Another road bike fit question

I think my 60cm Triban 5 is too small.

I’m 6′ and weigh 14 stone.

I had no idea about road bike sizing so went along with the bloke in the shop.

What say the STW experts?

Do you reckon they’ll change it still?

you seem to be sitting a long way back and your arms look uncomfortably locked?

If you assume Knee over pedal spindle it does look like you are too far back.

For info i am 6′ and ride a 57cm. so i don’t think the bike is too small, unless the geometry is odd?

But to be honest that doesn’t look like a 60cm frame?

Which bit of it is 60cm?

the overall length/wheelbase 😉

I don’t know, that’s just what they sell it as……

I was planning on rotating the bars aft a bit to raise them up.

I’d shift your saddle forward and possibly have a slightly longer stem but bar that it doesn’t look too far off to me.

I’m basically trying to get to the bottom of why I’m no faster on it than I am on my Mtb….

More pics:

You’re not pedalling fast enough? I don’t think it’s anything to do with the minor variances in frame size you’re talking about here.

I bet those aren’t even road shoes and pedals 🙄

Lol! So why does everyone ride the stupid uncomfortable things then 😉

I cannot get access to my power on it 🙁

Interesting, on all 3 roadie shots you have straight arms and look uncomfortable, on the MTB you have bent arms and look much more at home. I think your reaching for the bars a bit so would reiterate what I said before but also potentially raise the bars a touch, maybe flip through stem?

Edit, also, and I can’t tell without a pic of your leg at the bottom of the stroke, but if your saddle a touch high? If so that will help.

Painting your fence would be a useful start.

It looks like you are concentrating on balancing against the fence, and I’m not sure if you are really sitting in a true riding position, so the photo may be misleading.
For your height, a 60cm bike would normally be a bit big, if anything, I think, but that one doesn’t look huge, so I don’t know how Decathlon size their frames.
It looks like the bar ends are pointing skywards, so I would definitely try rotating them. Typical position would be to have the bottom of the drops parallel to the ground or pointing downwards a bit.
Can’t see where your saddle is, and how you are sitting on it, so can’t comment on that. See how you feel with the bars adjusted, get your saddle height right, and then try moving the saddle slightly fore and aft until you get something that works for you.

Thanks. I’ll definitely have a look at flipping the stem and tipping the bars back. I moved the saddle back a fair bit when I first got it so might need to move it forward again.
Just found BTwins online calc- it said I needed a 57cm so it shouldn’t really be too small?.

Was waiting for a fence comment 😀 Need to get that water pipe trenched in too 😉

Yep- was trying not to topple over so prob a bit tense but not a million miles away.

So it’s not a fit question but a speed / technique question?

How are you measuring your speed?

I would get something to reliably measure your average, a garmin or smartphone app.
Do a baseline 20 mile ride on the mtb.
Pump up the tyres c 100 psi on the roadie and do the same route, get on the drops as much as possible, when you think you’ve put every bit of effort you have into peddling try a bit harder.
Repeat.

You will be faster than on the mtb and get faster still each time you ride. Having sad all that it’s possibly not the best time of year to start.

Double post

Are you sure its a 60cm frame?

Frame looks smaller than 60cm to me as well.
Stem looks too short, which it will if it’s not a 60.
Bars need rotating upwards.

You need to actually measure that frame.

The state if your lawn is shocking.

It’s not a lawn! It’s an old concrete yard that’s weeded over 😉

I use a Garmin with wheel sensors on both. Yes I’ve auto-calibrated them both 🙂
I’ve got a local 20 miler I ride as a TT. Can average 18.6mph on the Scott and the best I’ve managed on the Triban is a few seconds quicker but still 18.6mph av.

I’ve also ridden HCC201b (a ‘sporting’ local TT course) a few times. Managed 17.8average for 52.32 on the Scott. First go on the Triban was 17.9 average for 52.21 and my latest effort was 18.1 average for 51.35.

So “you will be faster than on the Mtb” is only just the case and I find it a really unpleasant ride.

Where do I measure the frame?

Is it just a case of re-training my body to the new position ?

nkyDunc – Member
Are you sure its a 60cm frame?

+1

That looks more like a 54cm than 60cm if you are 6′ to me.

Now you see why i bought the Wilier Escape and sold it 6 weeks later mate. PErsonally i felt i could make all the changes in the world to the bike, but short of turning it into a Hybrid, i wasn’t going to like it in the slightest.

b twin bikes often have a sticker next to the bottle cage bosses on the seat tube which has all the sizes on that they make. the size of the bike is given by one of the numbers aligning with one of the bottle cage bolts.

I can’t see the sticker on yours though.

It’s normally measured from centre of bb to the top of seat tube, but those frames look like a ‘compact’ or semi compact geometry, so the ’60cm’ might be a theoretical old school equivalent. I can’t see any geo. charts on the decathlon website either.

Hard to tell properly as you’re leaning on a fence, but…

something looks wrong, your arms are locked straight!

Your bars are at funny angle, rotate them upwards.

Looks like your weight is really far back, try moving your saddle forward a bit, although you dont want to be supporting alot of weight with your arms.

