SloButWide 

Queue up the "nice rack!" and "Plenty of junk in the trunk" jokes!

Joeyseven

Only feedback I have.
27% off today + no oversize charge on bikes and frames.

Also if your interested in the Nashbar touring bike it is back down to $800,$580 or so with discounts.

https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...ete-105-a.html

builderguy

I am 6'0", 34" inseam. My arm are longer than normal, 36 t0 37" sleeve in a dress shirt.

I have a Nashbar CR105 in a 56. I dont' think I would like a 58. Just too big for me.

As far as assembly. It is about 90% assembled. Took me about 30 minutes and I went slow. Of course I do construction, so assembly is not a big deal to me. For myself, it was very easy.

So far I've had no problems with my Nashbar. As far as re-sale, I doubt I could get much. Doesn't matter. I just keep riding.

RubeRad

I'm 5'11.5", 32" inseam, I don't actually know my dress shirt sleeve size, but I ride a 60cm CrossCheck, and can't imagine going down to a 56. I wonder if I've been on way too big a bike all this time? I've been feeling lately my palms are always sore from the pressure when I ride.

ksryder

I'm also 5'11, 32 inseam. Now we could have different arm lengths so you might need a different size, but I'm cramped on a 54, just right on a 56, and stretched out like a medieval torture device on a 58.

RubeRad

what stem length? I can't remember if my stem is 90 or 110

Andy_K 

I'm also 5'9" (though I have no idea how our leg and torso lengths compare). I would absolutely get the 56, but I think a skilled bike fitter would be able to make either work well for you. The slack seat tube angle will make that 56 fit a lot like a 54 (unless standover height is an issue). The problem with the smaller size (as the article RubeRad linked to describes) is that besides having a shorter top tube they also have a shorter head tube.

I used to have a 52cm Cross Check (purchased over the internet based on effective top tube length) and I always felt like it was simultaneously too big and too small. The reach to the bars was more than I wanted (too big?) but it wasn't easy getting the bars as high as I wanted (too small?). I used a 100mm stem with a 25 degree rise to approximate the fit, but I was never quite happy with it. Part of this is the CC geometry, which is notorious for requiring a big stack of spacers on an uncut steerer.

Speaking of geometry, that Nashbar bike has a really high bottom bracket. This has some effect on handling, but it will also exacerbate the head tube height issue and make standover clearance more of a thing.

Have you considered something like the Kona Tonk?

Andy_K 

Maybe I'm holding a grudge, but I feel like there is no correct CC size for anyone who doesn't want to ride in an aggressive tuck all the time. The geometry is just wrong.


That said, to relieve hand pressure I'd try moving the seat back (assuming your knees are OK with that) and trying a shorter (and maybe higher) stem.

This is my standard picture for understanding bike fit.



If you make the board more vertical, the bottle falls forward. If you start with a long reach to the bars, you're tempted to move the seat forward to help with that. That has the same effect as making the board more vertical.

RubeRad

hmmm, I'll have to think about that. Seems to me if the board is made more vertical, the bottle falls backwards (onto its base)

acidfast7

or one can just use a dual-pivot adjustable stem, no biggie:

Standard adjustable stem

Other newer adjustable stem

Andy_K 

Well, maybe my terminology was confusing. I'm picturing the bottle as your upper body, so I described falling toward the bottom of the bottle as falling forward. The relevant part of the analogy is that if your seat is too far forward you'll tend to be tipped toward the handlebars.

Another way of thinking through this is to stand with your heels against a wall and try to lean forward. You can't do it. Then take a small step forward and try again. You'll naturally move your hips backward as you bend over.

RubeRad

I see, visualizing my trunk as the body and my legs as the board, I get what you're talking about

PennyTheDog

I bought a stock cross check and they cut the steerer tube too low. It didn't really bother me at the time, but now I know how much more comfortable you can be with your bars up a bit higher! I found a stem that's at like a 40 degree angle, and considering the steerer tube is already at a 17 degree or something, the stem ends up making an angle of almost 60 degrees with the ground. So it helps a lot. You could also get a steerer tube extender or a new fork where you just don't cut the steerer tube as short.

Even if you feel like the problem is the length of the top tube, the problem gets fixed if the bars get high enough, because the steerer tube is slanted back toward you about 17 degrees.


Sorry to overpost this picture (I just posted it on the commuter bikes thread), but it shows how much a new stem can get the bars up and back:


crosscheck2017 by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/53223642@N05/]

noglider 

Maybe that's why I didn't like the two I had. The Cross Check has a lot of strong points, but it just wasn't for me.

RubeRad

jamaican me wanna hurry up and get my N+1!