jtso23

Hi, I'm brand new to fixed gears and am thinking about ordering an Hour to get my feet wet. I am 5'6, 31 inch inseam without shoes, and female if that matters. I am trying to decide between the 49cm and 52cm. I would like to put riser handle bars and a front brake on immediately and deep v's and a brooks saddle down the road. I will use it solely to commute to school and around town (fairly flat, no crazy hills, less than a mile round trip) and don't plan on using it for anything too intense. What size should I order and any suggestions on which components I should upgrade immediately? Thanks in advance!

bigbris1

Just know that the Hour is measured center to top, and there is a good 3cm of seat tube after the ctc measurement, so the 52 would actually be like a 49. The 49 comes with 650c wheels IIRC so that might also be an issue for future wheel upgrades.

jtso23

Thanks I overlooked that. Looks like the 52cm is right for me. Any suggestions on which brands of components I should check out for the risers, cog/lockring, and brakes?

TempeRider

It does matter. in general, women proportionally have longer legs, and shorter torsos than men. For example, I am 5-10, and my wife is 5-4. But our inseams are almost the same, but she is much shorter from the waste to shoulders.

So what this means for you is that you will probably go smaller in size than a guy would, but you will then need a taller stem to get a comfortable position.

bigbris1

Note to self: Don't refer to anything on wife as waste. End note.

I'm not into risers but you can check ebay. The stock stem on the Hour is 25.4ish. Also, there have been reports about people getting their Hours with 15t cogs.

If your lbs has a Fuji Track in stock, you can try it out, basically the same as the Hour. That's what I did.

iansmash

I would recommend immediately upgrading your cog to a 17t as it comes w/ 15t cog and that's a bit steep.

for risers, Richey, nitto, plenty of other places make good stuff...just shop around, check benscycle.com and go to your LBS

this1time

i would definitely start out with the fit calculator at https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO

if you're stuck ordering online, this will give you a much better idea than just throwing you're height and inseam up for advice.

jtso23

Yeah I've already done the competitive fit calculator. My results were as follows: Competitive Fit 51.1 - 51.6, Eddy Fit52.3 - 52.8, French Fit 54.0 - 54.5. I also have a 20 year old Centurion rode bike size 52cm c-c with a stand over of 30.5inches and I have about an inch of clearance on that. I'm 99% sure the 52cm hour will work for me.

TempeRider

Fit calculaters are good, but personal experience is ever more important. Is you centurion comfortable in reach? if not, do you feel overly stretched out or do you get a sore upper body after a 1-2 hour ride? If it is comfortable, measure the top tube and look to match that. Otherwise you need to be shorter.

Seat tube / stand over only matters in that you need to be able to stradle the bar for safety reasons. After that, the relationship between your seat and bars is what determines comfort.

triplesixer

So you want as your bike to be trendy? Don't forget the spokecards.

jtso23

The only thing that bugs me about the Centurion are the drop bars.. I don't like leaning forward so much which I'm hoping risers will help fix. It's a pretty comfy ride otherwise. And yes I'm a skinny jean, deep v neck and Nike sb dunk wearing hipster and want the coolest looking bike possible.

triplesixer

That sucks.

Snails

i'd go 17t+ on rear cog probably 17

jrichformvp

If i wanted a 53cm frame, should I go with a 54" or a 56". I originally ordered a 52cm but just read that 52 is actually a 49", so which one would be good for me, thanks!

bigbris1

I just remeasured my 61cm Windsor & I am shocked:

Top Tube: 58cm center to center
Seat Tube: 56cm ctc, 57cm center to top of top tube, 60cm center to top

I measured from the center of the crank bolt on the non-drive side.

jtso23

So I went ahead and ordered the 52cm.. now I'm looking for some inexpensive riser bars and brakes. Will the Nashbar In-line Brake Levers (NS-INL), Nashbar Silver Road Brake Calipers (NS-RBCLS), and Nashbar Cross Country Riser Bar (NS-CCBAR) all be compatible with each other?