Buying a Cross Bike ; Sizing and Bike Choice.. Scott/Cannondale/Fuji
 

I have ridden a mountain bike exclusively for 5 years, and need a change since relocating to the Chester County PA area...cyclocross bikes look great, and knowing my competitive nature, may race when its gets colder out...I rode one yesterday a L Scott Team Comp, felt like i would break the thing in half, is my weight and strength a problem?

I am 5'9" inches 200-205 lbs, slowly losing weight after a shoulder surgery 10 months ago. Probably will settle in around 190-195. I am a 32" inseam. I realize there is no formula but a 52 or 54 mm frame, and can someone comment on the durability of any of the following frames for 190-200 lbers?

Scott Team versus Cannondale Disc versus Fuji Cross.

Thanks!

Your weight is not an issue. I'm only familiar with the Cannondale, but the others should be fine, too. As long as you have some standover, size the bike based on top tube. Standover on the Optimo disc is 32" for the 52 and 31.6" for the 50.

There are in fact many formulas. Lennard Zinn has a nice frame-size calculator on his web site:
http://zinncycles.com/FitIntro.aspx
I found the results from a careful set of measurements (aided by my wife) input into the Zinn calculator jibed very closely with the results I got from an in-store fitting (using the bikefitting.com system). Which then resulted in a very nicely fitting bicycle.

The Zinn gives results for a traditional bike, you have to do a bit of fudging for bikes with slanted top tubes, but then again most makers give a "theoretical top tube" number that can be used for comparison. I wish the makers also gave a "theoretical seat tube" figure as well.

Standover is a pretty useless metric for choosing frame size.

Here is a thought-provoking article on bike frame sizing:
http://www.rivbike.com/how_to_pick_y...g_a_frame_size

I ended buying a Fuji Cross comp, "54" after a whirlwind education on cross frame sizes. I rode the 56 and it seemed a bit large, so the 54 should be about right. time will tell