JLopez149

johngwheeler

I have had bikes that are slightly too small and slightly too large, and would add the following:

1) The sensation on the bike that was too large (Fuji Gran Fondo large frame - I am 5'9.5", with 34" inseam) was that I was not in full control of it. I had to have a short stem to get the reach right, but even then it felt odd to steer, with my arms too straight to get good leverage. I sold the bike without regrets.

2) I also have a Giant TCX in medium, and initially struggled to find a comfy fit. I tried 90-120mm stems, flipped up and down, and even a 30 degree riser stem. I eventually settled on 100mm, 8 degrees, flipped down, but with all spacers. Stack height is quite low on this bike (554mm). This is agile, but provides enough reach to be comfortable. I found the 120mm stem to really slow down my steering and again, I didn't feel I had the same agility and control on the bike.

Something worth considering is that sometimes neck and shoulder pain is best treated by lowering the bars not raising them. I am more comfortable with a 8.5cm saddle to bar drop that I now have than the 1-2cm drop with the 30 degree riser bar. If you think about it, you need some space in which to relax your shoulders and drop down with a long back and gently bent arms. If the bar is too high, it can raise your shoulders and cause neck and shoulder tension. I now try to relax by upper torso, lengthen my back, use my core muscles to hold me up, and then "drape" by hands over the bars with minimal pressure on my hands. This works well and is comfy, but you can't do it if you're scrunched up in a high position.

hsuehhwa

As long as you can stand over the top tube, you can ride it.

You can also use a shorter stem or a zero-offset seat post to make your bike fi better. A stem with a negative rise could give you more saddle to handlebar.

However, shorter stems might change the handling significantly. Zero offset seat post changes the design of the frame.

All being said, you can always turn it into a touring bike.

Reeses

Too big with ok stack will give you longer reach. You will need to adjust the flexibility and be mindful of your lats to become comfortable with that.

Campag4life

Whole predicate of bigger versus smaller is Rivendell's fit philosophy that bikes by and large are sized too small throughout the industry. It also depends on the lens you look through...your body proportion. For me bigger has always fit better. Why is that. I am long legged and need a tall head tube. Now to dispel another common myth. Why then on a longer legged and shorter torso rider does a bigger better fit better? After all, a bigger frame bike will have a longer top tube and that wouldn't comport with a shorter torso rider would it? Not really.

Two reasons:
1. Many longer legged, shorter torso riders like me have longish arms.
2. The taller the frame, the taller the head tube (generally). The taller the stack, the closer the top of the head tube is to a rider's shoulder joints which shortens reach. Look at any geometry chart. Notice how little the parameter of Reach changes from small to larger frame. This is because of height of head tube and angle of head tube tipped back toward the rider.

So for many who have bought different size frames, a taller bike is more comfortable because a rider is bent over less on a bigger frame than on a smaller frame with shorter head tube.

There is another factor for many. Me personally, I like to stretch out more than have my arms more underneath me. I find this riding position more comfortable and I feel I can get my power down easier.

Throughout his career, Lance Armstrong rode a bike 1 size bigger than any ordinary bike shop would place him on if he walked in to buy a new bike and nobody knew who he was.

Racing Dan

No matter, its still true a bigger bike in the same series has longer reach, longer eTT, higher standover and often longer cranks and a wider bar. Sure reach is often only a few mm apart, but that doesn't mean the only other relevant metric that increases is stack. If the bigger of two sizes is what fits you, than that is what you should get, but if you already have the smaller one and only want more stack then up sizing is likely not the right approach. Then get an other model that retains what you like and changes what you dont.

Pizzaiolo Americano 

All, I ended up picking up a Trek Domane SL 6 Disk in my normal size (52). This particular bike fits me well and is much more comfortable than my Emonda in the same size. It weighs a few pounds more but, I don't really care about that. I climb a lot with my Mountain bikes and I survive...Thanks for all the advice!

Campag4life

I have to disagree in part but each of us should always ride the best size frame of course. I build my bikes frameset up so choose what size parts go on the bike. I ride a 40cm handlebar like many 6' pros and the cranks that fit me 175 with my 35" cycling inseam.
There is reach but there is also 'type of reach' which is more esoteric. What is type of reach? It is like ratio of femur to tibia length that makes up overall leg length.
Type of reach is ratio of stack to rider reach. You can have the same amount of rider reach on a smaller bike but the handlebar will be lower and the arms will be more vertical. That is not my preference for example. If you consider where the rider sits on the saddle and measure a straight line to the hoods, this is the base of an equilateral triangle. This base builds stability on the bike or not. Longer this base, the more stable the rider. Its a civil engineering truss problem. This also many times takes more weight off the hands even though 'horizontal' reach is extended...but not vertical drop. This is because a wide triangle base for change in the rider CG is stable. No different than pushing on a standing person with feet together versus wide apart.

Grant Peterson understands the above and why he espouses a bigger frame for many 'if you can standover' of course. But ok to have standover snug.

Other thing and I am sure you agree is personal preference. Peter Sagan is 6' and rides a 56. But most of us aren't Peter Sagan. He prefers drop with a 130-140mm stem. His net reach of horizontal and drop components is pretty massive combined. A more ordinary person may even prefer saddle tip to handlebar center in the 600mm range...but a much different type of reach. Way less drop and more horizontal reach of a bigger frame.

