New to the darkside of ROAD riding

weeksy, i’m 6’0″ also and have got my 59cm road bike at work with me today…. you’re more than welcome to pop over and have a sit/quick spin on it at lunch time if you want?

I perhaps should have added I’m 6 ft of average dimension and rode exactly the same model of bike but as we are the same height I would suggest that with the ability to amend stem and saddle height he would be ok using the law of averages- of course I’m sure he should go for a custom fit tho 😈

Just to chime in, hopefully helpfully, with road bikes fit is critical. You spend hours locked in position and can do yourself a damage on the wrong bike. One can only do so much with bars and stems and seatposts and crank sizes. If it doesn’t fit right, you will not enjoy riding it.

Be patient there are loads of second hand road bikes out there, sold on as they don’t fit the buyer probably !

Get yourself measured properly, best £30 I ever spent.

I perhaps should have added I’m 6 ft of average dimension and rode exactly the same model of bike

i think perhaps you should have for you post to be of any use.
no need for name calling either.

philconsequence – Member

weeksy, i’m 6’0″ also and have got my 59cm road bike at work with me today…. you’re more than welcome to pop over and have a sit/quick spin on it at lunch time if you want?

Drop me a mail Phil…. addy in profile.

I could theoretically do lunchtime yes.

May be a stupid question, but would the fact the Bianchi is a C2C geometry going to make trying something else a bit of a red herring ?

As your post above it is easy to miss out a key piece of info 😉

….but there is no need for a response of a condescending nature akin to yours really

C2C geometry going to make trying something else a bit of a red herring ?

not if you know the ETT and stem length of each bike. (and if your seatpost is going to be long enough, but that’s easily sorted.)

email sent 🙂

i’ll get the bike out the car and ready so you dont have to hang around if you’re in a rush (i need to get it out the car ready for riding home tonight so i’m not exactly going out of my way on this one lol)

I REALLY want this Bianchi… but not at the expense of it being the completely wrong bike for me.

One suggestion – If it’s <£700 then just go and buy it.

Ride it a few times, see how it fits etc
You will always be able to sell it for what you bought it for so you won’t lose any money .

If you don’t get on with it and still want a road bike you can then get a bike fitting taking it with you as you might be able to tweak the stem/saddle etc to fit.

If not you’ll be much more wiser and no worse off financially.

Fair point Dave.

What i’ve done is sort of what i should have done first of all. Whether i get on with the Bianchi is almost seoncdary to whether i get on with roadie bikes in general to a great extent. I’ve only ridden one roadie which was a cheap PoS jobbie and too small, so didn’t really give it more than a quick test ride before it was dismissed.

So, this evening i’m picking up a Specialized Roubaix in a 56 for a 24 hour test. That way i can get out for an hour this evening and 1-2 hours tomorrow and see if my riding heart is really in it as much as my theoretical desire to go and climb the Alps etc is really in it.

Part of the logic for buying the roadie is the Etape du Tour or simillar next year which i really fancy having a pop at.

I hope you enjoy the Roubaix. Mine is a 56, I’m exactly 6′ with a 32″ inside leg and it seems to fit me pretty well.

“not if you know the ETT and stem length of each bike“

And the seat angle.

Well despite Specialized saying “we’ll call you back in 5 mins”… 2.5 hours later i’m still without a call.

Using my old school logic, that shop is now dismissed and have just lost out on a £1000 sale should the Bianchi have fallen through.

So, as per initial plan, i’ll head to AW cycles later and try out their Bianchi range and get some measurments to compare to the one i’ve bought.

And the seat angle.

which will vary by what? .5° ?
ultimately that is going to only change the knee over pedal spindle/saddle position which would easily be compensated by 1cm difference in the stem,moving the saddle, a spacer or flipped stem, the bar type will also have a bearing on cockpit length.

having mentioned seat angle i can’t believe you failed to mention crank length 🙄

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-id_8167038.html#Product_information

Well i’m considering going a litlte insane…. Or not, as the case may be.

B’Twin Triban 3.

Comes in at £300 and only 10.9kg. Gets really good reviews for what it is. I’ve got to go past there today if i’m going to AWCycles.

