chuwee81

UPDATE: members here have suggested better alternative than building the frame. So anyone who is new to the discussion should know that I'm not going with the build. ended up with a new bike.



hey guys, first post (other than the intro), basically a newbie looking to find answers. Just a quick background:

I'm not new to cycling, been an avid mountain biker for the last 10+ yrs. anyway life, work, family kept me busy and as a result, i haven't even ridden my MTB for 2 yrs. It's a pretty wall hanger lol. My excuse was, well, i need to drive to a nice local trail and the drive itself is taking 30+ minutes one way. So I always push it off. So came my epiphany - Why don't I sell it and get a road bike. That way all i need to do is open my garage door and I can start riding. So that's what I did. I found a local deal: Fuji Aloha 2.0 (2011), a nice TT bike with profile design aero bars. Bike is 52 cm frame. It's much much faster than the mtb i used to, avg 17-18 mph/ hr - with warm up and water break on a 25 mile loop.

Now i haven;t ridden it all that much but now it feels smaller for some reason. It's a nice bike but I'm kind of looking for something that would fit me better. So I found a Specialized tricross comp frame (carbon fork, seatstays with zert inserts) for $125.00. It's awesomely light (coming from beefy MTB frame) for a 56 cm frame.

Now what I have read about cross frame is that the seat tube angle is slacker. Compared to my fuji, I can see the difference. I want to have road bike drop bar and road bike gearing and such as I don't see myself doing cyclocross anytime soon. if I want to do any off-roading, I'd probably get another mtb. Right now i'm concerned about logging road miles to excersie and get in shape. I'm 5'8 165 lbs so, not terribly out of shape haha.

So therein lies the question: Is it worth it to transfer the drive shaft from the TT bike to the cross frame? or build it from the ground up?
How's the seat post and saddle going to be since I want to be a bit aggressive on the road - should i get one that's kinda slanted forward?
What size/ width of handlebars should I get - to corner on the road.
Again, just to clarify, this build will be for strictly road use.

Any info will be appreciated. I searched but only found how to convert road frame to TT, not much info going the opposite direction.

Thanks in advance.

Elvo

Probably a bit too big for you.

rms13

sell the TT bike and Cross frame and buy a used road bike that fits you

Camilo

Agree. You can certainly use a cross frame as a nice road bike, and really can do it as-is (maybe put lighter, better rolling tires). But they aren't road bikes and unless you have the need for the beefier wheels and frame, and specialized crank/chain rings, you're compromising. Not a deal killer, many people I know ride cross frames routinely on the road and in group rides. If you want to regularly ride gravel or fire roads, get a cross bike and you'll be happy. But if you want a road bike strictly for road use, get a road bike.

By the way, there usually isn't a lot of difference between most road bike seat tube angles and a cross bike STA. But you're comparing a moderately slack-ish STA to an extremely steep STA on the TT bike. Not a fair comparison. My "real" road bike has a STA of 74 degrees, and my cross bike has 73.5. This is a slight ~1/2 cm difference in seat adjustment fore/aft.

That said, I'd bet a round of beers that a 56 is just too big for you. I have just about the same specs as you ~5-8 and 165, and to me a 54 fits perfectly both in my road bike and my cross bike. But a 52 can also fit me, just not my personal preference. 56 won't work for me. I happen to like the 54 better than my former 52 because I like the taller head tube. The trade off is that I use a slightly shorter stem, but that's OK for me. Standover- for me - is just fine with a 54 given cycling shoes and shorts which control dangling bits.

Look for a real road bike in a 52 or 54 cm and try it out for general fit.

chuwee81

Thanks for all the quick reply. I'm not trying to stir up anything but the following questions are being asked out of pure ignorance.

1. So, too small of a frame, one would feel cramped, what happens with a bigger frame? what if seats or stems can be brought up closer (shorter stem, lowered and forward seat) to accommodate the slightly larger frame?

just curious. I'm not gonna race or anything right out the bat. I want to do longer rides and spend more time in the saddle than blaze out sprinting and run out of steam rather quickly.

also just looked at the small lettering, it's the expert model and weighs in at 2.5 lbs frame and fork (1 kilo) roughly with my fishing scale.

