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With my 40th not to far away I've decided I want a cyclocross bike.
Having never owned one before I'm unsure what size I'd need. I am 5'9" with a 31"(787mm) inside leg and I ride a 54cm road bike with a 548mm top tube and that fits perfectly.
Would I be right in thinking it's better to go smaller fro a cx bike?
Looking a [url= http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rose-cross-pro-rs-3000-4636/aid:502585 ]Rose Bike[/url] and that suggests a 52cm frame with a 515mm TT. Does this sound right?
Any help from cx riders/ racers would be very much appreciated as I don't want to get this wrong. 🙂
My cx bike has a top tube 10mm shorter than my road bike. Used for racing only though.
I'm 5' 11" and cx top tube 555mm - if that's of any help.
Edit; Also run a 10mm shorter stem as well.
some people like their 'cross bike the same size as their road bike, some like to go a little smaller, i like my 'cross bike to have a 10mm shorter top-tube than my road bike and a slightly shorter stem, but that's just me
Same size for me.
I am 183cm (6ft) and I have a 58cm cyclo-cross bike which fits very well!
My CX bike is 2cm shorter than my road bike, I prefer a little more gonad clearance off road 😉
I've got it into my head that I want a cx bike now but the sizing thing is also something I need to consider. I haven't ridden a road bike in over 20 years so I'm looking at it in comparison to a mountain bike. I'm 5'5" and ride a 16" frame with a 560mm virtual top tube and a 90mm stem. I've a layback post with the saddle fully forward. So I'm thinking along the lines of a 48-50cm frame c-t with a virtual top tube around 520mm.
So does that sound about right?
3-4cm < mtb top tube is about right I'd say
Sameish size and about 1cm shorter top tube and 2-3cm shorter stem for my CX bike (my road bike has a very long stem)
Thanks, so basically the same overall reach from the saddle to the hoods as from the saddle to the bars on the mtb. That's what I was assuming would be about right.
Check standover too
I tried a 54cm kona Jake and it was perfect in length but top tube was too high (due to higher bottom bracket)
The 54cm trek x0-1 I eventually got fits perfectly (I'm 5'10")
Guess what I'm saying is that it's similar to mtb's in that different manufacturers sizes may vary so best try before you buy if you can
For 'proper' cyclocross racing, you need to be able to shoulder the bike easily, which means a too small bike is more difficult to handle.
Thanks Iain, standover may be an issue as it seems a lot of manufacturers just use road bike frame sizes rather than dropping the sizes for the cx bikes. I think the last road bike I had was 52cm so I'll be looking at around a 48 which limits choice a little.