Originally Posted by
richella
This morning, I went for my first short ride around my local neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur, on my new Trek DS8.3. Really enjoyed getting back on a bike after nearly 10 years. The last bike I bought was a Trek 7000 in 1999. I absolutely loved that bike. I think I had the 16" frame then and of course only 26" wheels. I felt like a dinosaur looking at all these new Trek 29ers and 27." MTBs in the store.
I bought the bike last weekend from the local Trek dealer. Went into the store to buy a mountain bike and came out with this hybrid. I joined this forum during the week after I stumbled upon it while searching for more information about my bike.
From the moment I left the store I've been worried all week that I bought a frame size too small. I'm 5'8" with inseam of 30". I think I may have been poorly advised by the guy in the store. When I stood over the 15.5" it seemed a perfect fit with just a very small amount of room between the frame and my sensitive bits. The 17.5" was definitely too small in terms of standover. However this morning I had to raise the seat to near maximum extension to feel comfortable. At maximum extension it felt good and I think I was just having so much fun being on a bike again that I didn't really think about the sizing that had concerned me all week. I'm still uncertain and unfortunately Kuala Lumpur has no consumer rights protection so no chance I can return it.
I find the Trek sizing a little odd, especially on their mountain bikes, as when you move form 15.5" to 17.5" frame size you move from 27.5" to 29" wheel. The combination of a 17.5% frame with29" wheel just fees too big to me but the 15.5" with 27.5" just a fraction too small. I'd rather have something smaller than too big so I'll stick with my purchase for now.
There are some great offered trails around KL so I can easily wee myself buying a proper mountain bike in the future too but will be a lot more careful to get the sizing right.
I love this forum, great info and loving being back on the bike again.
Congratualtions on the new bike, and welcome to the DS club!
15.5 does strike me as a little small for 5'8 with 30" inseam. Then again stand over is the one thing that can not be adjusted, so if the 17.5 did not work for you (less than an inch to spare is a no-go), there is no option but the 15.5. Make sure to adjust everything to compensate ...
Roughly:
- seat hight where you can pedal with your heels with fully locked open knee, but no hip rocking.
- seat fore/aft set so with cranks at 90 degrees you can drop a plumb line from just under your knee cap to pedal spindle. Probably all the way back on a too small frame, and you may need an angled seat post to push it even further back.
- you may want a longer handlebar arm for more reach, this is to taste.
- you can rotate the break levers a bit, to make sure your wrists are straight with the two finger stance per your seating angle.