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I recently tried a few cube orad bikes for size in my LBS. I'm 5"6 and first off tried the 53cm Peleton, its fitted fine but the guy in the shop was concerned about a lot of seatpost showing. They happened to have a 56cm one built up too so I tried that. That also fitted fine! The shop had a good look at my position on the bike and said that maybe I could do with a slightly shorter stem than the 100mm stock one but otherwise it looked good.
My dilemma is what size should I go for? The TT on the bikes are 535 + 545 respectively. Thats not much difference. I'm not that familiar with road bikes to really make much of and educated guess on what is the right one to go for. Both felt fine!!
I know Cube sizes come up a bit smaller than other manufacturers so the 56 is essentially a 54cm. Its just at 5"6 I never thought I would be looking to get a 56cm frame!
Any advice on which to choose? Smaller frame longer stem, larger frame, shorter stem? If it was an MTB I would know what to do, but its not!
I'm 5' 9" and ride a 54 frame and could happily fit to a 52cm too, so if it was me choosing which size I would definitely go for the smaller frame. At your size the 56 sounds too big, but all our body shapes are different so hard to tell.
Edit; It's easier to make a smaller bike fit than a larger one. I'm guessing with a 56 you'll have very little standover height too. My option would be smaller frame and longer stem.
FTR, Mark Cavendish is similar height (5' 8") and rides an XS (49cm Venge)
Did you get any toe overlap on the smaller frame?
Were the seats both positioned similarly in regard to the rails on the seat tube, e.g. the saddle pushed further forward on the large)?
I'd be inclined to go for the smaller size, if you get no toe overlap and don't feel cramped, but I'm a relative roadie newbie so perhaps not best placed to advise. Just my opinion.
Don't get hung up on numbers - especially when it comes to how long the seat tube is, as it's actually about the most irrelevant measurement of a bike, the effective top tube (horizontal distance from seat to bars) and the reach (horizontal distance from BB to bars) are both much more important for how the bike handles and body position. Take them both for a test ride if you can and get whichever feels better! Any reasonable bike shop should be able to do this for you. On a road bike in particular you should be leaning a bit further forward - may feel strange initially - but it allows your back to act as a spring and means your upper body is suspended will feel more comfortable on longer days out.
Im definately leaning towards the 53cm one. My current road bike is 543mm tt and i run that with an 80mm stem so the 535tt with 100mm stem should do the trick!
Dunno if it helps but I am 5'7" and ride a 56cm Agree with a 100mm stem. I would suggest that the shop advice would be correct as they will have had lots of experience with this.
The Agree looks like a great bike, it could be the one I go for.
I will bear what you say in mind and go back and have another sit on things, its difficult not having that much experience on these things and both bikes felt fine! I had a pedal on the turbo trainer with them and I didn't come away thinking oh that one is too small or too big!
Watch out for the "I'm this height and I ride this" one not everyone is on the right size bike and two as frood says there is more to is than height - reach and leg length is much more important.
Mulletus Maximus - Member
I'm 5' 9" and ride a 54 frame and could happily fit to a 52cm too, so if it was me choosing which size I would definitely go for the smaller frame. At your size the 56 sounds too big, but all our body shapes are different so hard to tell.
Cubes come up very small for their "quoted" size, my mate is similarly sized and rides a 53cm Cube.