Regulatori

I've been browsing on pedal room and notice many of the members will own 3-4 different track bikes. These bikes all have similar frame geometry and seem to be setup for similar type of riding.
It's often one 55cm bike that looks a regular setup (handlebar stem length, seat height) but then three 51-53cm bikes with seat posts that are 12" off the frame with a 60mm stem.

I was talking to a bike mechanic neighbor today and he brought this up...he's been a mechanic/serious rider for 30 years and he doesn't understand why he's seeing more and more incorrectly sized frames (for the size of the rider). There is so many fitting guides online (and just so much information to find the correct fit) yet he's constantly fixing bikes for customers that are obviously 1-3 sizes too small. These are customers with higher end/customized bikes...not a mom that bought the wrong size from Target.

I'm talking about traditional road frames...not the newer sloping top tube/compact carbon fiber road bikes. That makes sense to have a taller seatpost because it's a compact frame (but still has a long top tube).

I know people have different body proportions...some have longer upper bodies, shorter arms, shorter legs, etc.. I also know a 55cm bike from one company can fit someone just as well as a 57cm bike from another because they share similar top tube lengths..

I just see the same thing around Seattle...I'll be at a coffee shop and I'll pass a rider with similar height as me getting on an absolutely tiny fixed gear bike (for his size).....like a 52mm but has a Thomson 410mm that's maxed out.

In the US, it seems the average height is around 5'8" - 6' yet I see so many of these cyclists looking as if they've borrowed their younger sisters bike.


My guesses..

-Used bikes get passed around between friends and a lot of people are so excited about getting that one favorite frame they they'll compromise on sizing. To me it's like wearing a size 10, finding only an 8 in the ultra exclusive new Nike you waited in line for...so you end up cramming your foot in an 8 because you like the style.

-People want the Keiren bikes but realize trying to find one in a 57-60 is difficult..so they find a 52-53mm (that's more common) and *make it work.*

-People think the 51mm-53mm frames just look cool with crazy seatpost height...regardless if they're 5'10" and it's made for someone substantially smaller. I know the triangle coming off the steerer tube can be more compact in a smaller frame; maybe some think that looks the best.

Any other guesses? This isn't some "hater" type thread...I'm just generally curious.

franswa

Pros will typically race frames 1 to 2 sizes smaller to garner advantages in weight as well as stiffness. This practice trickles down to a lot of the aspiring consumer cyclists.

Regulatori

Cool, I did not know this. Has that always been the case or this someone more recent (like post 90's+).

Isn't there some disadvantages of riding a frame that's too small? Pros also get to have their bikes custom built to their own dimensions...maybe the seat tube may be shorter (effectively making it a "Smaller bike") but they could still be using a standard length (for their arm/body size) top tube.

Mumonkan

also for a more aero riding position

more often than not however, the bikes you see on pedalroom are the wrong size for fashions. and stupidity.

disadvantages: comfort (lack thereof), being "that guy", not seeing ****all in traffic, et al.

Spoonrobot 

Here are some of the causes I've noticed as a mechanic.

• Internet ordering without any real experience
• Smaller pool of frame sizes to choose from
• Viewer doesn't actually know if the frame is the wrong size and is just talking trash ()
• General recommendations made to order smaller than larger if one is unsure
• Willfully misinformed by a shop so that said shop could make the sale
• Don't care, going for style
• Know the frame is wrong but can make it work til they can afford better (I'm guilty of this with MTBs)

prooftheory

Smaller frames actually feel faster and more maneuverable. Frames can be easily sized up but not down. This is especially relevant if you are looking for an 80's horizontal dropout frame to convert. Also a lot of the fixie crowd these days actually got their bikes when they were 14 and still growing. You should actually try riding a too small frame with the stem and seatpost sized out. It is more than just looks.

Cyclosaurus

Perhaps their personal bikes are custom built, but custom bikes are illegal under UCI regulation:

MZilliox

well, how small is too small right? Maybe you measure me at 56cm, like everyone else in america. but i still get on my 54.5 Bicycle and it fits better than either of my 56cm bicycles and ride is more compliant. Its not as stable in a straight line probably, but it feels right ot me to be on the smaller frame, every time. all the bike experts in my life think i should be on 56, and 56 does work, just not as well for me. now I wouldn't go and ride a 51 or 52, but preference plays somewhere into this. I also read in a few places thta Americans tend to ride bikes too large with not enough seatpost rise. this style may have changed over the last decade with advanced training, but in the 80s and 90s...

TenSpeedV2

My track frame and road frame are the exact same size which is correct for my height/frame. I was on a too small for me frame before and was guilty of internet ordering without knowing the exact measurements I needed. I looked like a gorilla on a kids bike.

elmore leonard

I have noticed a lot of people riding bike too small for them too. I think the problem is that bike shops stock more smaller bikes then larger bikes and just raise the seat to sell them to taller people. Plus a lot of manufacturers don't even make the 24" frames anymore which people over 6'ft require. 21" seems to be the large frame now.

fietsbob

Did you ask them , instead of people not seen?

thedapperest

My Winsdor was 54cm and I bought it simply because the the rest of the components were so good, I knew it was gonna be small but I figured I'd deal with it (at the time I thought my optimal range was 56-59 until I rode a friends and realized it was more 57-62). My position on that thing was so aggressive and it eventually started hurting my back, nevertheless, I kept my stem slammed and flipped and rode it like that until I built up my Flite. Now I'm considering building it up with risers and throwing in some spacers to be a beater.

daveed

Had never heard of pedalroom.com until the OP mentioned it. I'm just back from a two-screen visit, discovering seat posts indeed extend a long way out of their seat tubes. Yet I also noticed that both posts were branded with expensive logos. Could that be that if riders drop $90+ to sit atop, say, a Thompson they might like viewers to know about it?

SquidPuppet

I like bikes that are technically too big for me. When I ride a small framed bike that has been "grown" via longer components and adjustments, I feel like I'm riding the components, not the bike.

Tundra_Man

It looks better?

TMonk

I make all decisions in life based on looks.

Whats your point/who cares?

gregf83 

It they're using a 60mm stem the bike sounds too big not too small.

bluepencil

suffer for fashion

prooftheory

+1, [MENTION=417136]Regulatori[/MENTION], are you sure that you know what proper fit looks like?

Regulatori

Yeah, I kind of worded that incorrectly. In some cases I'll see guys running a fully extended seatpost but then use ultra short stem/flat bars....like a total mismatch of parts. I can understand pros going a size down and using a 130mm stem/long seat post/deep track bars but that's just not the case with a lot of these setups.

You would expect to see a longer post/longer stem to make up for the compact frame geometry....like even if you have 3 separate frame sizes, the cockpit/saddle-to-handlebar length is roughly the same.

Mumonkan

#bikesareforfashion

Muffin Man

I only take pictures of my bikes. Riding them is too much work.

prooftheory

Are you sure you are looking at road bikes? Mountain bikes often have a short stem and very long seat post.

BilbroSwaggins

must be nice. my lbs stocks bikes made for giants. 54CM is the norm and maybe you'll see a 52 every once in a while. meanwhile i have to find 49 and 48 cm bikes......

BilbroSwaggins

speaking of pedalroom, your dean titanium is #2 on the featured board on the main page