Buying Redline Conquest, advice?

[mysrh]

Hi, I've come to buy Redline Conquest Pro or Disc-R, unfortunately the size that the shop has is 52cm the smallest.

I've measured my seam to be 73cm, which multiplying by .65 and .67 give me size 47.45 and 48.91 respectively.

I wonder what are the downsides of riding bigger size than my size?
And with Conquest, is it true that I should even take further 2 cm from my size measurement?

Thanks beforehand.

ADD: Given my bike size, should I go with bike size 48 or 50?

[yoyodyne]

your inseam shouldn't be your pants inseam but instead to the floor. you may have known that, but if not you'd result in a larger size. did you ride it? if it felt good, who cares

[doubclik]

I've got a 2004 Disc-R - it's been a great ride for the $. I'm 5'10.5" and have a 50cm frame. It fits perfectly. The conquest has a higher BB (being more of a true cross bike), so that fit is probably a little different. Good luck with it.

[mysrh]

Hi, sorry for long reply, just got bike Vs Car accident =)
any way, being in Perth, Australia there;s not many choices in regard to Cyclocross.
So, best of best I might be able to try the Redline bikes, but if I'm to buy other brands, there's no way I'd be able to try them first.

ADD: just to be s[ecific my height is 160cm

[knykersnatchurs]

well, whatever your measurements come out to, make sure to go a step down. after studying up myself on the redline bikes, i frequently came across the advice from previous conquest owners that they should have sized down one full size. evidently redline frames are a bit different. taking this into consideration when i placed hte order for my conquest pro at my LBS, i asked for a 54 (i am a 56 on a road bike) and it came out SNUG. i mean REAL snug. i am very happy with my stallion and with my purchase. Taking that extra step down to a 52 cm may have been okay too, but i am happy with 54. it's just that i believe (may just be my silly old mind) i have stubby legs for my height 5'9" - 5'9"1/4 so the stand over is very snug. but everything is fine. i have no complaints over my decision. just remember that you might want to look into sizing down. if they have the bikes available for you, (obviously) try out what you think your size is and also try one full size down. see which is more comfortable. happy trails and best wishes. :)

[outofthesaddle]

I have a 54cm Conquest Pro which fits me well. For comparison I'm 5'10" with a 32" inseam and I ride both 56x56 and 57x57 road bikes.

[fruitless]

I'm 6'2" and my conquest pro is a 58 and fits perfectly. The ST is actually over 61 C-T and the top tube is a little over 58 C-C. Standover is around 84. I think everyone rides smaller frames than they used to, even in non-compact road frames, I would never consider a 61 road frame today although it was all I rode for almost 15 years.

[tayphoo]

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but Redlines just sort of baffle me. I've noticed that their top tubes are proportionally very short. Example: my road bike is a 58 cm frame, has 813 mm of standover, and a 570 mm top tube. If I were to match standover with a Conquest, that would put me on a size 54 bike with only 540 mm of top tube! For those that ride these things, particularly the racers, do you find this oddball sizing comfortable? I'm in the market for a new ride, and they look like such a good deal, but the goofy geometry worries me a bit.

[Joe Dog]

Do what ever you can to NOT buy a bike that is too big. They don't ride as well (not as responsive and agile) and frankly, they don't look good without a little seat post sticking out (in my opinion). I ride a 50 cm frame at the most - I have a 28.5 inch in-seam and it is often difficult to find a good bike that fits. I had to order my Cross Check and I got a 50 cm. I would have gotten a smaller one if I could have. You can add reach with a new stem but you can't do anything at all to make a frame smaller. I looked at Redline but could not get a frame small enough for me (I was in Anchorage at the time, so it was tough to get bikes in on any kind of reasonable schedule). Good luck and get a bike that fits!!

[Ronsonic]

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but Redlines just sort of baffle me. I've noticed that their top tubes are proportionally very short. Example: my road bike is a 58 cm frame, has 813 mm of standover, and a 570 mm top tube. If I were to match standover with a Conquest, that would put me on a size 54 bike with only 540 mm of top tube! For those that ride these things, particularly the racers, do you find this oddball sizing comfortable? I'm in the market for a new ride, and they look like such a good deal, but the goofy geometry worries me a bit.

That's the mistake, you're matching standover, not top tube or seat tube length. Stand over only matters when you are not riding and have both feet on the ground astride the bike, a condition that has absolutely nothing whatever to do with cyclocross. The relationship that matters is between toptube and seattube length, that relates to your position while riding, not while waiting for a traffic light.

You'll find the same issue with all cross bikes that have a level top tube, the higher bottom bracket uses up standover height for a given seat tube length. You'll probably fit nicely on a 56 with just barely enough room for uh, security.

Ron

[tayphoo]

Hmmm... interesting. The whole skinny tire world is still relatively new to me. In mountainbike land, top tube height is of greater importance. A "snug" fitting mtb would be a bad idea. It seems some crossers prefer a more upright position. In that case, are you leaving the top tube at normal road length and running a shorter/higher stem?

[Ronsonic]

Well, on a mountain bike the possibility of crashing in a way the forces you to straddle the top tube is far greater. Basically, you've got to bounce yourself off the saddle and out of a pedal to get like that. You'd have to screw up real bad on a cross bike to get there. Also the geometry is so different, a MTB big enough to have a top tube height problem is going to be a long reach to the bars.

The top of the bars on my cross bike are a bit higher than the flat bar on my mtb, the drops are lower.

Ron