“which will vary by what? .5° ?“

There was at least 1.5deg of variation in the frames I looked at recently (possibly 2deg, I forget). Easily enough to effectively make a full nominal size’s worth of difference between frames with a given top tube length.

And yes, it’s all easily compensated by adjusting other bits – until you’re on the limit of adjusting the other bits. (Which, as far as seat position is concerned, I am. Hence it happens to be critical for me. May or may not be for anyone else, just depends.)

My point is, though, that comparing two top tube lengths isn’t much use unless you also know the seat angles.

I’ve flicked through this thread and based upon what you’ve said and the most likely top tube length (56 – 57cm), I think that Bianchi will be OK size wise.

Ignore 0.5′ frame angle differences and 170, 172.5 or 175 crank lengths because quite frankly, I’d be stunned if you actually noticed the subtle differences.

Once you have a road bike (hopefully that Bianchi) you will fettle with the seat height, stem length, bar height and possibly even bar width. You do need to get these right as you spend most of your time in just a couple of positions, unlike a MTB where you’re constantly stopping, hucking over obstacles, over the back wheel on a descent etc etc

I’m 5′ 10″ with a slightly short torso for my height. Here are my road bike dimensions for comparison

Best road bike – 545mm TT, 74′ seat tube angle
TT bike – 547mm TT, 77′ seat angle
Winter bike – 560mm TT, 73′ seat angle
‘Hack’ road bike – 540mm TT, 72.5′ seat angle

All have different length seat posts and stems etc yet (shockingly :wink:) they all fit.

just depends.

that’s bike sizing summed up right there ^ 🙄

everything is variable, the key is knowing what effect those variables change (like 1° on a seat angle) once you know that it’s easy to size a potential bike just by looking at the geometry chart but giving anecdotal sizing advice via the interweb sticking to the basics avoids confusion (IMHO). that’s why i mentioned cockpit length (ETT+stem) as a guide as it’s easy to understand, the rest is just small variables that for an ‘average’ shape are all solved with stem/spacer/seatpost.
One degree change in seat angle amounts to around 1 cm at the top tube, only if it was a super steep crit race frame with a short TT for the given seat tube size would it be an issue (unlikely for an average low end race bike)

sounds like the OP has found the best way and that’s by sitting on a bike 🙂

Well i think we’ve reached a point of completion.

Went to AW cycles… sat on some bikes, GOD they’re LOVELY looking…

Did a wee test ride…

**** me, i hate **** road bikes. God they’re bloody awful things to sit on and ride.

Road bike is 100% off the list.

Much as it deeply deeply saddens me from a future planned riding context of events etc, it’s simply not happening.

“you’ll get used to it” i hear the cries from the back of the forum…

I don’t wanna… honestly… i really don’t

I’m buying either a Canfield Yelli Screamy frame or a Transition Bandit 29 frame.

Road bike is 100% off the list.

Oh dear.

I really do feel sorry for you.

You do ? Why ?

I could theoretically buy a 2nd 29er and run as a commute bike. But i’m 100% sure it won’t be a full on roadie i’ll be spending any money on.

You do ? Why ?

Because you’re not going to expereince the joys of road riding.

Hoesntly, you should have bought the bianchi and rode it for a bit. You could have sold it and got your money back if you reall didnt like it

between Tales of the Bionicon, and this…. 😀 You’ve certainly taken on Hora’s mantle.

Looking forward to the Saga of the Screamy.

Because you’re not going to expereince the joys of road riding.

Hoesntly, you should have bought the bianchi and rode it for a bit. You could have sold it and got your money back if you reall didnt like it

You can ride MTB’s on the road you know mate 🙂

between Tales of the Bionicon, and this…. You’ve certainly taken on Hora’s mantle.

Looking forward to the Saga of the Screamy.

I’ve also had 25 motorbikes in the past 5 years… this is not an unusual scenario for me 🙂

weeksy – Member

Well i think we’ve reached a point of completion.

Went to AW cycles… sat on some bikes, GOD they’re LOVELY looking…

Did a wee test ride…

**** me, i hate **** road bikes. God they’re bloody awful things to sit on and ride.

Road bike is 100% off the list.