RoadGuy

Fore and aft seat position and height are used to fit the rider to the pedal position and correct leg extension, not fit the rider to the frame.

The adjustments for frame size are the handlebar stem reach, handlebar stem height. and handlebar reach.

When I'm on a frame that's too small, I feel like I'm curled up in a ball, and I'm expending energy to hold myself up off the frame. On a frame that's too big, I feel like i"m stretched out too far over the front of the handlebars.

rms13

If you have to run a stem that's shorter than 90mm it will start to effect the handling of the bike and can make it too twitchy. Most people recommend 100-120 mm stems as ideal with 90 and 130 being acceptable but below and above that and handling could be compromised

knobster

I typically ride 54cm road bikes and am 5' 10" but for a Tricross I rode a 56cm. I think it's too big for you. 54cm on a Tricross would be perfect. I've had several Tricross models and they do OK for a road bike, great for a commuter, but I think you'd get bored with it after a little while. Like others, I suggest you go with a standard road bike. The one you have could probably easily be fitted to you with a longer stem.

StanSeven

Yep, agree on the other posts about selling and starting with a road bike. Besides everything else that's been said, CX brakes don't work as well as road brakes. If you like road riding, a CX bike has a couple drawbacks - wider tires and less effective brakes.

A 56 is way too large for 5'8". I'm 6'0" and ride that size. It's true you can use a short stem, but you might find the bars are too high anyway and have to resort to a -17 stem. In addition too large a bike just doesn't feel quick and responsive - like driving a big old Cadillac or Buick instead of a sports car.

elmore leonard

I think the fit is really the most important part of riding. You can have the best bike in the world but you won't ride it very much if the fit is not exactly right.

chuwee81

Ok, so I'm thinking a bit about my situation and wondered:

Can i just install a longer stem on my fuji tri bike and a seat post that would slant back a bit or new saddle altogether? That way it's kind of following what y'all are saying, making a small bike bigger??

Kopsis

It's usually easier to make a small bike fit a larger rider than vice versa. But keep in mind that a TT bike is a different animal in terms of fit and riding position than a road bike. The TT bike sacrifices a lot of comfort and handling in the name of aero. The forward saddle position opens the hip angle so you can get your back nearly horizontal. If you move the saddle back significantly, then you're going to have to do strange things with bar position to compensate. The bottom line is that if you want road bike fit, you need to get a road bike. CX bikes make fine recreational road bikes, but getting a too-big CX frame just because it's cheap is not a good answer. If you're ok with the TT riding position, but the fit feels cramped, then get a longer stem. Avoid the temptation to adjust reach by moving the saddle back (if you don't you're inviting long term knee and back pain).

obed7

another one here for sell both and get a road bike with proper fit...
I have a ridley cross bike with 700 x 35 road tires on it... I use it for riding the mut with my wife in bad weather... it will not do for keeping up with guys on road bikes.

CliffordK

I suppose I've always used a somewhat larger frame. One gets used to it. I have a habit of sitting on the top tube while waiting for traffic lights.

As far as TT to Cyclocross.
Some things will transfer over, some things probably won't.

I just recently built up a Litespeed 26" as a 700c road bike. I thought it turned out absolutely beautiful, but it will always be a "Frankenbike" which is just fine for me, especially as most of my use is errands and commuting. The little bit beefier frame may be good... if only it had the rack mounts. My frame didn't have disc mounts, so while I wanted them, I chose not to go that way.



A few things I ran into in the build.

• Cantis were too low for the 700c wheels. I think there were some long ones available on E-Bay, but I chose to go with side pull/center pull brakes. To use them, I had to drill out the brake bridge. Not a big deal once I made a good jig.
  For now, I've left the old Canti bosses.
  The adjustment of my center pull brake on the rear maxes out the available cable pull range when using the bridge brake stop.
• I had to go with a wide (triple) BB, and even so, my Dura Ace cranks hit the chain stays, so I had to use MTB cranks.
• 54T chainring is pretty tight for clearance.
• The 26" frame is slightly longer than a similar size 700c frame. So, I ended up with a long (length) and short (height) frame which gives a very aggressive stance to the bike.
• Rear dropouts had 135mm spacing, so rear wheel had to be built for 135mm.
• No "adjusters" for rear brakes, and front derailleur. I made one for the brakes, and used an inline adjuster for the FD.

