Planning on getting a Kinesis cross bike in the near future. The Kinesis suggestion is that at 170cm (5ft 7in) I should be too big for the 51cm, and in the middle of the range for the 54cm size.

54cm seat tube centre to top (effective top tube of 55.1cm) sounds like a big frame for CX, but not having a road bike or a CX bike, it’s hard to know. I have ridden a Whyte Saxon Cross, which I think had a 55.8cm effective top tube, which is slightly longer than the 54cm Kinesis, and it didn’t feel too long (although it did feel odd since I’m not used to drops!)

The sizes are the same as other Kinesis cross bikes, e.g. the 5T. Any real world experience from Kinesis riders?

Had 3 crosslights all 54cm and i’m 5’11” and they all fiited well with 100mm stems, also ride a 54cm road bike

For your height I would have thought a 51cm frame with an effective TT of 53.5 cm would be plenty big enough.
Warning! I have never ridden a Kinesis. I’m 5′ 11″ and have a Giant with a 55.5 cm TT and that feels big to me.

Depends very much on you and what you like. I prefer a longer bike, so would go bigger, but YMMV.
I’m 5 8 and have a 54 top tube and a 100mm stem.

I’d go to a LBS and try one, I’m a bit taller than you and ride 55.5cm TT cx bikes and 56.5cm TT road bikes, but its down to proportions and personal preference.

Im 6’2 on a 60cm (ett 580) crosslight.In retrospect maybe I should have gone for a 57cm but I sized it the same as my racelight.In line post and 100mm stem makes it a bit shorter (better for cx).
PSA the new Salsa cowbell bards are AWESOME.I loved my bell laps (especially the flare) but hankered fot something a little shallower…..bingo,Cowbells 😀

I race a Kinesis Crosslight Pro5. I am 166cm (5’5.5″) tall and ride a 51cm C/T with a 53.5cm effective top tube, coupled with an 80mm stem and inline seatpost.

My backup cross bike shares the above setup.

My road racing bike (also kinesis) again has 53.5 cm effective top tube, inline post and 100 mm stem. You can see that I have my cross set up to be 20 mm shorter than road set up.

And finally, my road training bike has smaller 51.8 cm effective top tube, layback post and 100 mm stem – and that fits like a glove!

Think more about the effective top tube than the seat tube length. Also, as said by aP, get down to a LBS and try similar sized cross bikes.

i’m just under 5’9 and have a 54 5t, when i first got it i thought it was too big but after some adjustments i think its just right.
if i were shorter i may go with 51 but would toe overlap and shouldering become an issue? who knows

dobo, i have toe overlap on all my road & cx bikes. not an ideal situation by any means, but not one that i give a second thought to these days. only came a cropper once when trying to do a track stand at traffic lights 😳

Would have thought you’d be on the 51. Unless your not actually going to ride it off road, isn’t it relatively common to go down a smidge of a size for a cross bike?

Thanks for all the quick responses – good ol’ STW.

Still slightly torn, but based on the above, I think I can probably get either to work. Admittedly, having a ride would be best, but a bit tricky with Kinesis round here.

Based on my hour on the Saxon Cross, the 54cm might be okay. My mountain bikes are longish (in particular my Anthem is a Medium with a 90mm stem).

Seems that I could maybe get away with a 54cm with my Thomson In-line and a 90mm stem (and shorten to 80mm stem if need be) or a 51cm which will probably need a longish stem.