avzay

As some of you might know from my other thread, I am currently shopping for a road bike. This weekend I went to a bunch of different stores to try out bikes, not knowing what size of the frame I should be riding in the first place. All 3 stores suggested 3 different sizes of the frames. One Cannondale and Specialized Dealers put me on a 58cm frame. Trek store put me on a 60cm frame and another Cannondale dealer told me that I should be riding on a 56cm frame. This makes me rather confused as none of them actually did any measurements. I did not notice much fit difference between 56cm Cannondales, Specialized or Trek. The 58cm Cannondale however made me feel like i was too stretched out when holding the drop bars (the bike did have an extra long stem installed).

What exactly is my size and who should I believe? I am 6'1"-6'2" tall and have rather long legs.

10 Wheels

What is your shoe size?

bdcheung

you're asking about bike sizing, not bike fitting.

intence

Try some on the online fit calculators such as the one at Competitive Cyclist. The fit isn't only about your height, but also how long your legs are in proportion to your torso, and how flexible you are etc.

If you believe that you have long legs and a relatively short torso, then the smaller sizes might fit better since they'll have a shorter top-tube.

What a bit odd in the bike industry is that bikes are sized by the length of the seat tube (most measure from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube, called Center-To-Top sizing. Cannondale usually measures from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the top tube, so the Cannondale will seem "bigger" but may have a similar top-tube length as a similarly sized Trek/Specialized)

Most here will agree that the most important aspect of the fit (or the best starting point) is to get the top-tube length to be as close to correct as possible. Use a couple fit calculators and ride a few bikes, and see what top-tube length you're comfortable with. Again, if your assumption is correct that you have long legs for your height, then you should have a somewhat short torso, so you might want a shorter top-tube, but if you have long arms, then maybe not (depending on your reach).

Try the fit calculators, see what they say, then ride a few bikes. Keep in mind it's much easier to make a smaller bike larger, but it's more difficult to make a larger bike smaller.

tombailey

After they tell you your size, ask them what sizes they have in stock.

hammond9705

+1 Some stores will tell you that your size just so happens to match the size of the bike they have in stock. ie if they have a 58 and don't have a 60, then you must be a 58.


OTOH, sizes do differ between manufacturers.

Test ride some at a LBS that you are comfortable with

Jynx

+1

After they say you look like a 58cm ask to see a 56cm and a 60cm so you can compare.

Also if they just look at you and pick a size don't think that they are correct. Listen to them when they actually measure you.

Steel Man

+1. But also bear in mind that not all manufacturers measure their frames the same way.

The first -and probably more obvious- difference is whether the "size" refers to the measurement of the seat tube from center to center or from center to top, but there may be more subtle ones.

chipcom 

dubMON

Make your purchase from the store that actually fits you to a bike, and then have them fit the bike to you.

Cycho

I had a similar issue. I'm 5'10 - 5'11'' and a couple of LBS had me on 56cm - 60cm sizes. I didn't know who to trust. So, I went online and tried several different size calculators to compare. Colorado cyclist, competitive cyclist, wrench science and I also read this article that talked about FIT and not so much size. In the end, 60cm was what I chose since the general consensus is to err on the bigger size since that gives you the option to adjust the seat post and stem. If it's too small, you're stuck.

coasting 

why can't you use seatpost and stem for too small frame?

chadteck

Hrm. I'm 5'11" and was wavering between 56cm and 58cm because those were the options for the bike I purchased. In the end I went with the 56cm and it has been great. The 58 probably would have worked, but 60 cm seems like the top tube would be up my crack while standing on the ground.

OP: Seems like for your height, you would want at least a 58 cm. I would also recommend test riding some bikes in the range of 56 cm - 60 cm and see which feel the best ( I would almost throw out the 56 cm, but you seem to be favoring it).

merlinextraligh

There are also different schools of thought on bike fit. Over the years, there has been a tendency for people to ride samller frames with more seatpost extended.

This will typically result in a more aggressive fit with more drop from seat to bar. So part of the equation is what you're going to be doing with the bike, how flexible you are, and how you want it setup.

Thus just as a hypothetical, you might fit well on a 58cm from a reach to the bars point of view, if you don't want much drop, but you might want to go with a 56 cm, and a longer stem, if you want the bike setup with a lot of drop.

Randochap

As others have noted, at some unscrupulous stores "your size" is the closest they have in stock.

Do your own research and shop armed with knowledge.

avzay

thanks for all the replies. it seems like i did get fitting confused with sizing. I will go and check out those web sites for sure. I guess the issue of flexibility came out (I am very inflexible), which has always been a huge weakness of mine, although it never held me back. Would smaller frame offer a less stetched out riding position or is that more of a stem/seat adjustment thing? Riding the bikes that stretched me out too much made it very uncomfortable and i could feel pain in my back after 5 minutes of trying them out. I think i will just go back and try some of those sizes back to back.

bk2wk

I was in a similar dilemma while searching a few weeks back. I went to a LBS who has Argon 18 Fit Bike and spent about an 1hr to get bike fit measurements. Now I feel much more comfortable shopping around for a bike. It didnt cost much & if I decide to buy the bike from the shop, they will credit the bike fit money towards the purchase of a new bike. That's been my experience so far.

avzay

Just from trying out various bikes this weekend, I felt a ton better on the bikes with a slightly more upright riding position. A few were set up with bars very low and I could not even handle 5 minutes in that position. My flexibility has always been horrible and that might have to do something with it. This would be my first road bike and I would be riding it by myself for not super long distances in very hilly terrain.

timmhaan

haha!

powpow

In my experience, the average LBS doesn't know jack sh** about fitting. You have to do most of the research yourself, and then go to a pro fitter who actually knows what they're doing.

dsellinger

That is pretty much backwards from what I know.. (but then what do i know...) and what happened to 58's?

Someone here had a big thread asking people about their sizes and found the averages for different heights. It was a pretty close grouping.

*found link*
yep, you should have gone with the 56
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=531856

merlinextraligh

^ I'd also agree that's for the most part backwards. If the frame is too big, it's going to be virtually impossible to set it up with enough drop from seat to bars, and you can only decrease the reach by so much before the stem gets impractically short. And at the extreme, you're limited by standover height (at least with conventional geometry)


With a 300mm seatpost, 140 mm stem with enough rise, and an uncut steerer tube, you can get an acceptable fit on a pretty small frame.

If I were between two frames, I would pick the smaller, unless the goal was to have a very upright fit, then I would pick the one with the taller headtube.

powpow

TheKillerPenguin

I'm also 6'2'' and mostly leg. I used to ride a 60cm C'dale, and then switched to a 58cm a couple of years ago. I prefer the 58, as I don't feel stretched out and have a decent amount of drop. My fitter said that I should ideally be on a custom bike.

Either a 58 or a 60 would probably work for you, depending on your preference. 56 seems awfully small...

dsellinger

He's 5'10-5'11 not 6'2.
I'm 5'11.75 and ride a 56. Going in for a pro fitting today so i guess i'll see if my bike is big or small, but I do feel pretty stretched out riding on the hoods