Road Cycling - $1000 road bike for a very tall (6'7") guy?

Hi everyone,

I'm a tall guy (6'7") that's been riding a $300 Specialized hybrid for the past 6 months. I think it's time to move up to a good intro road bike, and my budget is around $1000. I've been searching through a lot of similar threads on this board, but many of them are out of date and there is a lot of information to sift through. Also many of the supposedly "tall" bikers are several inches shorter than I am :D.

I'm not looking to start racing, I just want a road bike that will let me go longer distances at higher speeds. I cycle for exercise/fun, so I don't really need anything too fancy. Anyone have some good suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Damn. and I thought I was tall. You might need a custom frame for a good fit

See, if you were a foot shorter, you can buy my Fuji. Hey, an idea for you, maybe you should speak with Yao Ming about his bike :D

Hopefully you're all legs - I'm at the border of normalcy (6'5") and I've yet to find a reasonable bike with a long enough top tube. Later XXL Schwinns seem to have top tubes that go up to 61cm, and the biggest Surly Pacer is 60.5, but you might have like a foot of standover :eek:

you shouldn't need a custom frame, just a tall seatpost, bar spacers and longer stem.

You'll need a good bike shop that will swap parts. Start with a 61cm frame. $1000 will buy you a nice ally Trek, Cannondale, or a steel frame bike (Lemond?).

Trek 1500 @63cm. Or Lemond @61cm (they are measured differently).

I would try to shop ebay for a few weeks, looking for an older 80's steel framed bike around 64cm, with 700c wheels. Then strip down, refinish it, and rebuild it with a 9s group, and some stout wheels from Mike Garcia, or the like.

That would make it a great all around bike for everything. If you want to start racing, you may need to make a much more hefty investment in a custom made calfee carbon, or a custom Ti frame, but you're talking major bucks at this point.

I'm afraid due to your height, the market just doesn't provide much in between for you category.

Nor sure if this is tall enough, but it's an option.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ULTEGRA-20SP-6600-10-ROAD-BIKE-BONTRAGER-DEDA-FIZIK_W0QQitemZ7183419127QQcategoryZ98084QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I am 6' 6" with a 34" pant inseam and fit fine on a 62 cm Specialized. Another already osted a 63cm Trek and Cannondale also makes a 63. The biggest problem you will come across is that no one stocks these sizes so you will not be able to test ride an of the bikes. For your budget however I would seriously look at the Cannondale R700.

any stock bike you buy is probably going to be too small for you. to compensate you will need to raise your saddle a lot. that will create a large drop from the seat to the top of the handlebars, which can be very uncomfortable if you aren't a professional racer. to compensate for that, you will have to use a riser stem to get the handlebars up. in addition, since the frame will be too small, the top tube will be too short, so you will need a long stem as well. but, raising the stem height a lot will effectively shorten the stem as it moves back towards you and overlaps the top tube more and more, so you will need an even longer stem.

what you really need is something like a rivendell rambouillet which is stocked in 68cm frame sizes($1400 for frame, fork, headset). the 68cm frame size is measured center to top, so center to center it is 66.5cm. it also has a slightly sloping top tube which gets the handlebars up to reduce the seat to handlebar drop.

your best bet is to get a fitting done to see what machinations are necessary to get a stock bike to fit.



Nor sure if this is tall enough, but it's an option.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-ULTEGRA-20S...1QQcmdZViewItem
top tube length = 60cm. i doubt that will work for someone that tall. it seems like some manufacturers like to put big numbers on their seat tube lengths, but if you look at the top tube length it's pretty easy to tell the frame isn't really very big.

I'm 6'7" also and with a good fitting I feel quite comfortable on my 63cm cannondale r700 I paid 1100 or so as I remember, you may be able to find an 05 on sale due to the changes in 06. I think that the c'dale fits a bit larger than 63's in other brands, from personal experiences. Check it out its a great bike.

I'm 6'6" - 36" inseam. I ride a Specialized Roubaix XXL (62 CM) frame. This bike has a "relaxed" geometry that allows for a more upright rider position. The dampening zerts are also a feature that works for me (245 lbs). I have to say that the above is my first road bike, so I can't comment on other makes/models. The Roubaix may be a bit above your target price range, but I still recommend it.

I would try to shop ebay for a few weeks, looking for an older 80's steel framed bike around 64cm, with 700c wheels. Then strip down, refinish it, and rebuild it with a 9s group, and some stout wheels from Mike Garcia...



Yeah, then you get $1000 of old ebay crap worth half that. He's only 3" taller than me, and my frame size is 61cm.

