gbru316

I was a fairly avid bicycler in my youth. I lived in a rural area and the neighborhood kids and I relied heavily on our bicycles for transportation just about everywhere. I also completed the C&O Canal twice in late elementary school.

I suppose like most others, my cycling days pretty much ended when I got my driver's license. My first foray back into the sport came when I was serving in Iraq and had to travel a mile from my barracks to my place of duty. I purchased a 2008 Schwinn Mesa D, then proceeded to replace the drivetrain with SRAM X-9 components and the brakes with Avid Juicy 7's.

I shipped the bike home, and it collected dust for a while. I recently picked it back up because my wife has been training for a marathon and I figured cycling is something we can do together -- and since I have a desk job, I really need to start exercising.

That being said, I'm finding that all of my riding is either on roads, paved trails, or converted railroad beds with gravel. I've been doing 50-60 miles a week (may be able to hit 75, but limited by schedule) and I'm strongly considering a bike better suited to roads/gravel. The trails I ride are along a river and are almost always windy, so I've decided that a cyclocross bike is probably my best bet since it's a bit more rugged than road bikes but still has the drops for decreased wind resistance (I currently feel like a sail on windy days). My long-term goal is to bike the Great Allegheny Passage to the C&O Canal (Pittsburgh to Georgetown).

In the meantime, I lowered my seat a bit because my hands were getting tingly (fixed that problem), have some 1.5" slicks coming tomorrow (should aid in keeping up with my wife), and a shorter stem since the calculator I used indicated my stem was too long.
The problem with purchasing a new bike is that I have no idea what size bike I need. I'm used to the MTB sizing scale, but road/cx bike sizing has me baffled. I'm 5'11, weigh 180, and have a 32.75" inseam without shoes. I'd like to go clipless on a new bike.

I know getting a professional fit would be my best bet, but I'm not convinced that spending $200 on a fitting at this stage in the game is the best use of my money. It is something I'd like to do, but I need to put in a lot of miles working on my base since I'm essentially starting from the couch. Purchasing a really nice bike is not in the budget anytime soon, but I figure I can get something adequate for $500-$750.

I'm just looking for a ballpark right now. I can obviously replace individual components to tailor the fit once I'm ready to maximize efficiency. I've done a bit of googling and found that I should be anywhere from 54 cm to 58 cm. Does this sound about right?

rickyk76

You won't need to do a full professional fitting. Find a LBS that carries the brand of bikes you're looking at, and they'll guide you with fit.

Loose Chain

Your saddle height is adjusted to your inseam, tingly hands has nothing to do with saddle height but instead other variables of fit. For initial saddle hight use the Lemond Formula which is .883XPBH (pubic bone height, bare stocking feet).

You are about my same size, inseam. I ride a bike that has a 56cm effective top tube, center to center. You might prefer a 57cm or even a 58cm as you are borderline and perhaps a skosh taller than me. I ride as big as a 58 for as small as a 55.

gbru316

Thanks. My hypothesis was that the excess height (my legs were essentially straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke) was causing me to put too much weight on my wrists. Lowering the seat did the trick, although I suppose it could be indicative of poor core strength (or something else? I'm certainly not an expert).


Seriously considering a 56 cm Raleigh Merit 2.

Loose Chain

That may be but nonetheless your saddle height is determined only by your cycling inseam. If your arms are numb or hands or whatever have you hurts then some other aspect of your bicycle fit is at fault. Your stem is too long, too low, you have a physical ailment, I do not know without looking. But lowering your saddle (or raising it) to improve an unrelated fit issue will only compromise your power, efficiency and eventually your knees.

CasualInSoCal

I'm 5'11, 190 lbs, 33 inch inseam. I ride a 56cm 2016 Fuji Tread. Sometimes I feel perhaps the 54cm size of this bike would be better, but then other days I feel 56cm is the exact right size, depending on my mood Also never got a professional fitting, mostly my own trial and error

gbru316

Funny you mention this. I did a quick tour of several LBS and discovered:
1) I prefer 54 cm to 56 cm. Just feels more natural for me. I feel too "stretched out" on a 56 cm frame.
2) A used 54 cm Fuji cross comp for $400. Will be taking 2 bikes tomorrow for appraisal/trade in and likely coming home with it.

Loose Chain

Rather going by a frame size somebody says is 54cm, measure it. See what it really is. That way you can compare actual measurements.

J

gbru316

Thanks. I had the opportunity to sit on all 3 bikes (a 54 and 56 cm Kona Esatto) as they were all at local shops. The shop said the Fuji was 54 cm. It may not have been, but I felt comfortable on it.

The shop said they'd change the handlebars on the Fuji, free of charge, because they weren't happy with how the previous owner set it up.

gbru316

Picked up the Fuji tonight. Really amazed at how much faster it is (feels?), and how much better it rides, in general. Took no time at all to adjust to drops and integrated shifters. It's old, doesn't have disc brakes, but I'm really, really happy with this bike. I foresee many miles ahead with it.

It may need a tweak or two -- I have a feeling that the tingly hands may come back after some distance, but the shop asked me to bring it back after I put some time in on it and they'd take care of any adjustments needed.

Loose Chain

Actually it does have disc brakes, the better kind. A rim is a disc and the caliper squeezes on it just as would a caliper on the hub mounted disc. The rim brake wheel is lighter and possibly stronger, simpler, easier to maintain, less problems with alignment, easier to R&R wheels and install different wheel sets and is basically superior in every way except for being in fashion.

A rim brake, fashion aside, is not a negative, it is a positive. Let the lemmings ride their cookie cutter hub disc braked Treks off the cliff into the sea.

J

gbru316

I miss the braking power of the mountain bike I traded - it had hydraulic discs. More often than not, I'm pulling a trailer with a child and small dog, so the braking power was nice to have on hills.

The new bike has an IS bracket for the rear wheel so it's doable if I'd replace the fork and get new wheels, but I'm going to defer that decision until I know if it's something that would really help. I think there's a good possibility that some adjustments to braking technique will be enough.