Originally Posted by
RiddleOfSteel
As many of us know, and many of you (you can roll your eyes now/again) know about me, a bike has to fit
and look good/the part doing it. Well, when you take 25" frames with previous exposed seat post amounts and jack them up another inch, not only do they look a bit funny (to me), but they also leave your bar/stem/hoods setting, so carefully crafted for the "race look" or the "sleek look" or the "classic look", for dead. That 2" saddle-to-bar/hood drop becomes a considerable 3", and that 3.4" saddle-to-hood drop (Allez SE) becomes an untenable 4.4" drop. Without Saint Nitto Technomic, my now-too-small frames are doomed to life without their rider, or if with their rider, life looking a bit awkward. What is (my) vanity to do???
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So what's the fuss? Gotta get new frames? Cry us a river, right?
I don't know. Though I do know, currently, that 64cm CTT frames are the low limit for frame size right now, and that 66cm is now the ideal for exposed seat post proportion and recouping the "lost" two-inch saddle-to-hood drop comfort. I can't bear to see my Prologue and Allez SE look like gawky giraffes, so they're going to be for sale soon. :/ I bought back my former 66cm Land Shark and am planning a bright future for it. My supposedly 25" '74 Paramount is actually a 64cm, but it looks pretty awkward at this stage. My now-modified (wider rim/inflated tire clearance in front, better/modern canti brakes) '83 Specialized Expedition, a luminary as expressed in my build thread, is on pause. You see how this goes....
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My question to you all, who have gone from X size to larger, or X size to smaller, or had to adjust saddle or bar positions on everything (whether due to fit, age, injury, or preference)--did you fight it for a little while, or accept the realities quickly enough and adapt. Were you bummed out, and if so, how much? Or did you relish the opportunity to fit something new/better and keep on biking because dang, if biking isn't fun!
First off- great to hear you are riding pain free.
I have always been surprised at the bike setups you have, given I am 6'5 and about your age and weight(39 and 215#). Envious is more apt a word than surprised, I guess. None of my bikes have slammed stems and they would look cooler if they did.
I ride 63.5, 64, and 65cm frames. The best fitting road frame is one I built in a class a couple years ago and its the 65cm frame. Even with that, the stem isnt slamed, though it did allow me to use a negative rise stem and less spacers which was a win for me in the appearances category. The older 63.5 and 64cm road frames just have a higher stem. I refuse to use Technomic stems as the look is terrible to me, so Dynamic II stems with 0degree rise have been on all my quill road bikes for the last few years since its a better look in for me.
Anyways, all that paragraph was about vanity.
Ultimately, I got over the fact that a bike doesnt look fast pretty quickly since I am not a slow rider and also, I doubt 90% of people riding when I am out notice the stem height. I build my bikes primarily for comfort and use and the deep secondary consideration is appearance.
Slammed stems and a fistfull of seatpost is a realistic fit for like 15% of recreational cyclists, and often times it isnt due to if the rider is in shape or not, its just body proportions. The rest who have that setup are just uncomfortably riding on fast looking bikes, which is an odd decision to make for a hobby, but to each their own I guess.
65cm c to c...