Anyway, if you have a 700c frame, you won't have all of the same "issues" that I ran into. However, you will encounter some of them.

In my case, I scrounged up quite a few parts from the local bike Co-op and E-Bay for the build. But even with cheap parts, the cost did add up. I was considering stem shifters, bit am happy that I chose to splurge with Microshift Brifters.

Personally I think I would do a scratch build rather than cannibalizing your TT as many of the parts won't be a good match, and you'll end up with a broken bike.

chuwee81

Well folks, Thanks to all that chimed in. I have learned a lot from your posts and I have decided to get the correct fitting bike. I will list my tri bike locally tonight and to be honest, while I was browsing the answers and opinions here, I'm already browsing some places for my next bike. I told the account manager who doesn't wanna leave my house that bike fit is important, so she gave me the go ahead to kind of spend more money toward the correct bike. Sometimes with some things, going cheap is not going to be cheap in the long run. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed many many used paintball guns, real guns with no issues. But in this case, i will just bite the bullet and listen to the majority of the advice given here.

BH Prisma Tiagra Bike | Shimano 10 speed | Carbon Frame/Fork

This one caught my eye, if i were to spend money, might as well get a full carbon frame. If you scroll down, you will see the sizing and geometry. Which one should I get?
5"8 , 29.5" inseam. normal arms' reach. longer-ish torso?? err on the smaller side?
using a bike calculator with height and inseam, it came out 53cm for me.

justin1138

I'm freakishly similar to you in build. I'd get a SMALL for this bike, but they only appear to have a MEDIUM and XL. Keep looking...

chuwee81

Justin, Thanks, you really just saved my butt. I almost pulled the trigger on it and decided to look more. I found this
Nashbar Carbon Road Bike
Seems good for the price, also carbon frame and fork and under 1k. Kinda plain since it's all black but as long as it fits me well, it'd be justified.

well, i like to think things through and decided to look at local craigslist one last time before buying from nashbar today. I couldn;t believe my eyes when I saw a local guy selling it for 800 with computer and water bottle cages and fizik saddle (upgraded) and small frame. I asked him if i come over today( wednesday) for a quick sale, can he go down to $750. He said yes. So i swung by today and got my first carbon bike with computer, bottle cages and new saddle for that price. Bike was not ridden much. Seller had gotten into a vehicle accident a year ago and his shoulders would lock up riding the bike, so he wants to get a more upright and comfortable bike.

So i tested it today only for 3 -4 miles and what a difference in geometry, saddle shape, etc. That carbon frame is so responsive, handling is quick and you can feel the stiffness of the frame and that power is transferred efficiently. To be honest and like most reviewers from nashbar, the frame has uneven finish, maybe that's why it's rather cheap. But performance wise, well, this is my first carbon bike so can't say much about it other than it feels much better than the fuji.

My other bike is listed for sale and already had a buyer for tomorrow.

I'm gonna enjoy riding this thing and maybe start a discussion thread about it as upgrades follows, etc. Until then we can maybe give this thread a rest since we won't be discussing about a cyclocross frame build to road anymore lol.

Thanks to all who chimed in. Your answers really helped a lot !!

MikeyBoyAz

When you get it all cleaned up you should post us with a pic, because "PICs or it didn't happen" is a reasonable expectation. Also, the reason you are entering road cycling is the same as myself (for fitness at least); starting a ride from the garage door beats a 45 minute drive to a trail head.

chuwee81

Haha, i kinda knew someone would call me out on that. Ok pics will be up tonight

note: excuse the pics. my phone camera lens broke when i tried to teach my little girl to ride her bike.




you can see the computer, fizik saddle, etc. The pedals and pouch are mine.

ninja editjust replaced the battery for the computer. Guess what the odo says.......14 miles. The rubber castings (flaring) on the CENTER of the tires are still there. My camera couldn't catch it unfortunately.