So personal preference all said is a big factor ergo 'type' of reach. I have a saying that isn't very well understood. The saying is, 'reach must be conserved'. What the heck does that mean? I explained about about type of reach. Even though Sagan and me maybe the same size...or close...he derives his reach with drop and forward projection of the handlebar. Metric often used to describe this is saddle tip to handlebar center. Reach must be conserved. I am a 6'er and I need adequate reach to get my power down, what little I have. But, and this is important. I may like a saddle tip to handlebar center of 600mm or so like Peter, but I can't ride his set up. I prefer my reach to be comprised of very little drop and a lot more top tube length or stem length. Same net reach to the bars from where we sit on the saddle, but a very different make up of this reach because I can't sustain the drop that the much stronger Sagan can.
To me, to sort out this 'choice' of suitable reach, one must own 5 different frames and different sizes to figure out which works best and why.

A French fit and what basically Grant Peterson espouses, even though this is typically accomplished on a bigger frame, isn't really more reach. It is about the same reach as a slammed racing set up. It is different type of reach aka less drop and more 'horizontal' distance from saddle to handlebar...same net reach.

Campag4life

Yes, the Domane has a slightly shorter Reach and taller Stack compared to the Emonda H2 fit.
But, typically because the H2 Emonda is far from an aggressive fit, judicial frame size selection and choice of stem, you can replicate same position on both bikes.

Racing Dan

You appear to not actually address my post even if you quoted it. No matter, all Im saying is, if you have a shoe that fits on the length but is too narrow, then you should Not get the same model shoe next size up to get a wider shoe. You should get an other model that is wider but not longer, one that truly fits. There is plenty to choose from. Literally 100s of models, shoes and bikes.

Campag4life

I have had trouble communicating with you in the past. I perform fittings. Best you choose frames the way you prefer and I will continue to help others with fit as so many botched bike fits and wrong sized bikes come out of bike shops. Vast majority would do better on a French fit with saddle even with handlebars but sufficient reach for their body size. That typically correlates to a larger bike size than many bike shops will select for a given rider. I referenced Lance as an example of a top rider sizing 'up'. Some shops may even try to squeeze Lance on a 54 or two sizes down from his preferred size. Not all. Racers and strong riders on this forum may want a race fit with 2-5" of drop. Most top riders do. But most here aren't top riders. No idea where you fall in but at the end of the day it doesn't matter. We each make our choices.

Reeses

It seems that OP might need a more upright riding position due to neck pain, you could do this with a bigger frame and higher degree stem. That or, have you thought about strengthening the back muscles that support the neck? Since the discomfort is due to injury and I don't know what injury it was, I can only suggest you go about this gradually and carefully, listen to your body. Your rear delts, lats, even lower back and abs all contribute to supporting the neck and spine.

Racing Dan

You have a lot of trouble communicating. This is nothing but personal preference backed with anecdotes and ranting. Im not at fault for the LBS putting ppl on a "too small" bike and Im not advocating small bikes in general either. Lance riding a 58 also doesnt prove my other posts are wrong even if that is what you are implying. In fact its mostly unrelated. Lance, french fit, Rivendell and all that are your talking points. You dont have to imply that Im trying to squeeze OP on to a tiny race bike, to make your own points, when Im clearly not recommending that. In fact, I recommended getting an other bike, like a Domane, that is much less aggressive than the Canyon "Endurance" disc. You may think getting a bigger Canyon, rather than a different model, is the better choice and that is fine, but there is no need quoting someone else and framing your reply as if they are wrong because you happen to have a different perspective.

Maelochs

A professional fitter can make sure that all the contact points are within your physiological range, but he might not know your best or preferred riding posture.

I rode a borrowed 58-cm Cannondale 6/13 for a while. it was set up fro racing---very aggressive. For the first hour it felt great---everything was right where it belonged. My hands fell perfectly onto the hood, the seat was set perfectly in relation to the cranks. After an hour, my neck and shoulders started screaming---even though the bike "fit" me---the distances between contact points were perfectly suited to my body's dimensions---the riding posture was too aggressive. One needs a lot of flexibility and a very strong core and legs to sustain that "racing" posture for a long time .... the same rider on a more relaxed bike could ride three times afar with no discomfort.

Your professional fitter might not have known your preferred posture---you might not have either---and because he set up the contacts points to fit you perfectly, the bike felt great .... until your neck pain flared up.

I'd take the bike I had, and add spacers if there is room on the steerer, try a variety of stem lengths and angles, slide the saddle back and forth, adjust the seat post .... most bike frames have a lot of adjustability if people choose to use it.

Reading geometry charts can be difficult ...... because of things like head- and seat-tube angles changing, and such which makes it hard to imagine exactly how each size might fit. The only reason I can usually make it work is because I got a bunch of very different bikes set up really well, so i could see how different dimensions and contact-point relationships worked out.

Colnago Mixte

That's a Cannondale for ya. They get really uncomfortable after an hour or so. I've done a century on mine, but regretted it, and would not attempt it again.

FusarioSS

Hi guys! I'm new on this forum thing and also on mountain biking. I just need a little (big) help. I really need to know this: if I'm 5'7", how uncomfortable am I gonna be on a 27.5 size L bike? It is a GT Palomar 2018, in case any of you have it. Am I gonna struggle to use it? Thanks you in advance, this is urgent!