jsigone

getting a 2015 bike isn't a bad thing at this time as long as they are knocking 15-30% off the price. They should have the 2016 coming SOON, innerbike is going on next week in Vegas to show all the new wizzy paint jobs for 2016. Its a good time to buy a complete bike....frrom now til black friday. Problem waiting later to buy is that your size might not be there in 2015 models.

If you LBS has a Guru fit machine, have them plug in different models and sizes for you on the fly.

fietsbob

Heavy Ride wanting a super light bike , its probably even more valuable to Pick the Right Shop,

Since the stresses on the bike will make a regular service visit more frequent .


yea Interbike Vegas trade exhibit brings out the latest bells and whistles, rendering perfectly good things

a departure-level to be upgraded away from.

volosong

I whole-heartily agree with those who said to go to a different shop.

As to the twitchyness of a road bike. It's something you will get used to. When I finally 'upgraded' from my 1972 Mondia to a Trek Madone about five years ago, I couldn't believe how responsive, (twitchy), the Madone was. It only took a few rides to get used to it. You can minimize that by getting an endurance bike. The geometry is such that they are a lot more stable than all-out racing bikes. All the manufactures have them. A Domane from Trek, a ROKH or Dogma-K from Pinarello, etc.

However, a bike can be too twitchy if the geometry is not right for your body. I have one bike that I will not ride if there is any type of descent because the first time I took it down one, the bike exhibited the dreaded "death wobble", or violent front wheel side-to-side oscillation. I thought for sure that I was going to kiss the asphalt that time. I was contemplating going sideways into the road cut instead of sliding along the pavement at 35-40 mph. Thankfully, I was able to reduce my speed to below 25mph, at which time the wobble disappeared.

You need to try another shop. One that will work with you and only sell a bike that fits you . . . not something they have sitting on the showroom floor that is last year's model.

arex

+1. Any shop that won't, you need to leave. A good shop will go far out of their way to get you the right bike...it's just what they do.

augiedogie

I just visited Velocity, and yes, IMHO, they're much better. I appreciate all the suggestions. Looks like I still have lots of research to do. You all have given me some stuff to think about.

StephenH

My experience- I'm 6'-2"- which is not colossally tall, but it's tall enough that you won't find many bikes in stock that fit you- which means, they were likely fitting you on a frame too small- hard to say.
Twitchy- is variable, bikes meant for racing and stuff are supposed to be more twitch, touring bikes, less so.
Too small and cramped- maybe it was, maybe that was just you.
Too light- just a matter of getting used to it, I would think.
Being bent over too much- that's a big question. First off, when I first go my Raleigh Sojourn, the shop knew I was used to riding a cruiser, so they set it up with the spacers in the stem, with the stem "up", ie, set it up to ride as upright as reasonably possible without looking funny. The first two or three times I rode it, minor back soreness. Then that just went away and never happened again. I just wasn't used to sitting quite like that, but it wasn't any problem to get used to it. Whether that'll happen for you, who knows?

Older bikes in "tall" sizes don't fetch much used, low demand, so picking one up used and riding it is an option. And if it's comfortable, run it down to a bike shop and say, "measure this" and there's your new bike.

Wittyname

+1 for trying out more than one shop, and +1 for touring geometry. A bonus for touring bikes is that they're normally spec'd with heavier-duty wheels with wider tire clearance. Maybe even look at the adventure cycle/gravel bike stuff

Surly Long Haul Trucker/Disc Trucker
Specialized Diverge
Trek Crossrip
Felt V series
Cannondale Touring

With you're height you're likely looking at a 58-61cm bike, at least. Try some out, don't cost ya nothing but time

hobkirk

Porsche 914? You made me check to see what forum this was in - I figured it must be the old folks forum...

My middle career was running my own auto repair shop. I had 3-4 techs plus a gofur plus a parts guy, VW/Audi/Porsche. Lots of 914's ran through the shop, especially in the early days. I loved their balance but only the 6-cylinder models floated my boat.

