madone sizing

balzer1
balzer1 Posts: 8
edited April 2009 in Workshop
was all ready to buy my trek madone 5.2 performance,but one shop recommends a size 56 and another a size 58.

I'm a fairly standard 5' 11'' and ride a 'Large' Giant SCR 1 presently.

After riding both bikes I still cant decide as my present riding position sits probably exactly between those two sizes. So a 58 would probably be fine with a slightly shorter stem.

The trek seat mast range suggests a 58 might be better as I would need the longer 16cm seatmast to achieve my seatheight of 77cm on a size 56.

Does anyone with this bike have any ideas? A longer testride on both sizes will not be possible for a little while yet.

Comments

  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    I am 5' 10.5" and ride a 56 with a 16cm mast. I use a 12cm stem. More important is what virtual TT length you need.
    My Madone is set up more like a compct frame than a standard one. It suits me though. See pic in sig.
    My Fleet.
  • juggler
    juggler Posts: 262
    i'm 5' 11.5'', rinding an older style Trek..... Like you may be mid way between 56 and 58, currently ride a 56, BB to top of saddle is 77cm.

    Position is fine, although watch for the saddle to bar drop... i have plenty of spacers under the stem and run a 13cm Stem, so i reckon i would get a similar posiiton with less spacers and a 58cm frame and maybe 12cm stem.
  • juggler
    juggler Posts: 262
    i'm 5' 11.5'', rinding an older style Trek..... Like you may be mid way between 56 and 58, currently ride a 56, BB to top of saddle is 77cm.

    Position is fine, although watch for the saddle to bar drop... i have plenty of spacers under the stem and run a 13cm Stem, so i reckon i would get a similar posiiton with less spacers and a 58cm frame and maybe 12cm stem.
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    I found this on the Trek site last year. I can not find it now but it may be helpful. You can also chose between the Pro and Performance models. Same handling etc but 3cm longer head tube on the Performance. Mine is one of these.
    3385513468_020fd9434e_o.gif
    My Fleet.
  • balzer1
    balzer1 Posts: 8
    John.T: your madone seems to be in a more racing position (I'm sure this is how you want it) but I prefer the more relaxed (upright) setup. |If that is the performance madone there is probably not much room for me to up the handlebar height.The diagram suggests I can achieve my seat height with sizes 56-62 in theory.

    Juggler: as you point out, you are using a relatively long stem and spacers - this probably approximates to the slightly larger size in practice. Does the additional spacers equate to the extra 30mm headtube in the 'performance' madone vs the 'pro'

    I found the geometry diagram on treks site and the size 58 seems closer to my current bike. Thanks for your responses - it looks like a size 58 will be the better choice for me, am going tomorrow for another ride to make sure.
  • singlespeedexplosif
    singlespeedexplosif Posts: 1,564
    I'm 6', riding a 56 with the long mast virtually at max.
  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    My Madone is the Performance one. I went for a 56 because I wanted to replicate the riding position from my old 5200 (the green one) which meant I wanted a 55.5 TT and 12cm stem. As you can see there are quite a lot of spacers on the old bike. I only have 5mm on the new one. The seat mast is 160mm and the clamp is right on the 56cm mark so I have max adjustment either way. I would say a 58cm is what you want. You can fit up to 40mm of spacers on this. This would place your bars 65mm higher than mine which is quite a lot. You could use either seat mast but I think I would go for the long one. The short one may be a bit close to the top of the frame. A bit of time in the shop with a tape measure should sort this for you. Get it right though, new ones are £120.
    My Fleet.
  • torrens
    torrens Posts: 32
    I'm 5'11" have a Madone 5.5 perf, 56cm, longer seatcap,120mm stem and no spacer beneath stem ie low as it will go. Seatcap is prob approx 15mm or so down from max. permitted height. Love it (although I'm currently on warranty replacement frame no. 3, but that's another story!)

    My "old" Trek is a 2006 T1400. size 58cm, 110mm stem. love this one too...
  • Pokerface
    Pokerface Posts: 7,960
    Height just a hair under 6 feet.

    Longer seatmast and a 110cm stem.

    Last year I had the 5.2 Performance, this year the 6.9 Pro. Both in 56cm. Very comfy ride.

    Only thing I will say is.... Lance rides a 58cm frame. And he's definitely shorter than me! So I would say you can go with either size. I've been told that Trek frames are slightly smaller than traditional though.

    From what I've read in this thread - you could easily ride either size.


    Not much help am I?
  • balzer1
    balzer1 Posts: 8
    just to complete this story -

    I bought the 58cm initially - but had to return it. Just a bit too stretched out for me.

    I find the 56cm with a longer 16 cm seatpost to be just right. Thanks to all for your advice. The Madone is a great bike. Perfect balance of speed and comfort.

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