Ha Ha Ha like it. 😆

I am with DavidT on this but hey it’s your life and money.

You can ride MTB’s on the road you know mate

Of course you can. You can also walk on the road aswell.

You’ve certainly taken on Hora’s mantle

that’s going to take some doing.
good luck with that.

Now, feel free to mock, but is this a COMPLETELY ridiculous idea ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cube-Hooper-8-Speed-Alfine-Hub-Geared-2010-Town-Hybrid-Little-Use-/290745746449?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item43b1cc0411

I still fancy the concept of the commute, but not the mechs etc, so an Alfine driven bike would make sense ? Can’t go SS as there’s a hill out of the village i need 2nd largest cog on gear in middle ring to get up.

But something like an Alfine running semi-slick/road rubber… well that would do a job wouldn’t it ?

From a Bianchi to a hybrid?

Behave!

just get the bianchi and get on with it.

Hybrids are basically pointless, there is a very good reason why road bikes are the way they are.

I’m not getting the Bianchi, i’m not getting anyhting with a tyre smaller than my little finger. I’m not getting anything that feels like both a torture rack and a machine of death all in 1 go.

I’m not getting the Bianchi, i’m not getting anyhting with a tyre smaller than my little finger. I’m not getting anything that feels like both a torture rack and a machine of death all in 1 go.

your point is? tyres, you have plenty of grip so why would you want bigger tyres?
, torture rack? i suppose if you have a bit of a gut it might get in the way.

Your loss.

your point is? tyres, you have plenty of grip so why would you want bigger tyres?
, torture rack? i suppose if you have a bit of a gut it might get in the way.

Your loss.

I’d have thought it was fairly self explanatory. I don’t like the riding position, the feeling of instabilty and the lack of comfort.

I don’t have a gut thanks… i’m no Contador but i’m no Tony Soprano either. 🙂

How is it my loss ? I still have £1500 sitting in my pocket. I’m no worse off.

You’re no better off either!

I’d have thought it was fairly self explanatory. I don’t like the riding position, the feeling of instabilty and the lack of comfort.

riding position is different to an MTB but then the point is different
Instability, no, a bike that actually goes round corners without being a barge.
Comfort, plenty comfortable, granted on pot hole strewn streets not the best, but a decent saddle the right tyres and some decent shorts and they are comfortable. If they weren’t comfortable why would people ride them for days at a time.

If it was me i would have at least given it a go, if you truely don’t like it fine, but the only way to know is to do a few hundred miles on a variety of roads. Find out why people ride road.

I accept that some people will never be happy, but not many things beat riding through the country following lanes, getting lost, on a warm summers afternoon, stopping at a cafe for cakes.

You’re no better off either!

I may be better off tomorrow with a Canfield Yelli Screamy frame on the way 🙂

If it was me i would have at least given it a go, if you truely don’t like it fine, but the only way to know is to do a few hundred miles on a variety of roads. Find out why people ride road.

Fair point, but even after sitting on it for a minute, i REALLY didn’t want to.

I accept that some people will never be happy, but not many things beat riding through the country following lanes, getting lost, on a warm summers afternoon, stopping at a cafe for cakes.

I do that on dirt.

Comfort, plenty comfortable, granted on pot hole strewn streets not the best, but a decent saddle the right tyres and some decent shorts and they are comfortable. If they weren’t comfortable why would people ride them for days at a time.

Horses for courses, i ride a pair of Yamaha R1 sportsbikes, they’re HELL according to many other bike owners, but i find the R1 a dream to ride.

If you get the hybrid don’t come complaining when your hubs are seized due to your salty tears from being passed by yet another road bike. 😉

Jeez, he tried it and didn’t like it, what’s the problem?

I’m not getting the Bianchi, i’m not getting anyhting with a tyre smaller than my little finger. I’m not getting anything that feels like both a torture rack and a machine of death all in 1 go.

I can only assume you’ve got some mighty big little fingers. 😛

Get a Roadrat, On-One Pompino or Genesis Day One – basically a road bike that has been designed as a halfway house for mountain bikers who are a bit road-curious. All come in Alfine flava.

It was only after a couple of years of riding a flat-barred Roadrat that I decided to give drop bars and skinny tyres a go for real.