Thanks for entertaining me!

hobkirk

To OP -

• Your bike shop is bad. Find a new one. There is no excuse for your experience.
• You CAN be fitted for a bike, and a good shop will do it on the chance you will decide to buy.
• When I started 5 years ago, the Specialized Roubaix was setting the standard as a forgiving bike - i.e., not very twitchy, upright position (relatively), and it soaked up bumps (back-to-back test rides proved it).
• Drop handlebars can be higher than the seat, but they offer lots of different riding positions. They can often be lowered easily (and cheaply) if you decide your core has become stronger and you want a more aero position.

I'm 6'1" and my bike size is 61 cm.

augiedogie

I'm finding this more complicated than I thought, but that's OK; I love a mystery. One thing I've noticed now with bicycles, is that fitting the frame doesn't seem to be a high priority for the average bike shops. I see lots of their road bikes displayed with the seat 3-4 inches above the frame. I've also see people riding and videos of people riding with the seat tube sticking out 5 inches or maybe more by the appearance. I can see this from a business point of view. Its cheaper to make the smaller frames and still sell them to larger people, and it can potentially reduce left over inventory of odd sizes, like large frames. But my question is, are we getting the right size bike. What is the down size of getting a bike frame that is too small, and then making it fit, with additional accessories. Could it be that that adds to the profit potential of each sale? HMMM. Common situation, the more you learn, the more questions.

fredstrong

Too bad OP isn't here:



*craigslist out west*

This thing's been sittin' a spell. Unless it is broke, it's a good deal.

Those rims gonna die before too long tho.

raceboy

My 2 cents.

I felt exactly like you did, Augie. I was used to riding MTB style and loathed the first few road bikes I tried. That was because I hadn't ridden a proper road bike since I was 20. Eventually, I test rode enough roadies to where I started to like the feel. I got lucky and found a gently used Giant Defy 1 that I was able to nab for about 1/2 the price of a new one. I couldn't pass it up because the deal was so good even though I still felt a bit awkward on the bike being hunched over and all. After about 100 miles of riding and a few tweaks to the bars and saddle, it became the most comfortable bike I own. My hybrid is my Swiss army knife. My trekking bike is for hauling lots of stuff for long distances. My road bike is my F1 car for long, beautiful windy roads and big hills.

ciderguy

Smaller frames with short wheelbases fit into smaller boxes that cost less to ship and take up less space on a truck. Walk into any big box store and look at all of the BSO. They'll almost all be small one size fits nobody frames. Go to a chain LBS, and you'll notice that almost all of their in-stock merchandise is a small frame.

The downsize to a too small frame is injury, too much twitchiness, cranks that might be too short for the rider, and many other things.

bassjones

Thats how road bikes are designed to fit now. Believe it or not, they actually handle better that way at speed. They're twitchy at slower speeds but easier to corner at speed. Similar to the SS motorcycles. The slow speed parking lot riding tests are actually quite a bit more difficult on them, due to the higher center of gravity and the razor sharp turning ability, but taking 15MPH corners at 60MPH becomes much easier. That's how racing bicycles are designed too. The "endurance" style frames result in a less twitchy ride, but still quite capable, and they're typically a less aggressive setup as well, for those of us who aren't as flexible. I have my CAAD9 setup for a less aggressive ride and once I got used to the position, I'm quite comfortable on it for 4-6 hrs.

There's a lot of science behind the new style, not just saving money or appearances. That said, a lot of pro riders are on frames a size or two small, for weight savings and because the bikes are easier to throw around in crowded pelotons that way. They're also fit enough to ride with extremely aggressive setups and 4-6" of saddle to bars drop. Most of us aren't and do better with bars even with the saddle or 2-4" of drop. I'm at about 2" right now. That position is more aerodynamic and results in higher average speeds at the same power efforts.

There's a reason most people doing endurance distances are on drop bar road bikes. Bent forward is actually better for your back than bolt upright. And the ability to change hand and body position becomes invaluable the longer you're in the saddle.

augiedogie

Its easy to see a smaller frame is less weight and has other advantages. I can also see the racers taking advantage of a smaller frame, weight wise. But for the average rider, or an older fellow like me, I'm not sure a smaller frame is good. In the first place, it would likely have a shorter wheelbase and a rougher ride.

Lets face it, bike design has a lot to do with what the pros are doing, what looks cool, what is cheaper, what's the latest etc. I'm old school, and I like to avoid the "latest", and stick with what is tried and true, and what is best for me. I'm not a follow the crowd type of guy. I don't mind being different, in fact, I like it. So my quest continues. Thanks for all your knowledge and help.

dr_lha

Right, but that's not because they have the wrong size frame, it's because the top tubes of frames now drop down, rather than being level, meaning that the seat tube has to stick out of the frame more to compensate. The important sizes when measuring a frame for your size are called "stack" and "reach", that are basically, how far the handlebars from you (reach), and how high up they are (stack). Of course the stem and stem spacers can be used to make smaller adjustments to these. Unless you buy a very old fashioned frame with a flat top tube, expect to have a seatpost that sticks out 5in from the top of the seat tube!

Check out the seatpost on my bike, it's a "57cm" and I'm 6'2'':

dr_lha

...and this is my other bike. A 59cm, which has an almost flat top tube (making it a bit on the large size for me, as I don't have a lot of crotch clearance). Check out the height of the seatpost.

bassjones

Right. The frames are actually the same size. They're just shaped differently. The endurance frames typically have even more seatpost showing because the head tube is longer and the top tube even more sloped than on a "race" geometry frame. The seat is the same height as the old frames, the seat tube is just a little lower. But the frames are the same size and the bikes are easily set up for the same saddle to bar drop.

cyccommute 

Death wobbles aren't necessarily due to geometry. The stiffness (or lack thereof) of the frame probably does more to contribute the oscillation that is "death wobble" than does the geometry. But the death wobble has an easy cure. Simply press your knee against the top tube. This will dampen the oscillations and get rid of the wobble.

cyccommute 

Today's frames are as "tried and true" as the frames of yesterday. Perhaps more so. Frames of 30 years ago were made by traditions that were handed down from previous builders. They were experiential which isn't necessarily bad but the ideas behind them may have clashed. Today's frames have more engineering behind them and more knowledge about why frames are built the way they are. The total structure meshes better.

Frame sizes, by the way, have very similar proportions to what the same frame sizes of old had. A 60cm frame may not have a 60 cm seat tube but it has a similar top tube, handlebar reach, standover height and wheelbase as older 60cm frames. Having a lot of seatpost showing may not "look" normal but there's no problem with it. If you mountain biked, you'd be used to having even more seatpost showing.

ColaJacket

No bike shops tend to stock the medium sizes of bikes. Small guys/girls often have issues finding bikes to test ride, because the LBSs only like to stock 54's and 56's. (Yes, I realize the tall guys/girls have a similar issue.)

GH

InTheRain

Check out the geometry on the different style "road bikes." I think you'll feel much more comfortable on a road bike with longer chain stays. Race geometry for many of the race bikes I have seen are at around 410 mm. The chain stays on a touring bike like the surly long haul trucker are 460 mm. I like the feel of the "endurance road" category of road bikes as a "go fast" bike. They aren't quite as aggressive as race bikes, they are more comfortable for longer days in the saddle, but make no mistake... they are very capable of "going fast."

ShortLegCyclist

And if you ride most 16-20" wheeled folding bikes, they have even more seatpost tube showing.

TheLibrarian

Forget a new bike, find a hill. You want to go faster get an ebike. I want one, it'd be awesome.

SpikedLemon

I'm not far off from your size description at 6'3 >200 (I float 220 - 250) and purchased my first roadbike this year. My LBS recommended an endurance geometry bike (58cm Synapse) and found me a leftover for a great deal.

I had an unreasonable desire for a roadbike and, similar as you, the first couple rides I felt cramped after I had purchased it. But I have no regrets: it's a great bike and I've ridden quite a bit this summer. I've gotten quite accustomed to the geometry and even lowered the bars substantially.