General Cycling Discussion - How far can i go from my bike size (58cm) and still be comfortable?

Hi,

I am in the market for a single/fixie and I ride a 58cm road bike today. I'm 6'0 tall with a 32" inseam. Would I be happy on a 56cm or would I hate myself?

Thanks,

Jake

You'll have to test ride bikes to see if they're a good fit. I'm 5'7 and I ride a 52 cm CX SS bike and I ride a 55 cm Lemond road bike. So I would suggest going one size smaller if you want to get a CX bike which sounds perfect - I recommend the Bianchi San Jose.

Bear in mind that most bikes out there are "sized" by seat tube for leg length. In my experience, top tube length is the more meaningful figure.

This is because people are proportioned differently, and it's easy to adjust seat height. But to change the top tube length requires a welder.

I am two inches shorter than you, yet my inseam is two inches longer. I'm proportioned differently--long legs, short torso to your long torso and short legs.

All my bikes have a top tube between 56 cm and 56.5 cm. Their "sizes"--again based on seat tube--are 55, 56, and 58.

So you can see that comparing "sizes" is fairly meaningless to overall fit.

My guess is that you'll feel very cramped on a 56. But only a test ride will tell for sure.

I doubt he is six feet with only a 32 inch inseam, he is using pants length and not PBH.

Go by your top tube length more than "frame" size because different manufactuers call frame sizes differently and it is easy to fixate on a number. My 54cm Surly fits similar to my 56cm Pinarello that fits similar to my 18 inch Stumpie that fits similar to my 57cm Guercitto. What they all have in common is a top tube length of 56cm give or take a little. I am 5-10 and have a cycling inseam, PBH of 85.9cm.

Using the LeMond Formula of .883 X PBH for saddle height the other thing they all have in common is I have the saddle height adjusted similar on all of them with small differences to account for differing shoes etc.

Hi,

I am in the market for a single/fixie and I ride a 58cm road bike today. I'm 6'0 tall with a 32" inseam. Would I be happy on a 56cm or would I hate myself?

Thanks,

Jake

It depends how the frames are measured (56 center to center can be 57.5 center to top), how long the (potentially "virtual" for compact frames) top tube is, and whether you can swap out the stem for appropriate height + reach.

I'm close to your height, and I feel best on a 58 road bike. So far, anyway. I can ride a 60 with a shorter stem, and a 56 with a longer one. Getting more specific, I prefer Campy and Sram on shorter bikes because of how my hands fit on their shifter hoods, and Shimano's fine on longer bikes.

And, as usual, the seat tube measurement has become one of the most worthless measurements on any bike ever since the first frame with a sloping top tube was built (not counting women's and mixte frames).

I'm 5'11, and I feel cramped on a 56.

It really is a personal thing. My brother is my height and felt more comfortable on a 54cm cross bike than the larger sizes.

It's hard to say - I'm also 6'0 tall with a 32" inseam myself, and I had a far, far more comfortable ride when I went from my old 58" bike to a 56" frame - much, much, much more my size.

As you can see from the other responses, it varies greatly from person to person though. :-)