Ok I used the "Competitive Cyclist" fit calculator for road bikes again with more accurate measurements and it confirms that the 49cm is my size for the Kilo (and especially that the next size, 53cm is definitely too large):
-----------------------CompetitiveFit-EddyFit---FrenchFit
Seat tube range c-c 47.7 - 48.2 48.9 - 49.4 50.6 - 51.1
Seat tube range c-t
49.2 - 49.7 50.4 - 50.9 52.1 - 52.6
Top tube length
52.9 - 53.3
52.9 - 53.3 54.1 - 54.5 (
larger Kilo has 54.7 top tube length)
Stem Length 10.5 - 11.1
9.4 - 10.0
9.6 - 10.2
...only question is whether or not it's the right design for me.
Originally Posted by
noglider
What will you be doing with the bike?
Neither of these bikes comes equipped the way you want it. Maybe you should look elsewhere. Equipping them the way you want to would cost you the same as buying a well-equipped bike at an LBS. And quality would probably be better.
I want it for long urban miles (ie up to 100 miles per day among car traffic) getting me where I need to be as quickly as possible in all weather conditions (including ice, snow, rain, heat, etc) with as little time spent on maintenance as possible. No open roads because they only go where nobody needs to be, but that doesn't mean the traffic will slow me down because cars generally go pretty fast even when they have to slow down a little for traffic...so I need to be able to keep pace while simultaneously maintaining visibility and being comfortable enough to keep up the miles.
But I'm not sure why you're saying neither bike comes equipped how I want because the only things missing are either fenders or bullhorns which are both cheap and easy to add (unlike LBS bikes which almost never satisfy my harder equipment requirements like gearing technology, wheel size, etc)...my main concerns with both the Oxford and the Kilo are
quality, fit, and geometry.