ERabbit

Ive been lurking on the forum for a couple months now, just pretty much reading as much as i can about the various aspects of fixed gears and components. I have a couple questions that i would greatly appreciate help with.

1. Im 6'1 almost 6'2, and fairly lenky, my normal pant inseam is like 33" when measuring for a bike is this the same measurement i should take, or should i go smaller? i would figure that 58-60cm would fit me properly but im not entirely sure

2. Ive read the countless threads about the hour and tt, and now im questioning bike choice, the most commonly replaced items on these bikes seem to be cogs, bottom brackets, then eventually wheels, hubs and whatnot. my question is, is it worth it to spend the money for a pista or an iro to have the threadless stem, better cog, hubs, wheels, etc? im looking for an entry level commuter and as many have found one of those four manufacturers offer something that would fit. Ive also seen the adapters to make threaded stems threadless and it looks like they work decently

my guess is bars and saddle will be the first items swapped out on my bike considering those are some of the most important regarding comfort, im just trying to decide if it makes sense to buy a cheaper bike then upgrade parts as i see fit, or start with a bike that already has nicer components, frame geometry also comes into play

any help you guys can offer is greatly appreciated

btw- i live in newport beach and pacific beach, in newport there is an ARSENAL of "hipsters" around here, its like a mini san fran its nuts

HotTamale

doood size doesn't matter

ERabbit

just keep believing that and you should be fine haha (just screwing with you)

anyway, anyone out there with any other advice?

operator

For a commuter, you'll want sealed/cartridge everything. e.g sugino 75 njs hipster bbs are not a good idea.

fetch

i think the best advice i can give is: find someone that rides a track bike, buy em a beer/vegan burrito whatever and see if he'll help you out. nothing like someone there with experience to help you out. see if any of your friends will let you ride their bikes somewhere safe. i love threadless. just wanted to throw that in there.

BarracksSi

At the moment, I'll say that it can depend on the style of frame -- some just fit differently even if they're the same size on the label.

After that, there's the matter of figuring out the best stem length and seat position (height, fore/aft, angle), which can kind of negate small differences in frame size.

Looking at my road bike and hybrid, the roadie has a horizontal top tube length of 56 cm; the hybrid's is 63.5. However, the hybrid has a shorter stem than stock, and the saddle-to-handlebar ("cockpit") distance is almost exactly the same on both bikes.

So, for now, I'm of the opinion that a couple centimeters here & there in the frame size don't matter a whole lot because of how many other adjustments are available.

ERabbit

thanks guys, im kind of stuck now between ordering a 57cm tt or either a 57 or 59 pista, geometry wise they both are more trackish but i figure i can deal with that considering they are track bikes. what is still confusing me is that the tt has 57cm (c-c) is 60cm(c-t) with TT of 575mm and standover of 33 inches (from bikesdirect i know shill) and the pista 57 has a top tube of 560 and the 59 of 575, so does that mean that even the 59cm pista is smaller than the mercier?