Online trek calculator says I am 56cm, but the 52 in store fit perfectly?
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Online trek calculator says I am 56cm, but the 52 in store fit perfectly?
I am currently shopping for a road bike, and have settled on the Trek emonda alr5. I went to the store, and got fitted using their 'machine' and it said 54cm. Online said 56cm, but truth be told perhaps I measured my inseam incorrectly. Anyways I tried an Emonda frame in 54cm and while I could ride it, the trek employee put the seat all the way to the bottom and my arms were fully stretched - it could not go lower, I could ride it but it def felt...stretched. I swapped to a 52 and it felt so much better, so much more natural and I think I will be going with the 52cm. My question is, is it possible that it could be too small? My height is 5'9-5'10 and it seems my height suggest I should be 54-56, and my inseam is 31 from what I measured. It's my first 'proper' bike, so I am a bit nervous.
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Well it sounds like the 54 was too big for you right now. As long as you don't have the seat height at max on the 52 I would just go with that. But you might want to check what it feels like climbing a steep hill out of the saddle. If it's too small you will feel cramped up and may even bang your knees on the bars in this situation. But you won't notice this riding on a flat road. As you gain more riding experience you are likely to raise the saddle a little and maybe want to be a little more stretched out, so you do need some room to adjust for this. You can easily fit a longer stem to stretch out more, so it's really about making sure you have some leeway on the saddle height.
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So did you mis-measure your inseam or not? That and other wrong measurements will make any sizing recommendations sketchy, other than a experienced and trained eye. Or perhaps your personal desires for how you think a bike should fit.
Big thing is look at the genre the bike is made for. What is the typical position that professional and real serious riders have when riding that genre of bike. If you are wanting a different position than they ride in, then sizing recommendations are probably useless. I'd also suggest that if you want a different position than norm, then that's probably not the correct genre of bicycle for you.
So maybe if you like the 52, get the 52. Like any purchase, I recommend you don't spend so much that you can't get another bike if or when you find out you should have gotten the other size.
Big thing is look at the genre the bike is made for. What is the typical position that professional and real serious riders have when riding that genre of bike. If you are wanting a different position than they ride in, then sizing recommendations are probably useless. I'd also suggest that if you want a different position than norm, then that's probably not the correct genre of bicycle for you.
So maybe if you like the 52, get the 52. Like any purchase, I recommend you don't spend so much that you can't get another bike if or when you find out you should have gotten the other size.
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5-9 / 5-10
52 cm seems small
52 cm seems small
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I'm close in size to you and I know that after I spend a lot of time on a 52cm I'll be kicking myself for not going with the 54cm. Your body will relax with time spent on that bike and unless you're not very flexible, you'll want to be able to drop into a more 'aero' position simply because in time you'll find it more comfortable. Good luck in whichever size you decide on. The 52 might just be calling out to you for reasons we out here in the ether can't grasp.
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What do you mean by 'proper bike'? If you're new to biking, you probably don't know what you need.
With a height of 5'9" or 10" and a 31" biking leg length, the 52 is likely to be too small in the longer term unless you're racing (and maybe even then). You can raise the seatpost a lot, but you're likely to feel cramped on the bike because the top tube is too short for you once you have a couple of hundred miles on the bike. It takes time to get conditioned to the bike.
A lot of new riders are afraid to lose contact with the ground, so they like low seats, and that puts them on smaller bikes. Riding, though requires your feet to get off the ground.
With a height of 5'9" or 10" and a 31" biking leg length, the 52 is likely to be too small in the longer term unless you're racing (and maybe even then). You can raise the seatpost a lot, but you're likely to feel cramped on the bike because the top tube is too short for you once you have a couple of hundred miles on the bike. It takes time to get conditioned to the bike.
A lot of new riders are afraid to lose contact with the ground, so they like low seats, and that puts them on smaller bikes. Riding, though requires your feet to get off the ground.
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My height is 5'10". It isn't 5'9"- 5'10" it is 5'10". My cycling inseam is 33". 31" is a tailors inseam. When shopping for expensive road bikes the details matter. Gone are the days when inseam alone determined what bike you bought! Takeway: the o.p. should not be shopping for expensive roadbikes alone. The 52cm is too small. Period. It does not, cannot, fit "perfectly". The salesperson that would let that sale go through will have their Immortal Soul consigned to Hell and have to watch "SpongeBob SquarePants" reruns forever <shudder>.
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I got a giant TCR in medium instead, made a new post about a fit question. My inseam is 31 as measured by myself and a random store employee and my brother. So 3 people.