Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 53 total)
  • Road bikes for tall people. 6ft 3inches to 6ft 6inches
  • jacob46
    Free Member

    looking for the best suited bikes for me! im 6ft 4 inches and prefer to fit in the middle of my ideal frame size. i own a HT which is made by specialized and its XL 29er and is perfect.
    ide love a road bike but the likes of planet-x i seeem to max out there frames and dont want to look as thou im swamping it. pitty i love the prices of planet-x.

    turbo1397
    Free Member

    Im 6ft 2″ and ride a large giant defy.. 35″ inside leg, long arms and its bang on..:)

    bol
    Full Member

    Most of the big mainstream brands go up to XXL. I’m 6’4″ and ride a 58cm/XL Specialized. The XXL looked a bit ungainly and seemed very tall and long.

    cinnamon_girl
    Full Member

    My son rides an Xl planet x plastic, he’s 6’4″ with both very long arms and legs. I reckon it’s a good fit, he also had a bike fit done that saw a few tweaks.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    6’4 and a 58 specialized secteur here. I did change the bars to something wider and stem to something longer though. Oh, and the cranks to 180s…

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Thanks for replurs guys keep em coming.
    Think I’ll be trying Giant next! I’m 34 inch leg with long arms. Phoned ribble today and they don’t seem to cater for above 6ft 4. Madness!

    scruff9252
    Full Member

    Im about your height; 193cm and have a xl Dolan l’etape. Quite content with the fit.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Ide love to commute on this but I’m sure I would swamp it!
    http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXXLS105/planet-x-xls-shimano-105-cyclocross-bike

    TheDoctor
    Free Member

    Best to try some frames/bikes as people quoting their height and corresponding frame size is next to useless for fitting.

    Going by this logic, everyone above has a bike too small for them as I am 186cm and have a 60cm frame.

    Try some in a shop first.

    Bez
    Full Member

    I’m a smidge under 6’5″, 36″ inside leg. Ride a 63cm Cannondale CAAD9 (60cm ETT) and a 62cm Surly Pacer (60.5), both with 330mm+ posts, 20mm+ of layback with the saddle slammed back, 13cm stems, long-reach bars significantly lower than saddle. YMMV, natch.

    I seem to recall Trek looked decent enough for large sizes. If you want really big, like 62cm+ ETT, and don’t mind steel then Surly and Soma do some big sizes.

    Main thing for me is finding a slack enough seat angle in combination with a long enough top tube to get the reach I need. Most manufacturers, especially UK ones, don’t even come close. Next bike might have to be custom.

    markgraylish
    Free Member

    6’4″ with long spine!

    I’m currently riding a 2013 60cm Cannondale SuperSix 105 and a 2014 61cm Kona Jake, neither of which look like farm gates.

    Only had both for a couple of weeks and not got any serious mileage on them yet so time will tell whether I got the sizing correct…

    longmover
    Free Member

    I’m 6’7″ and ride a 61cm Specialized Allez with loads of post showing.

    Marmoset
    Free Member

    6’3″ here with 34″ inside leg. Riding a 58cm Wilier. I have a mate virtually identical in build who prefers a 60cm frame though, so it’s all a matter of preference. IF you’re buying a racier frame and want a higher front end then a larger frame will have a longer HT, whereas a sportive kind of bike will have a taller HT on a smaller frame.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Think a giant or specialized seem to cater for 6ft 3+ better than anyone else. Pitty I already have a specialized and wanted a different make.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    Im 6’4″ and v comfortable on XL On-One pompino/pompetamine.
    But Im not a roadie so dont know how the geometry differs.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    Giant TCR/Propel/Defy in L or XL. My clubmate is 6’8″ and rides an XL TCR and Propel. You are probably a L. Giant cater for their namesake.

    swavis
    Full Member

    I’m 6’2″ and on a 58cm CAAD8. Fits me perfectly.

    CaptJon
    Free Member

    It will only be useful if you want a Canyon, but they have a tool to help you work out what size you need on their website.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Canyon mail order only?

    robdob
    Free Member

    Specialized do seem to make very good bikes in the extreme sizes – my wife loves, and I mean loves (she made a point of saying exactly that last week) her XS Spesh road bike – no other manufacturer had anything that would fit.

    Toasty
    Full Member

    I ride a 62cm Canyon Ultimate Al, 6’6″ with really long legs. It’s almost too big, I swapped the stem to a shorter one and it fits great now. Very glad I didn’t get the 65cm, it must be huge.

    I was very close to getting a TCR, the compact geometry put me off as I’d need a mile of seatpost on the XL one (58.5cm seat tube).

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Can’t get through to canyon. Email only and should respond within 3 days

    nemesis
    Free Member

    6’5″, 35″ inside leg.

