bike sizing/ seat angle/ TT length advice

leonlikestrees
leonlikestrees Posts: 528
edited August 2013 in Road buying advice
Hi all,

I'm looking for a bit of advice on bike sizing. I used to have an XL Boardman team carbon, which was damaged in a crash. I'm looking at replaceing it with a Giant TCR advnaced frameset, but am unsure whether L, or ML is the way to go.

At a first glance, L seems the obvious choice; same 585 virtual TT, same 185mm heat tube length, however I think I was always probably at the small end of the XL frame fit. I had it set up with a 120mm stem, with just a 5mm spacer underneath.

The TCR has a 72.5 seat angle, as opposed to the boardmans 73 degree. As I understand it, this will extend the reach.

The ML has a 570mm TT.

I am wondering if an ML, with a 130mm stem might be better than a L with a 120? ANy thoughts on which might be the better handling setup?

Now the other thing is that the headtube on the ML is 15mm lower, but it just means using 20mm of spacers instead of 5. That doesn't sound too goofy, does it?

benefits of going for the ML that I imagine:

* lighter frame
* lower front end should I want to drop it for the odd TT or duathlon (KI seem to have a go every other year!)

Be really good to hear anyone's experience, especially if they have experience of Giants, or know a lot about bike fitting!

Thanks :-)

Comments

  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    Sounds about right. It's all about stack and reach.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg