Velo Mellow

Cheers all,

So I got my Linus Gaston 3 home this evening, lovely bike but I have yet to take it out for a ride. I was checking stand over height tonight and I have the large size frame as I am 6ft (183cm) tall and Linus only had two sizes of frame to choose from, medium and large. I chose the Large, which is 83cm/32.7" Stand Over (the Medium frame stand over is 76cm/29.9") because I thought the Medium would be a little too small for me.

When I do the fit test at Stand Over my crotch touches the frame without clearance and when I sit on the seat with my leg almost at full down pedal extension (as it is supposed to be) there is no way I can place my other foot on the ground to balance myself from the seat without sliding forward into stand over position.

Is this ok or is the frame too big for me - anyone else in this odd in between frame size for stand over? I could lower the seat height and see how that goes but perhaps I needed the medium frame after all? What do you guys think here?

Cheers!

AbsurdChalk

It seems to me like it is too big. My first bike was too big and it was a pain in the butt to ride.

Velo Mellow

Yes I worried that might be the case ... I think I'll have to return it and get them to swap me out for the medium frame - 3 hour round trip but hell, it will be worth it to have the right feel I guess.

But how's this for odd ... these are the frame recommendations from the Gaston website ...

Gaston Frame Height Recommendations
Medium
5'4" - 5'9" / 162.5cm - 175.2cm
Large
5'9" - 6'2" / 175.2cm - 187.9cm
Gaston Standover Height
Medium
30" / 76.2cm
Large
32.5" / 82.5cm

So I was right with the Frame size, only the frame still touches my crotch at stand over regardless of their frame size recommendations ... am I missing something here?

Igualmente

Huh... never heard of them so I took a look at their website. They show the Large as a 59cm and the Medium as a 51cm. And they have non-compact frames.

Not sure either will fit you. Perhaps get the retailer to explain the bike maker's approach.

AbsurdChalk

I just thought it was unsafe if your crotch touched the top bar, but I may be wrong. Maybe if you can get the full pedal rotation then it is fine. I just remember I had a 58cm which is the end of my height range and it was way too tall... I enjoy riding smaller frames. I believe crank size should also be accounted for.

Velo Mellow

Ok nowwww we're getting somewhere ... I'm having to fit this on my solo here so it's tweaks as I go. I raised the handlebar height and then lowered the seat post but shifted the seat horizontally back as far as it would go and now I can get full extension of my leg on the crack at the lowered seat height AND most importantly now I can balance the bike with my other foot on the ground ... enough to feel safe ... still with the tips of my toes but it is a huge improvement on where I was before.

So the bike came standard with the seat slid forward too far - forward ... sliding it back seems to have solved the problem markedly! I may get away with this after all with a few more tweaks here and there. It was so entirely ill fitting and out of whack before.

ThermionicScott 

When at a stop, you should be out of the saddle! It's a more stable position, and you'll have more leverage to get going again. Do NOT compromise proper leg extension while riding in order to reach the ground from the saddle at a stop.

You forgot to mention anything about how the bike feels when riding -- that's when fit is most important.

FWIW, I have a bike (actually two) that fits as you describe. Almost no standover clearance when standing flat-footed over the top tube, but since there is no need to do this while riding, it's a non-issue. Those two bikes feel great when riding.

Velo Mellow

Even better now gents, thanks for the support ... more tweaking of the saddle position, back and nose up has solved the riddle. I am now very comfortable sitting on the bike and I my leg is at full extension at comfie saddle position and height. I'm about to take her for a spin now ... will report back in a few. ;-)

ThermionicScott 

If you haven't seen Sheldon Brown's "Starting and Stopping" page, it may be helpful, too. Especially the video about halfway down: Starting and Stopping

Velo Mellow

Thanks for the heads up Thermionic! Will check that page out ...

Just got back from a 30 min ride - first time on this bike - lovely ride and amazingly light, a little bit twitchy at the steering end but I got used to it pretty fast. The ride position felt comfortable, I may yet need to play with the angle of the bars themselves but the bike overall feels great to ride. Definitely feels like an old 3 speed Path Racer and reminds me of the Raleigh 3 speeds I grew up riding in the 70's. I definitely could use another gear for some of the hills and inclines but I knew that coming into this bike it was what it was and that is exactly what I wanted.

I felt quite heavy on my hands at the bars ... probably just not used to riding for so long and the saddle was not very comfie at all ... I was going to switch out for a Brooks B17 any way so I think this will be the first upgrade. Legs now glowing, hands a little stiff and I got a sweat up but the tears rolling down my face on the long descent on the way back home brought joy ... great to be riding again!

linnefaulk

According to my stand over measurement, my bike is too big for me. But I have no problem riding it. That said, I would probably ride better with a smaller size.
I would go and try the other bike.

Velo Mellow

Cheers Linnefaulk ... all good now, the bike fits just fine - I had to do some basic fitting and fiddling before I got things feeling right but I still think I need to go to a bike shop and get a better professional fitting for the bike. It is also immediately noticeable that this saddle is too narrow for me and feels like a railing between my crotch ... I'll do a sit bone measurement and get a better saddle for sure as I was sore even after the 30 min ride I took ... and still aching now hours later.

ThermionicScott 

That's what it's all about.

Velo Mellow

Cheers Scott!

I have the right saddle height and set back for my legs to get me the best geometry for peddling at the bottom of the stroke and placement of the knee alignment with crank horizontal to the frame, I still have a problem.

The problem is that even with the seat post lowered almost to an inch of the base of the seat tube, sitting on the bike places way too much forward pressure on my hands going forward. I have the saddle level and I still feel as though I am falling forward with all my upper body weight going into my hands on the grips. Even without a saddle replacement I am assuming this means I need a taller steering tube and shorter stem to bring my upper body back into a more natural position, or do I just need a shorter stem with 30 degree rise?

What I have now is an alloy road quill, 100mm stem, 18d rise, basically flat but feels very dropped and forward of where I want to be. I can switch out to a 60mm or 80mm with 30 degree rise, not sure which would be better but I would prefer a more upright riding position so assume the 60mm with 30 deg is the way to go? I used this video as a guide and it confirmed my stem is too long ... the hub is well behind my handlebars which confirms what I am feeling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx4UxRKhgl8

Another question on saddle ... when I took the bike for a 30 ride the other day, once I got up speed and started pumping the peddles I noticed quite a bit of side to side rocking of my hips. Now my saddle height and leg position felt fine, as well as set back, so because the saddle is too narrow for me I am assuming that the rocking I was experiencing was not caused by the usual culprit of saddle height but rather that my saddle was too narrow for my hips and behind - essentially there was so little support on my sit bones and hips that my legs pumping was causing the exaggerated hip rocking I was experiencing?

Cheers!

ThermionicScott 

If you still feel like you're sliding forward, try adjusting the saddle so that the nose very slightly points up. It's common with Brooks saddles, among others.

Velo Mellow

That won't solve it though ... the issue is that the stem is too long, I'm too far forward and stretched too far forward and the saddle is perfectly flat. I have already tried pointing to nose up and it is utter agony as everything then rests entirely on the soft tissue of the groin. No, this needs a shorter stem for sure ...

I guess my post above was rhetorical ... I know I need a shorter stem to get my ride comfort sorted out now.

ThermionicScott 

Ah, gotcha. A shorter stem with the bars a little higher should help.