Anyone riding a 22″ five? What height are you?

I’m 6’3 and ride a 20″ alpine which I love when pointing down and can pedal it up nearly any climb, my problem is I can’t seem to get he front high enough’ I’ve a 125 drop reverb with about 5″ of the post showing so seat height is a fair bit higher than the bars which makes 4/5 hour rides a bit uncomfortable..

Thinking of swapping the frame for a 22″ 5

I don’t know about the five. However, I am 6’3″ with 34″ inside leg and I tend to need the tallest frame of each model. There hasn’t been a model yet where the large as opposed to the XL has been better. 22″ is the longest i’ve seen. I would base your assessment on TT length and reach relative to your current bike.

head is pickled…

26″ wheel five 22″
616 top tube
640 effective top tube

26″ alpine 20″ (my current frame)
601 tt
620 ett

current 2013 alpine 19″ (largest they do)
597 tt
620 ett

would love the current alpine but just worry about the massive seat post id probably need so would still be arse up head down for pedalling.

going to a 22 inch five with the longer tt am i still gonna be leant to far forward ?

kendo954 – Member

…so seat height is a fair bit higher than the bars which makes 4/5 hour rides a bit uncomfortable…

1) saddles are usually a bit higher than handlebars, it’s not automatically ‘bad’

…Thinking of swapping the frame for a 22″ 5…

2) how would a longer seat-tube help?

3) a 22″ frame?” – you’re really not *that* tall.

I’ve got a 22″ Five, I was actually considering getting rid of it, as I generally ride my (even bigger) XXL Stumpjumper FSR 29er. Two trail bikes was a bad idea as we generally only get to the woods once a week max.

2012, black, kashima RP23, maxle rear end, tapered steerer with Hope headset. Looking at my gps logs, it’s done 357km total, oops. Let me know if you’re interested at all, happy to sell as a frame alone.

6’6″ and the fit is very comfortable here. I’ll undoubtedly regret selling it, but I’ve currently got 5 bikes, the wife has 2 and my cycle to work voucher is due today! 😉

Fit higher rise bars? Renthal/RaceFace/Others all do 30mm rise bars.

I test rode a 22″ five when they first released the frame size. I had ridden a 20″ Five in the Alps and loved it for lift assisted days but it was too small for general pedaling and UK trail riding. Our guide in the Alps said I made the 20 look like a BMX (6’4″, 35″ inside leg)!

The 22″ felt a bit unbalanced to me and while I like a more conformable upright riding position, the front was too high and it was very hard to keep it down on steeper climbs. I was a bit disappointed in the end and it ultimately made me realise how good the geometry of my XL spesh enduro was.

Not sure that helps, and obviously just my personal opinion.

[EDIT: bit like Toasty above, I replaced the enduro with an XL stumpy FSR 29er]

Yeah, not really helping my case but the Stumpy FSR 29ers are lovely. I don’t find it as keen to leap off things as the Five, but it’s very swift, massive bike but never feels like it’s in the way. Even around tight switchbacks.

Sorry about side-tracking your thread OP, but Toasty the XXL stumpy must be enormous?!
I was pretty pleased that after 25 years of p*ss taking from my mates about my various 5 bar gate 26″ wheeled bikes, my XL 29er finally looked nicely in proportion!

Agree with your comment about leaping off stuff though, but in an odd way they just seem to deal with everything.

toasty….thanks for the offer but i think id really need to see one in the flesh for a test ride…

problem i have is there are no orange dealers over here in northern ireland..

i think ill stick to the alpine untill i get a run over to scotland in september and have a look at the current models…

iv heard the alpine is going 650b next year so may hang on till then….

Sorry about side-tracking your thread OP, but Toasty the XXL stumpy must be enormous?!

Hehe, indeed, I do occationally wonder if I’ve gone a bit far. I’ve got very long legs though and 21″ bikes end up having a 400mm seatpost maxed out, it’s quite nice having the saddle at a normal height, in the middle of the rails, short stem etc.

It was bought from Bikescene a while back, I haggled a 23″ hardtail into the deal while I was at it:

What about trying a XL (21″) 5 29 / Alpine 5? I went from a 18″ 5 26″ that I was right at the limit of to a L (19″) 5 29 that fits perfectly. They really do feel very similar to a normal 5 but the front end is defo higher. I’m biased but think they’re ace and wouldn’t go back to a 26″ 5. Oh, and the 22″ 5 looks odd imo.

Thank god for Spesh for catering for the giants!! 🙂