Long Tom

As I've been researching my N+1, I'm reminded that bikes for tall guys just plain look a little goofy.

Yeah yeah yeah I know that the tall guys themselves look a little goofy. Not contesting that. Just lamenting that the various bike designs scale poorly at the upper extreme. It seems worse, to me, with modern sloping top tubes, but even very old-school bikes start looking spindly and "wrong" at a 62, 64-cm size...

Maybe it's because the tires aren't scaling with the frame? Or...?

My '14 Roubaix is a good looking tall bike IMHO, but they are rare. One bike I have been interested in is a Spesh Tricross. I just saw one on CL in my size and it looks pretty dorky. Why? WHY!?



On a positive note, it IS nice looking down at y'all little rat bastids.

coasting 

the best looking bikes are the 56cm ones. they seem proportionately balanced. these would be the mediums i guess.

kelsodeez

i have a tricross in XL and random people always give me compliments on it, but ive always thought it was a pretty dorky looking bike because of the proportions. its nothing i can put my finger on, it just looks uglier to me than my smaller road bike

Pibber

yup. gotta say, the 56 is perfect. love riding them

coasting 

that tricross looks good. not goofy at all.

zymphad

Eh, why make fun of a tall bike if the person is tall? What's he going to do? Ride with his knees smashing into his handlebars with his back rounded and bent?

Team Sarcasm

I think this as well. I think sram looks better on smaller frames and shimano looks better on larger frames. Haven't looked where campy fits in.

But same goes for uber small frames, they tend to look funky as well

f4rrest

The looks improve quite a bit when you set it up for 4+ inches of saddle to bar drop. Otherwise the bars seem miles above the front wheel, which makes the wheels look small.

Team Sarcasm

Didn't a tall person start this thread? it's not like someone 2'nothing started it....

x2

zymphad

Maybe look better if you flip the stem.

coasting 

maybe if they make larger wheels for larger frames it would all even out and look less goofy.

f4rrest

Then our size 13 feet would overlap the front wheel...

DarrinNYC

Sadly, I agree! I am 6'4" with a 37" inseam, so even XL bikes (61-62) are often not big enough. I just put in my order for a 2014 Specialized Roubaix SL4 Expert with Ultegra DI2 Disc. I needed to get a 64 to fit right. The really weird part here is that Specialized doesn't offer the cool orange frame in my size. I had to get black. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

coasting 

i know a guy who is 6'7. he had to go custom.

Darth Lefty 

True story: I first noticed Giant bikes when I went to college. All the ones I saw seemed to be xl size and I thought they were a specialty big and tall brand.

ConGrUenCy

I saw the thread and thought the OP was referring to this-


Yes, it does look goofy.

hairnet

You mean you don't want your 700c wheels to look like 26"?

Nick Bain

time to start making 800c wheels/tires

link0

Anything from 52-58 looks well proportioned IMO.

buffalowings

[QUOTE=link0;16540361]Anything from 52-58 looks well proportioned IMO.[/QUOTE
Wheels on 50/52cm bikes look a bit oversized, lol

Campag4life

Agree with guys that say a size 56 is the sweet spot for aesthetics. But the real deal breaker is the front of the bike...rise of stem and spacers. A tall bike can still look sporty with a slammed stem. Yes endurance bikes like the Roubaix blend the tall top tube into the shape of the bike but a short head tube bike will always look a bit better...that is unless the rider needs a riser stem to get the bike to fit which is common.

Below is my bike after yesterday's ride. I have a stem collection so play around with my fit a bit and yesterday I rode with a -17deg 130mm stem. Now of course I could ride a Tarmac length head tube with a more conventional stem...and in fact am considering building one...or a Venge as a playmate. Just because you are tall doesn't mean you have to ride upright and ride a lot of stem rise which is really the deal breaker for a look of a bike. Bottom line is any concern over aesthetics if you are a slow rider doesn't matter anyway. A fred is a fred is a fred. But I will say this to all the stem riser guys out there. If you get fit and get cycling lean, there is no reason why you can't ride with a better proportioned position on the bike which will take more weight off the saddle and be not only a faster position but more comfortable.

elcruxio

DSC_0103 by T. Spidey, on Flickr

A tall bike does not have to look goofy. This bike has an effectice head tube of 220mm but an actual head tube of 190mm. However in this case as the bike is a cyclocross it has the "effective" head tube divided in the head tube and longer fork. Both of these play in making the bike look more balanced. Take 3cm out of the fork and put that to the head tube and you have a horrendous spesh roubaix type a monster

I feel the sweet spot in bike size is the 59-61 when aesthetics are concerned. A head tube of 170-190mm is just right. Just remember a too short a head tube also looks pretty goofy (looking at you Giant).

Also a slammed flipped stem also helps the equation. Actually the stem should always be flipped. It can have spacers underneath but if it points up is a nono

Obxjay

My 60 looks just fine.

Campag4life

Yeah but then you are stuck on a slow and heavy cross frame...lol.

datlas 

Lets try that again...