Hiya,

Any L’Etape owners out there with inside leg length around 29″?!

Basically, I’m 5’7″ and 29″ by inside leg (clothing!). Height puts me at the bottom end of Medium frame, but with short-ish legs it seems I might be better off with the small frame when needing to stand over it when required!

I’m not in a position to visit their showroom, but one of their salesmen has advised accordingly in terms of absolute measurements; given I’m borderline, I’m just wondering if there are any “real world” opinions (which obviously STW will excel at! 🙂 from similarly-sized folk which would be useful.

Cheers!

Mark

Their sizing guide says:
“If you are borderline between frame sizes but have longer legs, go for the smaller frame size. If your torso is longer but have shorter legs, go for the larger frame size to get the extra top tube length.”

So they are emphasizing the length rather than stand over height.

Anyway, will you lot stop talking about the Dolan l’Etape so I can keep my money in my wallet?

Had a Mythos few years ago – looks like a very similar geometry, I’m the same size as you & had a small. If I recall the small was listed as 44cm at the time (seat tube) & had a top-tube of 53cm, I tried the next size up (54.5 ett) but it felt miles too long – can you throw a leg over something with similar geometry too see how the TT length feels? Obviously variable things like geometry / setback seat post / stem length & will account for some difference but it might help to get an idea.
J

mcj78- interesting. I’ve also just been reading up on the Ape Index. I don’t suppose you could measure your arm span and tell me if it’s wider or shorter than your height?! Strange request I know! I’ve just found mine is 3″ longer so reach and the larger frame might be best. If yours is less than that, that may well be why the smaller frame was the right choice for you.

I’ve also just measured the arse off my current road bike to see if anything compares, but as expected I need to stare at numbers matrix stylee before it all makes sense.

8m 5’10 with a 32 inside leg – I used to have a medium and found it quite long. I ended up using a 80mm stem.
If I were you I’d go with the small….

mawglobal – my arm span is approx 168cm so a few cm shorter than my height, I think my arms are slightly shorter than average mind.

Sounds like you have slightly longer arms than me – however 3″ (or ~7.5cm) might sound a lot, but divided by 2 arms = 1.5″ or 3.75cm which doesn’t factor in any possible difference in shoulder width which could also account for a longer arm span, but wouldn’t make any difference to forward reach.

I’ve found this helpful in the past when trying to work out which size I needed – used in comparison with a couple of others & average out the difference should point you in the right direction

Bike fit calculator

J

I’m the same size as you…small frames fit me better than mediums.

mcj78- thanks for that, and yes you’re right, various factors which could be responsible. Cheers for the bike fit link, that’s useful.

So, general consensus so far (plus an experienced roadie workmate), seems to be that Small is the best fit. Have to say, looking at geometries of other bikes and associated recommendation based on rider height, the small L’Etape frame seems the most fitting so I’m not sure why there seems to be such a difference in height bracket for given frame geometries given as Dolan’s advice. In fairness, their caveat is that it’s always best to try than to buy blind. Bit more thinking for me to do…

Had some very long looks at geometries of my own bike, other bikes, filled out the bike fit calculator linked above, combined with a very lengthy chat with Tom at Dolan and the long and short of it (!) is that their “natural” recommendation would still be 48/M however given I’m comfortable on my current bike listed as 46.5/S which has an identical top-tube to the 44/S, that would suggest that for me, the 44/S is the frame of choice. So I’ve ordered one.

Have to say, top service from Tom at Dolan, he was happy to chat about what dimension affects what, and popped over to the 44 and 48 frames in their showroom to take real measurements while we chatted. For the record, the max BB-Saddle length of L’Etape frames is 77cm for the 44, and something like 82cm on the 48. For me that was the deciding factor as the small will comfortably take my legs. And as an anal retentive, you can expect a closure comment in 7-10 days’ time when I find out for real if it all works!

Just to close this thread down, the Small frame was definitely the right choice for me. The reach is spot on. The saddle is quite high, but well within limits- as a result, there’s plenty of room for a saddle bag and seatpost rear light. For the record, I went for the smaller 170mm cranks and narrow 42cm bars, and it all just feels “right”.

Thinking about the numbers, I reckon I could have made the next size up work for me, however the window for achieving a comfortable position would have been smaller, and given I intend to use this for triathlons and duathlons the smaller frame with lower headtube should lend itself to clip-on tri-bars better. Also I’m not convinced I’d have got a light under my saddle pack which would also be fully visible to cars behind.

Admittedly my only comparison is with my old, slightly tired and rattly Defy, but I love the handling of the L’Etape- descents and corners feel more stable; it rides well over bumps; accelerates like a demon. I’ve not had many opportunities to ride over the last few months, yet the 2 rides I’ve had have furnished me with a smattering of PRs and an average speed as if I hadn’t had a riding break 🙂 Delivery was quick, 8 days IIRC. Cable routing has been done nicely, and they appear to have put a bit of thought into where cables will rub and tried to avoid the frame where possible- the rear brake for example loops a little high but as a result can only rub the side of the seatclamp.

For anyone else buying one of these, I’d recommend the following:
– if you use anything clamped to the bars, then perhaps ask Dolan to leave a couple of winds off the bar tape at the stem end- things that are mounted above a compact clamp are ok, but the way the cables exit the tape if they are mounted in front of the clamp like my Lezyne Zecto lights then they interfere. Not difficult to cut the tape back & reterminate, but I’ve got enough little jobs to do on bikes & around the house!
– there’s evidently more overlap in frame sizing than Dolan imply- it’s always sensible to try to get to a shop for a proper sizing check, but if you can’t do that then make sure you look at the numbers very carefully, and chat to them about it as they’ve been exceedingly helpful.
– on the small frame, if you want to have a seat-tube bottle, you’ll need a side-entry cage and even then only a small (60cl) bottle fill fit. A 75cl bottle will fit on the down-tube, but a side entry cage is still better to help prevent scrapes to the top-tube.

Cheers,

Mark