Aznman

In road cycling terms, people with a fully grown height between 5 ft 3 in - 5 ft 6 in would most likely be assigned with Small (size S) bicycles. On the other hand, people with a fully grown height between 6 ft 0 in - 6 ft 3 in would most likely be assigned with Extra-Large (size XL) bicycles.

https://www.bicycle-guider.com/bike-...ke-size-chart/

Do you guys have pictures of what a small man (say at 5 ft 3 in, about the global average of females) with his S size bicycle would look like compared to riders with their appropriately sized XL bikes?
Please note that the OP is much taller than 5ft 3in at around the global average of 5 ft 7.32 in (shorter than the American average of 5 ft 10 in, but a worldwide average nonetheless).

https://ourworldindata.org/human-height

I would be sized as Medium and given an appropriate bicycle, but I am curious about what a male shorter than I and about as tall as an average female would look like when riding alongside men of 'true Nordic stock'.

Sy Reene

Center and right are Quintana 5'6" vs Froome 6'1" does this help?

downhillmaster

Lol. This.
Seriously...

canklecat

Odd phrase. Many of the taller athletes I've seen are... other than "Nordic."

I'mma tiptoe away and just leave this here. It shows a range of cyclists from the diminutive Emma Pooley (listed as 5'2" but sure looks closer to five-foot-nuthin), to Oscal Pujol (supposedly 5'7" but... nah), to the taller Dan Lloyd and Simon Richardson, and several fellows in between holding up the average... or median? ... mean?

You Tube

bruce19

https://www.insider.com/tallest-peop...-ranked-2019-6

canklecat

How many of those are athletes?

I see plenty of tall people who appear to have something closer to acromegaly or gigantism. It's height and size that doesn't look normally proportioned and doesn't contribute to athleticism. Compare Russian former heavyweight boxing "champion" Nikolai Valuev, whose reign was during one of the weakest eras in boxing. He was 7 feet tall, 330 lbs, appeared reasonably fit, but was sluggish with poor reflexes and relatively little punching power considering his size. He's battling a tumor on his pituitary gland, apparently undiagnosed earlier, which fits the usual mold for genetic anomalies resulting in size that isn't particularly useful for athletics.

Compare him with well proportioned heavyweight champions who were large, fit, normally proportioned with good athleticism: both Klitschko brothers; Lennox Lewis; George Foreman ("small" by contemporary standards but a remarkably big, tall and athletic heavyweight by the standards of his peak during the 1960s-'70s); Anthony Joshua; Deontay Wilder; the eccentric and unique Tyson Fury, who's like an octopus with boxing gloves; a few others.

Even Chris Froome is a freak of nature by cycling standards. Or by almost any sports standards. His physique and athleticism are very comparable to retired boxer Tommy Hearns -- tall stringbeans, able to carry heavier weight pretty well yet retained good power at lighter weights where they appeared almost skeletal, great engines and stamina, but gangly and awkward.

There ain't many "Nordic" types among successful athletes who are taller than average for their respective sports.

rebel1916

This is either a troll that I don't get or some kind of weird fetish thing.

TheDudeIsHere

I thought this was funny on one of our rides. Female 5 ft tall, and male 6'6.

I told the dude to take a pic with her bike just to show the size difference.

Yes, he is 6'6 and I "TOLD" him to take the pic!



The two bikes.

Aznman

I find this forum valuable so - while I would jest - I never troll.
While I am of the average male height in terms of the global population right now, I AM on the shorter side when it comes to the mean/median height of men in the USA. Being quite self-conscious when it comes to things like this, I just want to know if people would even notice the more extreme size differences between riders.

Leinster

Obligatory photo of Conor Dunne with whichever shorty he happened to be standing near at the time...

big john

You know what we notice? Those of us on the larger side notice when smaller riders fly by on steep climbs. We also notice when small riders sit in our draft and get pulled along for miles before finally coming around and disappearing up a hill.

We also notice when the little people take corners at speed due to their low center of gravity and light weight.

Rides4Beer

But I also notice when they're tucked and pedaling downhill and I'm sitting full upright and coasting past them.

Clipped_in

Several years ago I did a century ride that this guy was on. Wow, I am so glad I'm not that big!

Zaskar

I agree! But at least college was free ;-)

The "right" size frame for me is a 61cm. But I got sick of being in the wind even in a draft. I dropped to a 58cm with a longer stem. ^That^ guy is essentially pulling 100% of the time. I imagine dropping back and behind him is like rolling up the windows on the highway... ahhhhh.... nice and quiet now.

goenrdoug

This is a pretty big dude with his massive bike..

Zaskar

That's NBA legend Bill Walton with his custom-made ride - built by Bill Holland; painted by Mark Leuck.

goenrdoug

Yep, he's even bigger in person.. Saw him once out at a ATOC stage and he rode by with others who were taking advantage of the semi-closed course.

Dan333SP

Not really, tbh, within certain limits. I notice someone is much smaller than me when I'm trying to draft and can't quite get low enough, this seems to be the case with riders maybe 5'5" and under (I'm 6'3"). In general when you're out riding, it's pretty hard to gauge height.

The dude on the front is a teammate of mine, he's about 6'6" but it's hard to tell because he has a good position on his bike, the guy behind me with the red/white helmet is much shorter than both of us at maybe 5'8", but it's really not so apparent when looking at photos unless you fixate on the head tube. And yes, this is several years ago, I've upped my sock length game before anyone gets critical.

woodcraft

Not just height, but weight is a factor.

I ride with a guy who is whippet-thin. His draft is about 2" wide.

Another rider, who has been scarce lately, is literally twice the size- i.e. both ~6', & 130/260 lbs.

colnago62

He got into cycling when he was in Portland, think. I heard he had a custom built track bike.

caloso

I’m 5’9”. I look for tall guys to hide behind. Some of them are like riding behind a bus.

Wildwood 

Not sure about the other riders in the pic, but Maggie Backstedt was a 90kg rider who won a few races. Likely a great draft.
edit: Wikipedia lists him at 6'4" (1.93m), 207lb (94kg).


My 1/2 of the road is bigger than your half - Move Over

jadocs

Unless the smaller rider is also a Clyde LOL

mgopack42 

But the bike says "GIANT"!

TheDudeIsHere