    60cm Bianchi, 58.5cm top tube (14cm stem, mind)

    58cm CX frame which I also use on road, 57.5cm top tube

    My point being that you shouldn’t get fixated on the idea of needing a huge frame. Try and see what works for you.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    http://www.clubber.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/mc098.jpg

    Love it! Can you send me info please?

    nemesis
    Free Member

    What do you want to know? It’s an MC098 from Miracle/Ican via aliexpress. Most of it has been posted here already – do a search on “MC098” via the advanced search (or you’ll only get a month’s posts) up there—>

    I should add that I’d have gone for the 60cm one if I was going to use it exclusively on the road.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Ok thank you. I can only see me using it for work and I only touch the smallest amount of toe path 1/2 mile if that.
    I love the colour scheme and brakes. Thanks.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    It’s plenty light enough for the road (around 1.3kg frame) and it handles well on road too.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    Nemesis , can’t get it anymore.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    How do you mean?

    Toasty
    Full Member

    My point being that you shouldn’t get fixated on the idea of needing a huge frame. Try and see what works for you.

    It helps getting the right size though? Your Bianchi has the saddle rammed to the back of it’s rails, you’ve got a 14cm stem and a high seatpost. The only real difference you’d have had with a bigger frame would be a longer wheelbase.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Yes, mostly agree but I’ve found I like the saddle far back so a bigger frame would have had that the same and I’d have had a different position along the bike (further to the back) and different handling. I’m not saying that shorter or longer is better, just to not absolutely assume that because you’re tall that you need a massive sized bike.

    The Bianchi is my favourite road bike to ride over many other bikes I’ve had, most of them a good bit longer in the top tube. My position has essentially been the same on all of them (eg I had shorter stems on the longer bikes)

    hooli
    Full Member

    I am 6 foot 5, 34 inside leg and ride a 61cm Specialized if it is any help

    MisterT
    Full Member

    IMO far to many folk, and lots of you on this thread, seem happy to ride a very compromised position. Too many bikes having geometry designed for criterium racing with high bottom brackets, steep head angles and overly short wheelbases. This was all very trendy in the 80 s and 90 s but is seriously lacking understanding of what a good handling bike should feel like and ride like.

    Sitting on such short wheelbase machines will not give the fine ride you should expect from a great machine that has been designed to fit tall folk.

    Whilst you can always ride a bike that’s too small or too big for you, and many people do because they haven’t experienced a properly fitted bike, it will take its toll on you, it won’t feel comfy for day long rides, it won’t flow through corners with the centre of gravity well poised.

    But I did ride the same size bike for 10 years when I was a kid, and it went from being far to big for me to far to small for me and I still loved it and was sad to move up to one that fitted me. But once I rode a properly fitted bike I could simply ride further, harder and with more control and enjoyment.

    My 5 custom made frames have all got 58 top tubes and 12 stems. All sized up using different theories and methods by different frame builders in different decades (Merckx, Dave Yates, Argos, Enigma) and they all came up with same core dimensions, they have subtly different geometry such as bb drop, chainstay lengths and fork rake, but the core dimensions all the same. They are all fantastic to ride, and I am only 5′ 10.5″ with longer than normal legs (33.5″ inside) and shorter than normal torso.

    So I urge you tall folk to get a properly designed frame spaced out, and then see how different a machine designed for you would be different. You don’t have to buy it, you can simply go through the process of design, to see what a highly experienced builder would size you up with.

    nemesis
    Free Member

    Isn’t that just good advice for anyone? Eg get a bike that fits?

    And FWIW, it’s great that you’ve been given the same ‘ideal’ measurements (eg 58/12/etc) by different builders but IME that’s not the norm. Many different methods of fit exist and it’s not uncommon to get quite different ‘ideal’ measurements from different places.

    TiRed
    Full Member

    58 top tubes and 12 stems

    I am only 5′ 10.5″

    You must have the flexibility of a snake or the arms of a gibbon! I’m the same size and almost the same proportions and my favored top tube stem combo is 4.5cm less than yours. Even accounting for a degree of seat and head tube angles (~1 cm each) that would still be 2cm difference overall. I’m impressed.

    To the OP: I’d definitely test a L and an XL Giant Defy. It has most of the design features MisterT (correctly) brings up.

    Sundayjumper
    Full Member

    I’m 6’4″ and ride Specialized XL mountain bikes – a Stumpjumper FSR & a Stumpjumper HT. BOth feel good to me.

    I also have a Specialized XXL road bike and I actually think I’m a bit in between sizes there, an XL might have been better.

    So the boring unhelpful answer – you need to go and try stuff, we’ll all different sizes.

    MisterT
    Full Member

    You must have the flexibility of a snake..

    Ha ha.. Ok I am an ex racer and yes I do have lots of flexibility but my stems are no-longer slammed (like they used to be) and I do now use compact bars.. Because I no longer need to get so low on the drops in full cavendish styled race mode.

    jacob46
    Free Member

    hooli – Member
    I am 6 foot 5, 34 inside leg and ride a 61cm Specialized if it is any help

    How many inches of post do you have sticking out of frame?

    thehustler
    Free Member

    This is my 61cm Quintana roo split r, I’m 6’4 with a 34 inside leg and fits/rides great

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