Originally Posted by
canklecat
Ditto, Spaghetti Legs' questions. Any differences can influence fit and comfort.
Is the frame geometry identical?
Identical saddles, handlebars, brake levers/hoods, crank lengths, gearing, bar wrap, etc.?
I have two road bikes, an '89 Centurion Ironman steel bike, and a '93 Trek 5900, then Trek's flagship carbon fiber bike and still a very good bike by any standards. Both diamond frames, since Trek hadn't yet jumped on the compact frame with sloping top tube popularized later by Giant.
But it's taken months to get the Trek fitting as well as the Ironman. There were many small differences so I took a methodical approach, changing one thing at a time. I have an old C1-C2 neck injury, so fit is critical.
- The Ironman is a 57 or 58cm frame; the Trek, 56cm. Both fit me fine, but that's enough difference to affect reach, etc.
[snip]
I think I've finally got both bikes set up to feel equally comfortable. But it took a lot of tinkering.
I just went through a similar exercise with my two bikes, which have a similar somewhat relaxed touring geometry. The 58ish cm cheapo John Deere bike boom bike was very easy to adjust to be comfortable for hour + rides. The 56 cm Motobecane...it took me 2 months of adjustments and stem swaps to finally be able to ride comfortably (I think the root cause is that the frame is just a bit too small). I was actually about ready to give up on it. Glad I didn't though as, it's now comfortable and I'm eagerly pedaling 80+ miles/week.
What I learned from the this experience is: Two bikes that are similar in geometry and size can have significantly different setups to be comfortable.