Trying to get into road cycling but got the wrong size
 

A friend, of the same height as me (5'7"), got a new bike and sold me his old one. It is a 58cm frame. It was the wrong size for him and is for me! It is the Specialized Allez 2014 model. I took it for a 20 mile ride and the only discomfort was in my rear end, which will be addressed with proper attire. Should i sell it and get another used bike that is properly sized? Or should continue the trial period. I really enjoyed the ride and I have access to very good biking roads so i'd like to make a go of it. I only paid $175 for it. It looks like I would have to increase my investment in order to get something comparable in my size. Thanks all in advance!

At 5'7" I was riding 53 & 54 cm road bike for many years. Five years ago ordered my dream bike in 54 cm. Seller shipped 56 cm by mistake with higher end components. Told me to ride it for a few days and then decide. Loved it and still riding it at 5' 6" (old men shrink.) If crotch does NOT touch bar when standing with feet flat on ground - how it feels to YOU is probably 90% of the answer. 58 does sound big but at $175 I would ride it until I had problems that were size related.

If you can ride it comfortably, keep it and ride it. When the time comes to upgrade (it will!), get the "right" size.

SP
OC, OR

Since you already have it, I agree that if you can ride it comfortably, then ride it. The road bike you want today with little experience may not be the road bike you want when you have a year or so of road bike experience. There are some relatively inexpensive things you can do to make it work, like change stem length.

Butt soreness can just as easily be the incorrect saddle or just a need to ride more often to keep your butt used to it.

thanks for the suggestions. without shoes, I do not pass the crotch bar test. ill see if i can sell it but continue to ride it in the meantime.

I'm 5'11"ish and ride a 56. I do believe that's a bit big for you.

So you'll ride it until you crush your nuts. . . .

Sounds probably too big. If your arms are long(ish) for 5'7" then you might be able to make it work otherwise, but you're going to spend money for different things (e.g., shorter stem) to try to get it right and ultimately be unsatisfied with what you have from a comfort perspective.

I would look to sell and put the money towards a properly sized bike that can be tweaked to make it comfortable for you.

Yes the Bicycle Blue Book notoriously lowballs bike values. Bike shops will happily do trade-ins to blue book values and sometimes even over it.

try again...
 

58 is my old touring bike size @ max standover , ride with very little seat post out , I'm 5'10"..

maybe you can transfer the components to another smaller frame,
so not a bad way to get all the components.. cheap.






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