Here I am on my current touring bike. She is a bit worn and I'm thinking of getting a new bike. I think this bike is a bit small. 90% of my riding will be city commuting with the very occasional camping trip. I'm 182cms tall with an 85cm inseam and 190cm wingspan. 100kgs so a bit of a Clydesdale. I have been looking at a 57cm Trek 520 but it is more than 4hours by car away and I think it might be a bit small. Measuring my bike shown above the trek would be about 1cm smaller yet. Any opinions and or thoughts would be appreciated. Thank you
Bear

That bike seems a bit small to me also. I'm 170 cm and ride a bike with a 54 cm top tube. The top tube being the main sizing dimension to focus on. Good luck.
Bern

frame measurements on that one left out, got a tape measure?

Up here .. that's 6 foot

there have been frame design changes, that has a horizontal top tube, now they often slope upwards.

Trek '520' model has been made for many years they too have changed over the decades..

I'm 5'9, down from 5'10" over 65 years..

My saddle top to pedal is about 35" not much seatpost out on a 58 [level.. top tube that's my biggest size bike]

a lot more on a 54 (its a Koga Trekking bike) 565, 57 .. top tube length is good for me..



...

Looks too small to me also.

When measuring top tube do you use the center of headtube to the the center of the seat tube or from where the Top Tube comes into contact with the head / seat tubes?

Cheers

Bear

Before you spend a penny, take a moment for a quick experiment.

Loosen the bar clamp and rotate the handlebar 180°, so the grip position is at the most forward position. Level it out so the hand angle is decent and ride it for a few days. If it feels better overall, you have proof that the frame is too short (seat to bar), and can shop other sizes accordingly.

These days, what with long seatposts, and sloping top tubes, the old BB to saddle and stand over guidelines aren't as important as handlebar height and seat to bar length.

OK I got some measurements. My bike does not have any measurements marked on it so I measured everything.

CTC= Center to Center

Seat Tube CTC 56cm
Top Tube CTC 57cm
Down Tube CTC 65cm
Seat stay CTC 55cm
Chain stay CTC 45cm

Cheers
Bear

The top tube or effective top tube for those weird sloped tube bikes in fashion these days should be measured center to center. The effective top tube length is projected from the head tube to where it should be on the seat tube as if there was a level top tube (like there should be).

Thanks FB

This got me to thinking and I had a look at my setup. At some point I remember putting on a MTB style stem that actually stretches me out some. If truth were told the handlebars would need to come back 2 to 3 cms and 4cms upward to feel right. I'm at the end of that quill's upward movement.

Bear

Everybody has to make his own bike what he wants it to be. I can understand you wanting a higher stem and more upright position, though you might then want a wider saddle better suited to that position.

But I took another look at the photo, and can't imagine that you'd want the bars back any more than they are.

In any case, looking at the photo, you seem to have about 1" upside room on that stem, and correctly rotating the bars so you can use the hand grip position without breaking your wrists would be a place to start. since the bars have rise, using the normal hand position rather than gripping at the center would move your hands both back and up.

I suspect that you went with a longer stem because the bars were too far back before, so going back there hardly makes sense.

However, as I said, it's your bike, and only you can say what position you prefer.