RDhrdNDPUTupWET & GreenRiver,

Thanks for your comments. The Cannondale r700 and the Specialized Roubaix both look nice. The Roubaix might be a little out of my price range, though, and I like that the r700 is available in 63cm. Hopefully I could use it stock with just a few tweaks. Since this would be my first road bike I'd like to avoid going nuts with modifications.

Milford Bob brings up a good point, too. No LBS is going to carry any of these models in the Gigantor size, so a test ride is pretty much out of the question. Any friendly L.A.-area cyclists with 63cm r700s out there? :D

Actually, speaking of the r700, i just found this listing for a 1996 model on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cannondale-R700-Tri-63cm-NEW_W0QQitemZ7183205521QQ

Looks like a decent deal. Any thoughts?

Excellent price, bid $300 so the buy it now goes away

the specialzed allez sport and allez elite come in 62cm frame sizes... here's the elite's measurements:

standover 832mm

top tube length, 605mm * TT is measured horizontally from center of HT to center of ST

head tube length 220mm

here's the cannondale R700 (CAAD7 frame I think) geometry page for comparison
http://www.cannondale.com/bikes/05/geo-14.html

if you email a bunch of specialized dealers in your area you might find one - in my experience shops always get stuck with the very largest and smallest sizes (62cm, 50cm) at the end of a season.

the specialized site doesn't say what length of stem it comes with. my 58cm came with a 110mm stem, the 62 might have a 130/135mm. stems are cheap on ebay, people buy sizes too long for them all the time.

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=9356

Im a tall guy and saw that cannondale on eBay. Its a triathalon bike though, which pitches you even lower and further forward on the frame so it make make things worse for you. I think Fuji makes frames up to 63cm if Im not mistaken for a good price.

I am 6'6", redicously long 38 inch inseem (I have very long legs), and I ride a 63 cm trek with quite a bit of seat post... you should be fine fitting... as long as you do not mind a 130 mm stem.

While we are discussing bikes for huge guys - other than Thomson, who makes 27.2x410 and 31.6x410mm seatposts?

I've seen lots of 27.2x350 posts , but 410 is probably nice to have if you're 6'7".


lots of good <180gram 130mm 31.8 bar clamp stems, here's one for $40. it says it's a mountain stem, but if you're a big guy, you probably don't care about 30g of extra weight (stiffer anyways!):
http://www.bikesomewhere.com/bikesomewhere.cfm/product/19/92/3276?g=1




using froogle, it seems the 140mm stems are more expensive ($75-80 Thomson).

^^^ And only usually fit standard sized bars...

I am going with this stem in a 140mm...



OCP for sure! (and one of the few 140mm stems in OS...

^^^ And only usually fit standard sized bars...

I am going with this stem in a 140mm...

OCP for sure! (and one of the few 140mm stems in OS...

The one I posted above is a 31.8mm bar clamp - standard "oversize". lots of mountain stems are 31.8 now.

It's not nearly as sexy as that Bontrager stem, though...

Here's a photo of Tom Boonen's Time from July, this looks like a 130 or 140:

Actually, speaking of the r700, i just found this listing for a 1996 model on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cannondale-R700-Tri-63cm-NEW_W0QQitemZ7183205521QQ

Looks like a decent deal. Any thoughts?
don't consider buying that bike. it's a triathlon bike with a steep seat tube angle, like 74 or 75 degrees, which will put all your weight on your hands and cause them to go numb after 30 minutes. triathletes use bars with special pads that allow them to rest on their elbows, and a person's elbows can bear a lot of weight. keep looking on ebay though, and you might be able to find a deal. try to find a frame with:

1) a seat tube that measures 64 - 66cm center to center (or 65.5 - 67.5cm measured center to top). if the top tube slopes upward, then the seat tube can be shorter.

2) a seat tube angle of 72 or 73 degrees

3) a horizontal top tube length of around 62cm (although you may need something longer, which is why you should get a fit done)

4) a 12-13cm stem

if the bike is older and has a 1" head tube and a quill style stem, that would probably be better because it's very easy to adjust the stem height. otherwise, you might have to buy 2 or 3 stems to get comfortable on the bike.

good luck.

We had the whole stem 140 mm discussion earlier... synopsis... very few out there in a 140 mm OS, lots of 130 mm stems though!

I am 6'6", redicously long 38 inch inseem (I have very long legs), and I ride a 63 cm trek with quite a bit of seat post... you should be fine fitting... as long as you do not mind a 130 mm stem.

6'4", with a very very long 39.5 in inseam, I ride a 60cm wilier, with quite a bit (more) seat post, with a 130cm stem (4-bolt) and couldn't be happier. I have both the monkey arms and the ridiculous legs, so I can handle a lot of seat to handlebar drop, but your mileage may vart.

Being tall, look for a proper length top tube first, then worry about the seat post. Golden rule for fitting our kind.