KLOSHE

I'm looking at either a trek 520 disc or surly LHT disc for touring and commuting. I'm 72" tall with a seat height off crank of 79cm. and front axle to top of handle bar of 67.5cm on my domane road bike. Any recommendations on sizing. My LBS sells both, but most bikes and saddles feel fine for 10 minutes. I want to know what is comfortable after 6 hours. thanks.

fietsbob

a different saddle, maybe change the stem too .

bradtx

KLOSHE, Same height and my touring bikes are 23" (58.4 cm).
Bodies are different so my reply is simply a starting point.

Brad

ironwood

There's one way to find out, and that is, to ride for six hours

52telecaster

honestly on a touring bike i find it more comfortable to have quill stem. not many bikes are made that way anymore which is one reason i ordered a bob jackson.

Tourist in MSN

You really should look at top tube length coupled with stem length. You can change a stem, but if the top tube is too long you will have more reach than you really want. And some bars have more reach than others.

Most people set up a touring bike so that the top of the handlebar is about the same height as the top of the saddle, I suspect your carbon race bike has the bars quite a bit lower so the reach you want on a touring bike might not be the same as the reach on your race bike.

I find that I like a saddle a bit narrower the further forward I lean on a bike. My point is that you might want a different saddle shape on a touring bike than you have on your race bike.

raria

My Fuji touring has one.

52telecaster

i think there is a little more flex. when i am on a bike for 6-8 hours i will take any give i can get. btw those fuji touring bikes are darn nice. saw a couple in peoria il a while back that had about a zillion miles on both. you dont get those kind of miles unless the bikes are comfortable.

pdlamb

(Referring to a quill stem)


So does mine, but the newer models (starting around 2007, maybe?) have gone to threadless.

raria

Good point. That was one thing I noticed straight away, the stem was flexy. But your point is very well taken, I hardly get numb hands on that bike even after 100miles.

jpescatore

I have a Trek 520, I'm 70" tall with shorter than average inseam - 56cm frame was right for me and no complaints in over 20 years and 50K miles. The year I bought it, Trek had gone to STI shifters and I've never had a problem with those either - but they have long since gone back to bar end shifters, which I've just never liked.

My newer, lighter bike for go fast day rides has disc brakes - I sure wish I'd had those on loading touring where there was a turn at the bottom of a downhill. I'm a convert - wouldn't go back to rim brakes.

McBTC

At 6' I think you're probably just a few inches short of making either bike's largest frame size easily work for you (both probably will require futzing around a lot with stem length and saddle positions-- you're probably looking at what size equates to a 'virtual' seat tube length (i.e., no C-C) of not more than ~25" (63.5 cm). For the LHS, for example that looks like the 62 not the 64. For the 520 I think you're stuck with making the largest size work--the 63... perhaps just a tad big but the next size down may be a bit too confining. With the headtube size of Trek's 63 you'd have no problems with more upright seating and you can always spend more time in the drops in headwind situations.

DanBell

I'm not sure how you've done your math here but it doesn't seem right to me. I'm also 6'0" and rode the 56cm Disc Trucker for years. It was the perfect size for me and I can't imagine riding the 62 or 64.

McBTC

I'm a bit over that and for me the 64 I think would be a stretch too but the 62 LHT doesn't seem overly large-- it's got a flat top bar that comes in at ~34" for a standover height... not much room to play with there and the next size down has a standover of more like 33" which probably would be better but I wasn't that impressed with the sub-190 headtube length for the 60 LHT. That's pretty much where my thinking came from. Even a 59 is a bit too small for me but if a 56 works for you, there's your answer. I'm always on the largest sizes which mostly are 61s for C-C and with the sloping top tubes I end up with a lot of exposed seat post.

koolerb

At 6 ft tall I would guess 56-57-58 range.

Doug64

I don't think these sizes would be a good fit for a 6' tall person, especially the LHT which has a long top tube. I am 6' tall, and the 58 cm LHT frame is almost too big for me, even using a 90 mm stem.