Hi, I’m looking to buy my first road bike on a budget if £200. The problem is that I’m a 5’1/5’2 male with inside leg about 28″. I’m so confused about sizes after I heard about compact frames in halfords when the man told me they had nothing to fit! Initially I’d thought 18″ or 19″. My mtb is a claud butler 18″ and I can ride that comfortably and just reach the floor with my toes. It has a top tube (t-t) 22″.

So I want to know basically if any of the two bikes below will be okay, or the carrera tdf se 2008 50cm.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carrera-Virtuoso-Road-Bike-Racing-Bike-Hardly-Used-/190887606433?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2c71c9b8a1

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/KONA-ROAD-BIKE-WITH-SHIMANO-105-GEARS-/221267094531?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item33848bec03

Any thoughts, ideas etc appreciated. I don’t mind if it’ll be a bit on the large side as I’m used to that!
Thanks

your mtb sounds really big for you .You probably want nothing bigger than an 18 inch frame measured bottom bracket centre to top of the seat tube by the seat post clamp .Out of stock at the monent ,but Decathlon do a 300 quid bike ,the Triban 3 in a 17 and 19 inch frame

Halfords seem to sell a bike called the apollo fusion online though which says it has a 46cm frame. I believe it to be a compact bike judging by the picture so do you think that would be better?

I’m 5’2″ with an inside leg of 26.5/27″.
I ride a 15.5″ mountain bike (Marin Mount Vision and Wolf Ridge), i once had an 18″ Kona Cindercone and it was WAY too big for me.

I’ve just gone through the road bike buying thing and got it wrong, bought a 48cm Colnago online after using the sellers online sizing guide, the bike has gone back and i now have a fitting/test ride at another shop next weekend. The bike i’m looking at has a seat tube length of 44cm, i would suggest you need a 45-48cm but…..

I would strongly suggest finding a shop that will fit you to a bike properly regardless of how much you are spending.

At your height I would be looking at the smallest road bike sizes possible. I think Giant or Specialized could be a good bet.
I would also be looking at secondhand to get a quality bike within budget.

Ps. Look at effective top tube. As always – this is the true measure of bike size. The shortest I have seen is about 50cm.
You can get issues with toe overlap on smallest frames but in reality it causes few problems on a road bike.

Fwiw. 5ft 7in and ride 515cm ETT. 100mmm stem.

The smallest frames i’ve seen have been 42/44/45 cm, but it’s trying to find a shop that carries that size to get a fitting on that is the problem.
Not to be pessimistic but if you could stretch your budget to £300 then the Triban 3 from Decathalon has been highly praised by the cycling press, and i’m led to believe you can get them on e-bay for a little less second hand.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Btwin-Triban-3-45cm-kids-childs-road-bike-Ex-Cond-Ridden-20-miles-/261267333449?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3cd4bf2149

Not taking the mick as its a kids bike but might be worth asking about the size of the lad who rode this

Right, after selling a few things I’ve started looking brand new with a top budget of £300. Now it’s between

The new white decathlon b’twin triban 3 (red unavailable) £299
Dawes giro 200 2013 £255
Dawes giro 300 2013 £299

Now which of those is going to be the most light, quick, comfortable and reliable?

I’m hoping to get one in the next few days.

Would not having the carbon forks (as with the old triban 3) make that much of a difference?

My son is your size and rides an XS Giant Avail (really a Defy) and an XS Giant Talon. Both are women’s frames. Both fit him perfectly.

Road geometry is below for the XS:

Size Head Angle Seat Angle Top Tube Head Tube Chain Stay Wheel Base Standover Height
cm Degrees Degrees cm cm cmInches
XS/43.0 70.5 74.0 51.5 13.5 42.0 98.8 29.2

Your MTB is too big.

Oliver: dont believe the red being “unavailable” thing on their website. I was in the Edinburgh branch last week and was surprised to see 10+ red ones with carbon forks (sizes small, med and large..). I checked when I got home and the website said unavailable.

So it appears they get stock, put it in a store and dont bother adding it online. It would certainly be worth a phone call you your local branches.

I dont know if the carbon forks are better: but there are other differences (no Sora, different shifters, …).