Originally Posted by
masi61
I did a fit experiment on a sloping top tube titanium framed "Veritas" road bike that I purchased a few years back that I knew was 2 sizes too small for me. I was going to sell it to a friend who is 5'8" for what I paid for it ($675) but he felt this was too much money so I stored it in my rec room for a couple years before it occurred to me that I should get a proper (tall) seatpost and a longer stem with a slight upward rise to it and try it out. I am 5'-11.5" tall and probably need a bike with a top tube length between 55 and 57 cm but this bike's top tube is 54.5. The seat tube is like 13 inches center to top ! Anybody who sees this would say it is a bit small for me. I can post photos of it. It is a pretty cool bike. This bike I do not believe adheres to a square frame baseline.
So the frame has a sharp downward angle on the top tube because the seat tube is short? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by a 13" seat tube...? But what was the result of the test? I take it it was positive, but in what sense?
Originally Posted by
masi61
When I talked about Greg Lemond's advice it was mainly from the standpoint of using a smaller frame with at least a 12 cm or even a 13 cm stem and then establishing the proper saddle height. I am at work right now and can post an update later.
This makes sense to me in general, in terms of the implications -- more responsive on the climb, a little less responsive to turns, but steadier on downhills I think you said. I'd be interested in seeing how it looks for sure.