*RANT* - Heightist bike shops « Singletrack Forum

Chat Forum

[closed]

RANT - Heightist bike shops

65 posts & 42 voices | Started 2 years ago by willard | Latest reply from markgraylish

Tags:

Pages: 12 Next »

willard - Member

I'm well annoyed.

I want a new bike. I need a new bike. BUT... It seems like every shop I speak to that actually sells something decent is stuck in the same pattern. No stock of bikes suitable for people of my height. Ok, 6' 5" may be a touch on the lfty size, but the population s a whole is getting taller, so why the **** not import some more of the bigger frame sizes so that people like me, with money to spend and the ok from their wife to spend it, can actually BUY the bloody thing!!

I don't wnt to have to wait a week for the thing to come in. I want to see a bike I like, take it for a test drive and then ride the bloody thing home. It's going to be a nice weekend, and now I am going to be forced to walk, not ride, walk somewhere.

ALL I WANT IS A BLOODY BIKE THAT WILL FIT ME! It's not rocket science, I can't be the only tall person wanting to buy something like that in Cambridgeshite can I?

For all the hassle you caused me person that stole my last bike, I hope you get a rectal prolapse. Fecker.

Posted 2 years ago #
tracknicko - Member

not just shops. very hard to get second hand kit in larger sizes. i ran medium xc frames for ages until my back told me enough was enough...

Posted 2 years ago #
aracer - Member

I can't be the only tall person wanting to buy something like that in Cambridgeshite can I?

The particular bike you want? Yes - I reckon that's highly plausible, hence why it's uneconomic for shops to stock it.

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

well, this says that 98% of the american population are under 6'4".

If we assume a similar distribution in the UK are you surprised that bike shops don't stock stuff that only 2% of the population would fit, let alone buy?

Posted 2 years ago #
deadlydarcy - Member

*snigger*
How's the weather up there fella?

[from a shortarse with the reverse problem]

Posted 2 years ago #
willard - Member

Stop trying to deflect my bad mood using facts!

This is all about me wasting a perfect weekend of biking because these so called bike shops can't be bothered to stock something for me.

Posted 2 years ago #
hels - Member

Try being 5 ft nothing. Not only is it impossible to try bikes, I can't reach anything in cupboards either.

Demo days are yopur friend, as is patience. You can damage yourself with a badly fitting bike. Good things are worth waiting for...

Posted 2 years ago #
Talkemada - Blocked

Well, how many other people are there, of your Crouchian proportions? Not many. Bike shops will not sell many gates, so won't have them in stock. They'll stock what they know they will sell. Expecting them to have a full range of huge bikes just on the off chance a lintel basher might come in, is a bit much, don't you think?

I know what you're saying though; I'm 'not tall', and have in the past had difficulty in finding small framed bikes to swing a leg over. Fortunately, a lot more women are into biking these days, so tiny bikes are more abundant.

I blame all these 'average' people...

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

"I can't reach anything in cupboards either"

we have one of thos elittle steps IKEA do so kids can reach the sink in our kitchen so my wife can reach the wall cupboards. I still have to get down anythign that's not on the bottom shelf in them though.

Posted 2 years ago #
Wiksey - Member

From previous experience Kona make larger option frames. At 6'3" I find the 20" Kona frames to be spot on but they (at leastthey used to) do 22" & 24" frames - could be worth looking for?

Posted 2 years ago #
fwb2006 - Member

I too being 6' 4 had a problem getting a bike to fit. The answer is pretty simple, buy American, buy XL, build it yourself.

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

One thing you tall/short people ought to be greateful for is that every sale (bike or otherwise) I've ever been to is overrun with clothes, bikes and footwear that will fit you...

Posted 2 years ago #
willard - Member

I'm not that keen on Kona... I know I may be biased, but they have always seemed to me to be sluggish ad heavy compared to other peoples'.

I was actually looking to get a Rockhopper SL (seems to be the best combination of frame and spec for the money) in 23", but that seems to be like getting blood out of a stone.

Yes, I might bang my head on door frames once in a while, and I have trouble getting trouser that fit, but at least I can easily reach things on the shelves at home. And see over crowds.

So there.

Posted 2 years ago #
noteeth - Member

Stoner is over 8 ft tall, iirc. He'll have some constructive advice.

Posted 2 years ago #
pitduck - Member

must be lack of oxygen up there making you ratty

Posted 2 years ago #
votchy - Member

I ride with 3 guys, 6'4", 6'5" and 6'7", like riding with 3 pylons on 5 bar gates

Posted 2 years ago #
Talkemada - Blocked

Yes, I might bang my head on door frames once in a while, and I have trouble getting trouser that fit, but at least I can easily reach things on the shelves at home. And see over crowds.

(Goes to high-five willard; can't jump high enough, fails)

Posted 2 years ago #
cynic-al - Member

Bez is 9' tall yet rides a 12" Inbred.

Posted 2 years ago #
wwaswas - Member

he does use a 6ft length of scaffold pole instead of a seatpost, though.

Posted 2 years ago #
pedalhead - Member

Just order a Salsa Big Momma and have done with it. It's the only bike that my 6'5" mate doesn't look a total t1t on.

Posted 2 years ago #
hels - Member

wwaswas - I have some of those ! At the front door, as I am too small to see through the peep hole that some heightist person has installed with no thought that actually small people being more defenceless have more need to see who is there.

But yes it's true, we do much better out of sales when only the 8/10 and the 20/22 sizes are left !

