Capecodder

OK, there has been much talk lately about bike fit and size. Here are a few VERY crude pice of me on my Synapse in a few different crank positions. Now I knw this is not the most scientific way to do this, but it's the only method I have right now.

Keep in mind I do not race or intend to. I wanted this bike for long distance riding. and for a few charity events next year. So, please be nice. I'm curious as to what everyone thinks as far as the size, do you think it's to big, small, or right on and why.....

Let's not get into a pi$$ing contest just honest opinions.



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Campag4life

My comment would be...a good recreational fit. Saddle maybe a touch high...you want about a 30 deg bend of the knee at the bottom of your pedal stroke. You don't want to ride with locked arms as you show in your pictures and you likely know that. Upper body should be relaxed. As you ride, get faster and drop weight, you can lower your stem and perhaps even go longer.
Enjoy. You are a good sized guy and no you shouldn't be on a 54 at 5'11"...56 is a good frame size for you...got your PM.
Cheers.

10 Wheels

Saddle is too far back. Bike is too small for you. 58 would be best.

Bobsled

Pretty much what C4L said. Have you been riding like that much? How does that fit feel to you? Any pain or discomfort? You can try lowering your saddle little by little until you find your sweet spot. And ditto on the locked arms.

BTW, I'm 5'10" w/ a 31" inseam and ride a 55cm and 56cm frame so 56 sounds good for you at 5'11".

greaterbrown

I'd agree with campag, this is a nice recreational fit. As you get stronger on this bike you may want the bars down a bit. you look a little big in the cockpit on this bike, but I'm 5' 11" and feel like I'm in between a 56 and a 58. To give your torso a little more room you could slide the saddle back just a touch and consider flipping your stem to get your bars lower and a further forward.

Capecodder

The seat is as far forward as it can go, it can go back much more. I had a fitting done before buying this bike and they wanted to put me on a 54cm frame...... LOL. Hey most people are saying for my height and inseam I should ride a 54cm but no way.

10 Wheels

Guessing you feel jammed up on the bike?

Capecodder

I can take the spacers out and drop the stem another 20mm, then flip it for another 5* of drop and the seat can go back another 20mm as well.... I have plenty of adjustment available. I have a 100mm stem on there right now and may go to 110mm.......

All of my C&V bikes have 3 1/2" drop from the seat to the bars and this bike is at 1" drop right now......

Capecodder

The way I have it set up right now I don't feel jammed up at all, I just feel I'm sitting taller than on my othr bikes. The idea was to get a bit more upright for the longer rides and try a new bike as all my bike are 70's vintage.

greaterbrown

a 54 on you is ridiculous.

the bars don't need to go down very much, but I think you'll def. benefit from getting them forward. don't stress it too much- you're real close on this bike. flip your stem and skooch the saddle back a cm or two and go ride.

Jsiegs

Just to be sure - are those the shoes you ride with or do you have cycling shoes with cleats/clipless pedals? The sole thickness and placement of your foot on the pedal will probably change things (my guess is you do since I don't see any straps on those pedals).

Capecodder

Won't going back with the saddle lock my arms even more? I'm a very hard person to get fit to a bike, and always have been. i've spent countless hours on my C&V bikes getting them right. These new frames have a very different geomerty than old school bikes. This one acually felt huge to me when I first got on it.....

Capecodder

These are the shoes I ride with, I just do not have the clips and straps on yet. I have never dared try clipless LOL....

datlas 

I agree you are in the ballpark but somehow you look a little scrunched up. If it's comfortable for you don't change a thing but you may benefit from a slightly longer stem and/or dropping the bars a couple of spacers.

Don't forget to ride with POINTED elbows!

wkg

Wow I can't believe the dude that I was arguing with about frame sizing in the another thread 1) doesn't sound 100% sure about his own frame size or his fit and 2) rides in shorts and a t shirt with platforms and tennis shoes. And it's all for a few charity events. Remarkable. But enough of me being a dick.

Despite the fact that your other frames have completely different geometries you should still be able to identically replicate the distances between all the contact points. Take some measurements on your other bikes, setback is probably the most important one considering that you're trying to change your reach/drop up. Also maybe you just have odd proportions but I've never seen somebody fitted properly have their saddle slammed forward.

In my opinion, based on three pictures, so I could be 100% wrong, you need to decrease seat height and increase setback.

And if you actually are going to do "long distance" rides you should probably get some shoes and pedals. Some high end bibs maybe.

Campag4life

Datlas...can you expand on what you mean about pointed elbows?...curious your take on this...or a resource that explains proper elbow position.
Thanks

miyata man

So bike fitting over the internet is moronic at best but asking for clues about how to carry over what you know about your old steel frames into fitting your new compact geometry bike is time better spent. If you have a trainer or some low traffic snow free roads you can ride I bet you can do a decent enough job to get some miles in by riding with your hands off the bars and targeting where your lower body needs to be. Then you can deal with the complications of virtual top tubes and the frame not being designed for the ergonomics of reaching to the downtube to shift.

I think that once you learn how to sit on the bike you will get it dialed in fairly quick since you seem to have a decent amount of experience. Don't take internet diagnosis to seriously and listen when you get a little voice popping up in your head noting a correction that could be made. More than likely it will skip some intermediate steps and get you situated faster.

I ended up figuring out that a zero setback seatpost with the seat almost all the way forward on it and a 140 stem was what worked for me. I did this by buying a ton of different length and angle stems and putting a few hundred miles on each one until things felt right.

Capecodder

Your missing the whole point...... I know what size frame I need and this is the one. I have posted this to show everyone why I said what I said in the other threads. Had I told you my measurements you would have told me to ride a 54cm frame as would most others, and you would have been incorrect. This was not to fit myself as I feel pretty close right no, just a bit cramped.

I just returned from playing tennis hence the outfit, but I do not use clipless pedals.

datlas 

Just means bend your elbows, don't lock them. If you think of that when you are riding, it helps.

Capecodder

Oh, by the way.....I have done many century's in this type of outfit LOL...... I'm not new to cycling just to new bikes. If I did not know what I needed I would have walked out th door with a 54cm bike and would have been very unhappy.

Jsiegs

I REALLY recommend trying them out. After the right of passage "oh crap I'm at a stop light and forgot to clip out and now I'm falling over in what feels like slow motion" crash and bruise to the ego, I promise you will love them and come to wonder how you ever rode without them.

miyata man

As someone whose outlook I rather enjoy once said, "Spending time on the bike means getting along with yourself."

wkg

Um no. I would never have told you to ride a 54. I told the guy who is 2 inches shorter than you to ride a 54.

DRietz

Saddle doesn't need to go back - it's appears that you've established KOPS at the 3 o'clock position.

DRietz

And for all those whiners out there about differences in frame sizing - it's all relative. There's no right answer unless you've attended Serotta Fit School, in which case you're an absolute badass.

I'm 5' 9" and I ride a virtual 56cm with a semi-sloping TT: