So my legs are kind of short but my torso is much longer as I’m 5’10 with an inseam of about 31.5 inches.
I’ve heard the typical rule for fitting is that you clear the standover by an inch or so. But by this logic at 5’10 I clear the standover of 52cm bikes, and sometimes 53cm.
So basically, I’m looking at alien frames geometry, anyone have suggestions?
Size (c-t) 53 cm 55 cm 57 cm 59 cm 61 cm
Seat tube (c-c) 51 cm 53 cm 55 cm 57 cm 59 cm
Top tube 52 cm 54 cm 56 cm 57 cm 59 cm
Head tube 12 cm 14 cm 15 cm 17 cm 19 cm
Seat angle 75.5° 75° 74.5° 74° 73.5°
Head angle 74.5° 74.5° 74.5° 74.5° 74.5°
D/T-wheel gap 8 mm 11 mm 12 mm 13 mm 15 mm
Fork rake 28 mm 28 mm 28 mm 28 mm 28 mm
BB drop 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm
Chainstay 40 cm 40 cm 40 cm 40 cm 40 cm
Stand-over 78 cm 80 cm 82 cm 84 cm 86 cm
I am not a big fan of the standover height method of fitting a bike. The top tube length is more important to me. Do you have a bike that you like the fit of?
My concern is that you have a long torso and will be too bunched up on a smaller frame. If you just said 5’10" and you wanted a 52cm bike my first thought would be “too small”. You can make up for a short top tube with a longer stem, but at best that buys you a centimeter. Again, standover isn’t necessarily the most important thing to be worried about (unless it is a mountain bike- then it is a bit more important).
yeah, I have a high-ish seatpost and drop stem that allows me what I think is a pretty good position on the madison.
I’m planning on building up this alien bike with nice parts so I want the right size, hah
If you like your Madison, measure the top tube and find a match to that.
Or if you’re that concerned, just spend the bucks and get fitted. If you’re grown, it’s a once in a lifetime expense and you’ll never buy the wrong size again.
the 53 has a 52cm top tube… That is ridiculously short for someone as tall as you!
I am 5’9" with short legs and long torso and I ride a 54cm or 55cm top tube
my inseam is 30" fwiw
For me I would buy the 55 but I am willing to sacrifice a little in stand over height to get a frame that fits my reach.
for you I would say get the 55 no question! and you were using it for the track consider the 57…
Stand over is only an issue when you are not riding the bike! If you get good at trackstanding you might find that you literally NEVER stand over the frame…
It would be a shame for someone your height to end up on a bike with a 52cm top tube!
On a separate note new “sloping top tube” bikes were made for freaks like us!!! They tend to have way lower stand over compared to top tube length and they typically have a seat tube that rises well above the top tube, keeping the seat post stiff!!!
^^^ i’m the same size. i feel more comfortable on a 53-54 depending on geo, maybe a 55 if the stem is shorter. stand over gap on my 53 is not within the 1" rule, but i don’t feel cramped OR stretched out on the bars in any position. and that’s more important. everything else can be changed with saddle height and stem length, but it’s better to have the right tt length to begin with.
I do not mean to derail this thread, but I have a question about the Alien chart. I see a 40cm chainstay length vs. the IRO Angus 39.1cm chainstay length. The Aliens look pretty tight though! Is the difference due to the longer track ends on the Alien frames?
my inseam is 32 and my bike is 54.5 ctc st
my top tube is 54.5
i wouldn’t want a 56 top tube…which is what teh 57 is…but i wouldn’t want a 53 ctc st…which is what teh 55 is.
so it would be a compromise for me i’d get teh 57 and use a shorter stem
Bikes designed for racing with traditional geometry weren’t always designed to have good standover clearance. The idea being that it was important to have a bike than fits properly while riding, not while standing over it. If you are comfortable with the bike, standover really isn’t an issue. Just don’t straddle the top tube with both feet on the ground. I’ve had several that nestled in with my nuts if I stood like that (62x57 and 62x58). They were the most comfortable bikes I’ve owned. It’s all about the top tube.
The whole idea of standover is to prevent people who don’t know how to ride from injuring themselves. It’s purely a liability issue and has nothing to do with proper frame size. On a track bike it’ll be even worse due to the BB height. If you go purely by standover you’ll nearly always be riding frames that are too small (unless you have long legs and a short torso).
[quote=“TimArchy”]Bikes designed for racing with traditional geometry weren’t always designed to have good standover clearance. The idea being that it was important to have a bike than fits properly while riding, not while standing over it. If you are comfortable with the bike, standover really isn’t an issue. Just don’t straddle the top tube with both feet on the ground. I’ve had several that nestled in with my nuts if I stood like that (62x57 and 62x58). They were the most comfortable bikes I’ve owned. It’s all about the top tube.
The whole idea of standover is to prevent people who don’t know how to ride from injuring themselves. It’s purely a liability issue and has nothing to do with proper frame size. On a track bike it’ll be even worse due to the BB height. If you go purely by standover you’ll nearly always be riding frames that are too small (unless you have long legs and a short torso).[/quote]
Well Said!
I think the whole bike community is heading in the wrong direction with bike fit! I see so many Big Guys on medium sized frames with a Shit-ton of seat post exposed. Many have their stems flipped or a ton of spacers on their steer tube. It just looks weird to me! And Im not some old dude stuck in the past! My first real road bike was a compact geometry Bianchi that I bought 5 years ago… And I have an undersized Mark V that it took me a year to realize I should have gone bigger…
I often hear people say “get the smaller frame” “it will be STIFFER”… That 12" of seat post and 8 spacers worth of steer tube are killing all that gained stiffness…
When I got measured for my track frame we decided to cut it big so that I would only have a fist full of seat post exposed… I was sure it was too big when I first put it together… But one night on the track and I will never go back to an undersized frame…