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Bike fit question

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Bike fit question

Old 03-16-14, 12:07 PM
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Bike fit question

New to the forum and need a bit of advice.
Shopping for first road bike. I'm 5'8, 160. Rode a fitness bike last year ready to move up and go longer distance 50-70 mi.
Road the new Kona Zone yesterday (lbs finally go one in).
Love the way it felt and rode. You could say it spoke to me.

My question is frame size. It was a 56. Standing over the bike the top bar was almost touchig the family jewels while in street shoes. Ride position felt good, seat height and handle bar location.

Is this frame to big? The next size down is a 53. Lbs didn't have that size.
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Old 03-16-14, 12:37 PM
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There's a whole subforum about fitting here where you may get deeper analysis, but I'll say the 56 sound too big, by which I mean, although you can ride it and you liked it, and that counts for a lot, you'll probably find more flexibility in fit options going down a size and enjoy some benefits from things like a shorter wheelbase, tighter triangles, and more seatpost extension.

It's not a huge deal either way probably, but given this is your first road bike, there's a lot yet you don't know about what characteristics you'll want down the road, so I'd err on the smaller side knowing it's easier to adjust things out/up to fit than it it is to pull 'em back and down because at some point you hit the fixed frame dimensions.
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Old 03-16-14, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by EdH4370
New to the forum and need a bit of advice.
Shopping for first road bike. I'm 5'8, 160. Rode a fitness bike last year ready to move up and go longer distance 50-70 mi.
Road the new Kona Zone yesterday (lbs finally go one in).
Love the way it felt and rode. You could say it spoke to me.

My question is frame size. It was a 56. Standing over the bike the top bar was almost touchig the family jewels while in street shoes. Ride position felt good, seat height and handle bar location.

Is this frame to big? The next size down is a 53. Lbs didn't have that size.
I'm not an expert on this mather or anything, but your height on itself isn't enough for the more experienced to help you. They'd at least need your inseam as well.
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Old 03-16-14, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by EdH4370
New to the forum and need a bit of advice.
Shopping for first road bike. I'm 5'8, 160. Rode a fitness bike last year ready to move up and go longer distance 50-70 mi.
Road the new Kona Zone yesterday (lbs finally go one in).
Love the way it felt and rode. You could say it spoke to me.

My question is frame size. It was a 56. Standing over the bike the top bar was almost touchig the family jewels while in street shoes. Ride position felt good, seat height and handle bar location.

Is this frame to big? The next size down is a 53. Lbs didn't have that size.
Even though height is not by itself a perfect indicator of what frame size you need, a 56 is almost certainly way too big for you. Most men 5'8 in height will be on 50-54cm frames. If you have longer legs and a shorter torso than average, you can go with a slightly smaller frame. The opposite if you have shorter legs with longer torso.

The length of the top tube should somewhat correlate with your torso length. Standover height isn't very important as long as you have at least 1" of clearance for safety.

I'm certain you will fit far better on that 53cm frame.
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Old 03-16-14, 01:17 PM
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Originally Posted by link0
Even though height is not by itself a perfect indicator of what frame size you need, a 56 is almost certainly way too big for you. Most men 5'8 in height will be on 50-54cm frames. If you have longer legs and a shorter torso than average, you can go with a slightly smaller frame. The opposite if you have shorter legs with longer torso.

The length of the top tube should somewhat correlate with your torso length. Standover height isn't very important as long as you have at least 1" of clearance for safety.

I'm certain you will fit far better on that 53cm frame.
My brother is 5'6" and rides a 54cm Trek frame. I don't know how Kona frames are measured, but Trek frames are measured to the top of the frame (which is 3cm higher than traditional C-C measurements). He also prefers a long top tube and does have comfortable clearance over the seat tube. This is a traditional straight frame, not one of those slanted top tube frames. Bottom line is there are a lot more factors to consider when sizing a bike than just your height.
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Old 03-16-14, 05:18 PM
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Thanks for info everybody. I'm going to see if the lbs will order in a 53 for me.
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