Is your saddle the ight height? Looks like it mighgt be higher than on the mtb.

Don’t flip your stem, this is a cop out for nodders with bad backs. Your back looks pretty straight so you’ll be alright. Best bet is to rotate your pelvis, not enough people bother to do this and they end up with a dodgy fit (or at least that’s what I reckon).

As mentioned above, have you pumped the tyres up to 100psi??

Frame looks tiny for a 60.. Rotate the bars so that the top of the bend is horizontal, they are rotated way too far forward. Reckon you’d really struggle to ride on the hoods with the bar and hoods in that position.

Why are your arms locked out? Can you not have a slight bend in the arms and lean a bit further forward? If not then bars probably need to come up a bit. A photo of you on the hoods would be good.

The seat forward and longer stem (maybe with a rise) sounds like a good plan too. Can we have a photo without you on the bike too? Wondering what the seat angle is like.

As people have said it doesn’t look right. Your weight is really far back so pedaling must feel a bit odd, if anything I would say it was a bit small and not a 60cm.
Measure the tt and the stem and it’ll give you a better idea of size.

i’m 6’1″ – i ride a 60cm (road) frame.

if our bikes are the same size, i’ll eat my socks.

I’m 6’2″ and ride a 56cm road frame. They’re all measured differently and all size up differently.

yep rotate bars UP!! then move levers down a bit to get nice flat area for hands so there is no v wedge between bars and lever should be flat across for comfort and stability

also hard to tell as cranks at 90 degrees but saddle could be too high. bike fitting people dont tend to run saddles quite so high now so that you can get more power from quads etc and so you can spin easier

i’m 6’1″ – i ride a 60cm (road) frame.

if our bikes are the same size, i’ll eat my socks.

Sums up most people’s thoughts I think! 😀 Weight looks very far back over the road bike, and far back relative to pedals as just a starting point of lots of things which seem to suggest the frame is too small.

MTB looks a little better but still along the same lines. Get in touch with a decent fitter who can most likely improve both your MTB and road positions.

There are lots of general bike fitting comments and links on this previous STW thread… You will not solve this problem online as there are too many variables. A few static photos gives some rough data but is nothing compared to how your joints behave dynamically for a start. A bike fit is the way to go

P.S. Looks like a lot of sag on the MTB but it might just be a trick of the camera angle!

Thanks everyone. Tyres pumped as hard as they’ll go with a hand-pump. Foot pump is on its way.
Really happy with my MTB fit so don’t plan on changing anything there- I get off after 4 hours as fresh as when I got on.
I can’t work out what’s happened as I definitely sat on and tried a 60 in the shop and agreed to buy it but this one is a 57!!!!!!! What a plonker 🙁

I think a phone call to decathalon and a bike fit on a 60 is the way forward!!!

Sag on the MTB is around 15mm checked by Weeksy and I a fortnight ago- the back tyre is nearly flat in the pic which doesn’t help 😉

I wouldnt bother with a bike fit, have a go yourself. Your fit will change since you’ve just started, no point shelling out £200 just yet. Also, what’s to say the fitter will get it right?

Unless you’ve got a huge physical anomalie (i.e. one leg 2 inches shorter than the other) then at least try and do it yourself!

I can’t work out what’s happened as I definitely sat on and tried a 60 in the shop and agreed to buy it but this one is a 57!!!!!!!

Oh dear! 😳 Buying even roughly the right size will give you a head start in trying to get your fit right! 😉 If you still struggle with the various online information then a fit is definitely a big help and can be around £60-70 from a good reputation fitter such as those in the thread I linked previously.

Sag on the MTB is around 15mm

Not on the fork, you mean the rear shock surely. It looks as though the fork sag is half way through the travel! Even if it was 15mm sag on the fork, that would be a harsh ride even on an 80mm travel fork. As I said, could be a wired camera angle but some more air might be needed in the forks

Just keep tweaking things. Loads of quite sane advice here surprisingly. I’d say sort the bars and flip the stem as the first two parts.

Saddle is about an inch too far back. As other have said, move it forward till your knee is over the pedal spindle at 90 degrees. You should have slighly bent arms on the hoods, and this will be accomodated with correct saddle position. Bar height is personal, but reach is not. Bend over on the hoods and the elbow angle should be about 90-100 degrees. I don’t think the frame is too small, but you may need a longer stem.

Post another picture when you’ve moved the saddle.

As other have said, move it forward till your knee is over the pedal spindle at 90 degrees

Better to use the balance trick though. Saddle fore-aft position allowing you to feel balanced without too much weight on the hands. I’m happy on most of my bikes with my knee up to a couple of inches behind the pedal.

I can’t work out what’s happened as I definitely sat on and tried a 60 in the shop and agreed to buy it but this one is a 57!!!!!!! What a plonker

I think a phone call to decathalon and a bike fit on a 60 is the way forward!!!

definitely change it if you can – good luck

can’t work out what’s happened as I definitely sat on and tried a 60 in the shop and agreed to buy it but this one is a 57!!!!!!! What a plonker

Sometimes there’s not a lot that can be said. didn’t you notice it was smaller when you got on it ?