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Old 06-30-20, 07:38 AM
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MLux
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Join Date: Jun 2020
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Thanks Doug64 ! All that information and the photos were super helpful. (Also, awesome your whole squad rides together! ) See, even the sizing of your daughters' bikes suggest that I "should" be able to make this 46 work! However, a photo of me sitting on the bike is VERY compact looking, not at all like your 5'5" daughter on her 50cm frame. My knees are so close to the handlebars even when sitting. (Sorry, I realized as a newbie I couldn't yet post a photo, bummer). This is partially a product of the former owner's 50mm stem & sharp angle instead of the stock 70mm at a more moderate angle. I have that stock stem and handlebar to swap in, but that would actually increase reach and lower the handlebar height, so I don't think that's the solution. I should also mention that the saddle is pushed all the way backwards to the maximum, but my gut feel there is that I'd like to move it back a bit further not because of the reach but more because of my lower half, where I put my weight & how close my legs are to the bars.

I think the issue may be that I have a slightly longer inseam than expected for my height (short), with an average length torso/arms. Inseam is 30.35in which causes me to have to jack up the saddle height, and then boom, the tops of my bars are way below it. My gut feel is probably that I need a larger frame so that with my saddle height there is not a lot of seat post showing, and then perhaps a short stem to accommodate the longer reach BUT a longer steerer tube to get that handlebar height up. Thoughts? It makes me wonder if I'd even be okay on the 50cm frame.

To answer your questions:
There are four 10mm spacers below the stem. There is no steerer tube left. It sits just below the stem (a 2-3mm maybe) when I take off the top cap.
The Specialized Ruby I ride has a 75mm stem. The Van Nicholas Custom has a 90 mm stem.
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