is 59 c-c
Stem is 100mm and flipped.


With my elbow against the nose of the saddle there is a gap of 7 cm between the bars and my longest finger.

I`m 5 foot 11" tall and inside leg is 34.5 inches.

Gripping the hoods means my arms are pretty much locked straight, but when I`m on the drops the bars cover the front wheel spindle. I find that I want to constantly push back when riding to get my sit bones to the back of the saddle.

So, does the bike sound too big for me or is it worth having a professional fit please?

Comments

  • Slow Downcp
    Slow Downcp Posts: 3,041
    It sounds a bit big to be honest - I'm a little taller, and ride a 56-57 top tube. You could check fore/aft saddle position (may be room to bring forward a little) and fit a shorter stem, but it may be a compromise.
    Carlsberg don't make cycle clothing, but if they did it would probably still not be as good as Assos
  • System_1
    System_1 Posts: 513
    Sounds a bit too big. I'm 6ft 2 and ride a top tube of 58.5cm with a 110mm stem and that's about perfect for me. There's no way I'd go longer than that.

    At 5ft 11 I'd reckon something closer to a 57 top tube would be about your size. You could fit a shorter stem, but you're going to need something in the region of 80-90mm and that's likely to affect the handling a little. Then again, it's a fairly cheap way to make a change so it might be worth trying and see how you get on, but like Slow Down says it will be a compromise.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    It's ALWAYS worth having a professional fitting to know your sizing for any frame.

    60cm seat tube? Good grief! You might get away with having it set up better but it does sound like it's too large for you.
  • Harveytile
    Harveytile Posts: 227
    I must side with System on this, I ride a 60cm ct with 59cm tt, 110mm stem and at 6'3" it is spot on. Look on the bright side, you get to buy a new bike :lol: !

    Cheers,
    .
    Beep Beep Richie.
    .

    FCN +7 (Hanzo Fixed. Simple - for the commute)
    FCN +10 (Loud and proud PA)
  • wastelander
    wastelander Posts: 557
    I think the concencus will be that it's more that just a little too big - I'm the same height and ride a 55cm t/tube, 55 cmm d/tube with 110mm stem - sorry but no amount of twiddling with fore/aft saddle positions and stem lengths/angles will ever find a proper fit.
  • etep
    etep Posts: 63
    Thanks guys, pretty much confirmed my thoughts.

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