Daniil123

I am choosing my first road bike (I have very little experience with bikes in general). I decided to go with BD Gravity Liberty 2 (Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Liberty 2 | Save up to 60% off new road bikes).


The size chart says (Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Liberty 2 | Save up to 60% off new road bikes)

5' 10'' - 6'0'' - M/L - 53.5 CM
6'0 - 6' 3'' - L - 55.5 CM

I am exactly 6 feet. Which one is more likely to be a better fit?

P. S. I have read the discussions and I have seen a lot of advice to to to LBS, but that does not fit my budget.

yankeefan

The conventional wisdom around here is that you should avoid purchasing your first bike online (I haven't been around that long, but it makes sense to me!). Fit is a lot more complicated than simply matching your height to a frame size based on a generic table. I won't give you the full lecture since you've already read a few threads, but I'd recommend going for the larger size when you fall on the height border. It's a lot easier to adjust a slightly bigger frame to fit you than it is to adjust a slightly smaller frame. Just make sure you have sufficient standover clearance.

Lanceoldstrong

If that is the case, I get it. Been there.

So, get the 55.5 & if you feel stretched out, to far from the handle bars, you can swap out to a shorter stem for very little money.

............................................................................. Stem
................................................................................ \


I am 6' even and I ride a 56, so you should be fine.

Daniil123

Thanks for your replies! That's very helpful!

evil_lies

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but OP I'm looking at the same bike and the same height as you but have short legs (30" pants inseam). I'm just curious if you ended up buying the bike and what size. If you did, how do you feel it fits? Thanks!

Daniil123

I bought 55.5 Gravity Liberty. I like it a lot I think it fits very well - definitely does not feel too large for me.

However, if you have short legs - the standover clearance might be a concern. I only have ~ 1 inch in my case (which is the minimal safety limit I believe)

evil_lies

Thanks. BD has a great deal on the Liberty 3, but it's only in 55.5. I think that's going to be too big for me. Bummer. I'm going to go try a Giant Defy to see how it feels.

Daniil123

BikesDirect has had Gravity Liberty 3 listed on sale for $399 since Black Friday, and the only available size is 55.5 in yellow color. However if you actually try to buy it - they will tell you that they are sold out (this happened to me right after Black Friday and I just checked that it's still the case).

So, it would not work anyway

evil_lies

Oh, well then never mind. Thanks for the heads up. I was almost going to order it and swap the components to another frame if it didn't fit, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Corben

I too was a confused lost soul as to which size frame I should get when I decided to purchase a bike from BD.
So as outlined on BD site I followed thier instructions for measuring my inseam/height and used thier charts to decide which size suited me between the three models I wanted. Two recommend a 50, and on a 52cm. Still unsure I emailed BD, as recommend by BD,if I had any questions concerning which size to get. And sure enough they concurred I did it correctly and those were the sizes I need for which ever model I wanted. I ended up buying a 50cm Dawes Lightning 1000. (Still available but in real life it's a much darker gray. Looks better too.) for 400 bucks. It's the best fitting road bike I ever owned. I replaced the red walled tires with thinner plain black ones. Much more zippy. Great bike at a great price.

evil_lies

Yeah, I need to get my wife to help me get my measurements. However, the more I've looked online the more I'm thinking I want to go used. I can get an even better "bang for my buck" that route. I've found bikes with Ultegra level components for about the price of BD bikes with Tiagra/Sora components. I'd really like to be at the Tiagra or 105 level, but I'm not sure how much it matters. I know the lower end stuff is heavier, but I'm about 250lbs, I doubt I'm going to notice an extra few ounces on the bike...

fietsbob

Got any old LP records ? In Stocking/bare Feet, Pull that up between your legs as High as it will go. and mark the wall at that height , that is the Stand over Height ..

Overall height does not say how long the Leg part of You Is .

torso + arm length influences what stem reach You May want.