I'm buillding up a LHT with a flat bar. I'm stuck between a 58cm and a 60cm. Currently I ride a Kona Sutra which is called a 60cm. Kona virtualy sizes their road bikes.

In any case the Kona fits nicely and has a 58.5cm virtual top tube, and is 68cm middle of seat post to middle of stem using a 110mm +15 degree stem. Standover is 81.79 cm and is perfect.

The LHT 58 has a 58.1cm TT and 83cm standover. The 60 has a 59.38cm TT and 84.97cm standover.


What would be better, the 58 with a 115mm stem or the 60 with a shorter stem? How would stem length effect handling? All my bikes have 110mm stems. I like my bars at or just a hair below saddle height.

Thanks for the help.

Kona specs: http://www.konaworld.com/2k5_catalog...NAL_p56-57.jpg

LHT specs: http://www.surlybikes.com/longhaul.html

Since we're remote observers here, and you didn't give us every bit of information (such as your inseam length), I can only give you my "seat of the pants" estimate (pun intended...)

From the numbers you gave, it seems the 58cm LHT is almost dead-on to mimicking your current setup with the Kona. The difference in TT length wouldn't be noticeable (.4cm); trying to do all the math with headtube angle and stem rise is kind of going overboard. It's just too close. And the standover height being 1.2cm greater than your current bike probably is OK (assuming you don't "bottom out" on your Kona). I'm not sure why you're even looking at the 60cm frame, based on the numbers you gave.

I got a couple LHT frames for my wife and me, and agonized over some of the same issues. On my wife's frame (52cm), for example, the standover height was only a couple cm less than her inseam. I was worried that this was too close. I wrote to Surly with her measurements, and their opinion was -- all things considered -- that the 52cm was probably the best fit. (Note, too, that they said it's tough to do this by email...) In practice, the 52cm frame is perfect for her, and the standover height is perfect.

In my experience, the length of the stem certainly changes your body angles, arm reach, etc. But as far a steering effects, it gets absorbed so quickly into your motor skills that it's not an issue. (Talking about short changes of 5 or 10cm.)

With flat bars, it might take more attention to headtube angle, stem height, and stem length to get the right reach. But since you prefer flats, and you have the Kona for experience, you've probably taken this all into consideration.

Sounds like the 58cm to me. With a 110 stem, assuming the total reach is within a couple cm of your current setup (stem can always be changed later).

-- Mark

Thanks for the reply.

I'm more concerned with TT length than SO height. I've always ridden 60 or 62cm frames so ordering a 58 seems odd to me, but it looks like the LHT runs a bit large. I'm leaning towards a 58, thanks again for the input.