mack_turtle

I am 174-175cm tall and looking for a singlespeed gravel bike. I am currently on a Traitor Crusade and looking at a Salsa Stormchaser in the future. Salsa's sizing scheme has me on a 56cm frame, but that sounds a lot bigger than anything I've gotten to fit me well in terms of reach and ETT.


Here is a comparison based on how I have my current bike set up:

I could get either to fit me, but the larger frame would have less standover clearance and a slammed stem.

what am I missing? is Salsa assuming something about a rider of my height that eludes me? any reason why I might prefer one of the following over the other: a smaller frame with a longer stem or a longer frame with a shorter stem? weight balance front/rear? longer wheelbase?

in case you have been hiding under a rock for the past few months (which is not a bad idea), test rides are NOT an option and most bikes are out of stock anyways.

Iride01 

I'd drive 100, 200 or more miles to try it out. I don't know if Salsa has tier levels of the same frame with different components, but if they do, try it with those different components if that is all you can find to touch, feel and smell. Unless the bars and saddle are materially different, then you'll know....... or at least you'll have some idea more than you do now.

mack_turtle

my point is: I could drive to the moon and back and no bike shop will let me test ride a bike during a global pandemic.

at present, the Stormchaser only comes in one build. I think they are about to release a second version for 2021 that will have gears and a different color. I don't like that weird gold thing anyway, so I would probably wait for the new version of the singlespeed build regardless of availability.

Iride01 

Oh, you've tried them all. I see.

I think you are making assumptions base on the policy in a particular area. Maybe even a particular bike shop or two.

mack_turtle

Texas is a hot mess. I would not WANT to test ride a bike right now.

Iride01 

Most all transmission is going to be through the aerosolized droplets you breathe or get in your eyes. So if you don't rub your eyes after touching the bike you are probably okay. No study I've seen say it is absorbed through the skin. In fact, many emphatically say it is not absorbed through the skin.

Wear a mask and eye covering. Avoid crowds. Wash hands often.

mack_turtle

Salsa has dealer inventory listed on their site. there are no 56cm bikes within several hundred miles from where I live. There's a 54.5cm several hours away but it's in a hellhole of a city where COVID is rampant. I'll just have to wait because I don't want to go anywhere near Houston.

mack_turtle

I am well aware of that. but if the store's policy is "no test rides, ever" then I no amount of arguing is going to get me a test ride.

I asked and I CAN test ride a 54.5 in Houston, but that's 2.5 hours each way to find out if a bike might fit me. it's worth considering but if you've every been to that gross city, you'll understand my hesitance.

tangerineowl

Majority of online manufacturer size guides don't include cycling inseam and arm reach. They're pretty much useless if you don't have average proportions.

You'll want the 54.5cm Stormchaser.

A 5mm longer stem will find you near the reach of your Crusade. (assuming both bikes had a similar dropbar reach+drop).

Running just a 5mm spacer below the stem will see your bars 14mm higher than Crusade fit.
If you want to get a bit lower then get a stem with correct angle to suit.

Mojo31

Agree that Houston is a hell hole. But, if you drive directly to the store, it's no big deal. Just pack a lunch and find a park to stop for lunch or eat in the car. That's what I did when I picked up my current bike. Only stops were the bike store and gas stations when I needed gas.

Iride01 

I have not been to Houston in quite a while so I can't specifically comment on it. However people around here tell me they'd never go to certain parts of the metropolitan area around here because they fear crime. However the areas they are referring to aren't crime areas. They are just low income areas and/or run down commercial areas. The people there are nice and law abiding.

I guess some of us get a bad feeling for whatever reason about the realities of low income areas and just try to avoid them. And because they have an issue, their fear gets multiplied by others that they mistakenly spread false reasons to. And they don't realize there isn't any thing wrong in those areas except for money avoiding them.

fietsbob

These are not normal times , lots of goods have not even crossed the Pacific,

to the big container ports on the coast, to even begin the distribution to local shops..

Mojo31

I don't think it's a low income or socio economic demographic that leads people to dislike Houston. It's more the sprawl, congestion, heavy traffic, and humidity everywhere you go. Like most urban areas, you do have to be aware of what you do in certain parts and don't do things like leave your stuff in a car parked in a busy shopping center. You have to do the same thing in Austin. People who find themselves at home in Austin, are not usually the type who would want to live in Houston.

Of course, that's all an overgeneralization, but you either love Houston or you hate it for no specific reason.

mack_turtle

on second thought, I am liking the Stormchaser less and less. that dropout system looks ridiculously over-complicated and I want to stick with steel.
the bikes that I would want to buy are mostly only available in a frame-only version, so there's no way to test ride a FRAME. I have a lot of precise measurements that work for me, so I don't need to pay another bike fitter to do that for me.
(Bombtrack has some options that appeal to me, but all the dealers appear to be in the Houston area as well. I'll suffer through Houston if a store actually has what I am looking for in stock.)

Iride01 

What measurements are you measuring? You should be concerned with your contact points on the bike and getting something that keeps your contact points in the same position.

Bikes of differing tube lengths and geometries can still put your body with pretty much the same position, yet each bike frame look entirely different going by the specs.

I can put my 56 cm bike next to my 60 cm bike and for the most part, all my contact points are in the same place. They are different geometries and tube lengths as well as 30 years of design apart.

mack_turtle

I am measuring the contact points: saddle height and offset, hood stack height (relative to the BB), hood reach (relative to the BB), reach from the saddle to the hoods, and saddle/hood vertical drop. not every bike that fits me well is going to fit exactly the same, but I take those into consideration and then consider if they can be tweaked within reason, or if a slightly different fit will work better for that particular bike. most of the bikes I am looking at have more BB drop, so that's part of the equation (but probably negligible).