Posted 2 years ago #
vrapan - Member

I got it worse. I wanted to spend some serious cash on a Carbon Anthem X, but not only do they not do full bikes on XS but they don't even do the frames by themselves. So I thought ok I will go Alu since I knew 2009 Anthem X came in XS but nop in the UK no XS built 2010 Anthems so I ended up buying an Alu frame.

That and the fact that I have to shorten all my trousers cause apparently if you have 32" waist you are allowed to have 29" legs but if you have 29" waist you can't possibly have legs any shorter than 32" GRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Posted 2 years ago #
Heather Bash - Member

Did you know can buy 480mm seatposts?

Posted 2 years ago #
oddjob - Member

Cannondale usually do some pretty big stuff. I am 6'3" ish and ride an XL Salsa Mamasita and I suspect it wouldn't be big enough for you but I have a 63cm Cannondale road bike that is too big for me. (do you want to buy the frame? :-))

Posted 2 years ago #
JDB - Member

As a 6'6" I feel your pain, but I've been riding for a while and been through a few bikes so I know that its worth waiting for the right bike. My suggestion would be to stuff the big S off and order yourself an On-One 29er, either In-Bred or Scandal, and enjoy riding a real bike rather than a 26" wheeled gate. At the moment I've got a Spec Enduro and a Scandal 29er, the Scandal is an amazing bike, and as a big guy it just feels so much better riding the bigger hoops. Don't think the Enduro is going to be hanging around much longer, wouldn't be surprised if a Santa Cruz Tall Boy or perhaps one of the new Giant Anthem 29ers replaces it some some time soon.

Posted 2 years ago #
retro83 - Member

At least you tall/short folk get good deals in the sales

Posted 2 years ago #
tree-magnet - Member

http://www.torico.co.uk have some large sized bikes in stock, depending on what you're after.

Posted 2 years ago #
willard - Member

Tree-magnet, good call on Torico... Just spoken to the chap there and was really impressed with him.

Unfortunately, he has given me _another_ choice for my money (Genesis Core 20) and so I need to go and do some more searching for reviews. Damn this internet thing. And bikes... Rapidly hating them now. But the Genesis does look very nice indeed, and well specced for the money. Anyone seen/ridden/own one?

JDB. Can't bring myself to get a 29er. Sorry.

Posted 2 years ago #
clubber - Member

6'5" here too.

It'd be great if shops all held stock of bikes in my size (or in some cases even just made them) but since they're businesses, I can completely understand why they don't.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever test ridden a bike in my size but I can't say that I've had much problem with it - I know what fits so geometry charts work fine.

Posted 2 years ago #
JDB - Member

Why no 29er? Don't knock till you've tried it. I don't know anyone tall guys who have gone back to midget wheels after trying a 29er out, they just make so much more sense for big guys.

Resons for a 29er

Posted 2 years ago #
clubber - Member

No they don't, they just look more in proportion. Why are they better for tall guys? The contact points are the same and everyone's at odds to tell me that the wheelbase is similar to 26" bikes so why is your height a factor? (FWIW, I would actually like a bike with longer chainstays since being tall with standard sized chainstays means being too far back over the wheel).

I've tried several now and just don't get on with them. I like the idea of better rolling but not at the expense of enjoying the ride which is the issue I've had. I'll keep trying to find one with geometry that I like though..

From the article linked

For a tall rider, bigger wheels make sense; the bike is not only more normally proportioned, but the steering tube length on suspension forks is no longer such a limit on the maximum handlebar height, since the top of the fork is three inches higher due to the taller wheel.

So to summarise, the major benefits for tall riders are that they look more in proportion and it's easier to set the bars up high. Great

Posted 2 years ago #
mark_b - Member

You could take a lot of great quotes from that linked article....

Timid, technically inept women, for lack of a better way to say it, particularly benefit from them. The women I ride with around here call them “big girl wheels.”

I'm sticking with 26" wheels, and having to take a gamble on large bikes fitting without a test ride, for the foreseeable future.

Posted 2 years ago #
willard - Member

Oh no... Just popped onto the Merlin website and seen that they have a Malt 2 with a 21" frame in stock, pretty much the same spec as the Genesis, reduced to the same price, but with 10% off at the checkout. Only problem is the 12 day build time, but now that I am resigned to actually waiting...

Ok, so if anyone has any experience of the Malt 2 or the Core 20, can they let me know?

Posted 2 years ago #
MrTall - Member

The only place i ever found that carried decent stocks of big bikes were Evans in London as there was usually a few knocking around in one of the umpteen stores within a few miles radius.

I have a Spesh Rockhopper in size 23" (the 29er version though i'm afraid) and i think it was one of 2 in the country when i was looking. It's simply uneconomic for small shops to stock such big bikes i'm afraid. Having said that, it's amazing just how many very tall guys are on this site. There was a thread a while back that surprised me with the amount of 6'4"-6'9" chaps on here. I am a definite fan of 29ers now as well so i'd suggest you at least try one but i also still have a 21" Hardrock and a 22" Kona Hoss in 26" wheeled size.

Your best bet is to ask on here if somebody near you has a bike in your size for you to try as other tall folk will usually happily let you test them out (then you can safely order one). Failing that ring Evans and see what stores may have a 23" Spesh in stock and jump on the train to the big smoke and pick it up...

Posted 2 years ago #
MrTall - Member

Evans are showing the rockhopper in stock in 23" in both red and black. You could have it by the weekend. If i recall they also will send it to a local store and you'll get to have a sit/test on it before you commit to buy?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/rockhopper-sl-2010-mountain-bike-ec020001

Edit - And if you join the LCC - London Cycling Campaign (around £30) you'll get a card that gives you 10% off at Evans so it'd be £630.

Posted 2 years ago #