Big Bike Question
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Big Bike Question
I went and got my Trek 4500 recently, and the salesman was rather adamant that the best bike for my size (5' 10.5" @ 200lbs) was a 21". I asked many times that all my net research pointed at 19.5 or 18" or 20" but never 21" he assured me and I believed him and got it. It feels great so far, I haven't taken it on a ride longer than 15 miles yet, but so far no awkward feelings and no discomfort. But I just did the standover test and noticed theres no inches between me and the top tube, actually i'd say theres negative 0.5"
So my question is, is there anything real bad that may come of this? other than my ability to bail might be hindered?
So my question is, is there anything real bad that may come of this? other than my ability to bail might be hindered?
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That salesman is a flippin idiot!! You should be on something around 17 or 18" for normal riding. If your into freeriding or the like most like a smaller frame. My street/urban bike is a 15" frame. My trail bike is a 18" and I'm the same hight with a 32"inseam. You will enjoy your ride a lot more if the bike fits.
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#3
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Yeah man. That's pretty bad. I'd go back and get a smaller bike for sure. I'm 6'1" and I ride a 19" tops for xc. Other than it would be really hard to use it in any form as a "mountain" bike, it probably wouldn't be too great or comfortable for jsut riding either. No room at all to maneuver the bike and it'll be slow and clumsy. No way should he have sold you that bike whether it's for ocmfort or anything.
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aww dang that's what I was afraid of.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
#5
Still kicking.
Heck I use a 15.5 dirt jump frame for an every thing bike and I'm 6'1", I just like small frames. But yeah, the sales person in your experience sounds like an idiot.
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what are my options then? I don't think I can just take the bike back because it has about 20 miles on it, and a pile of dog stuff got picked up by the knobbies and flung onto the front derailleur haha! I suppose I can call my store and see if they'd be nice and swap for a smaller one, maybe minus a few bucks. Otherwise could I just buy another frame and move all the parts over?
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Originally Posted by mlh122
what are my options then? I don't think I can just take the bike back because it has about 20 miles on it, and a pile of dog stuff got picked up by the knobbies and flung onto the front derailleur haha! I suppose I can call my store and see if they'd be nice and swap for a smaller one, maybe minus a few bucks. Otherwise could I just buy another frame and move all the parts over?
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I've got a 4500 that's 19.5, and I'm 6'2. I was close to going with a smaller size. My standover clearance is between 1 and 2 inches, which borders on dangerous. Before you end up in the ER, go back to the shop and see what they will do for you.
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I concur, unless you're strangely proportioned and getting a road bike (which you're -- uh -- weren't), that sounds way too big. Unless he was wholly incompetant, I think he was trying to take advantage of you. You should return it just for the bad sales experience you've been put through, really.
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What if they wanna be buttheads and not do anything?
Last edited by mlh122; 01-05-06 at 11:28 PM.
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Originally Posted by mlh122
aww dang that's what I was afraid of.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
But anyway, TAKE THE BIKE BACK NOW. Be insistent. Do not let them talk you into anything other than trading for the correct size. Swapping just the frame would cost them too much in labor, just get a completely different bike.
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also, why is that 2" - 3" of clearance so important? because the bike feels just fine so far, though the longest ride I've done yet on it was about 15 miles.
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haha, what the hell?!~
man, that bike assistant must have been really desperate to get rid of that bike. ><
im about the same height as you, 5"9, and just got a 17" yukon and even at that, i still feel it could be smaller.
ARGH!!!!!! SWAP THE BIKE NOW!! XD
man, that bike assistant must have been really desperate to get rid of that bike. ><
im about the same height as you, 5"9, and just got a 17" yukon and even at that, i still feel it could be smaller.
ARGH!!!!!! SWAP THE BIKE NOW!! XD
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Originally Posted by mlh122
aww dang that's what I was afraid of.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
He also said when sitting on the seat you're not supposed to be able to touch the ground, even with just your tippy toes. He said you have to rock a bit off the bike to touch the ground. I don't agree with that and have the seat lowered a bit so i can touch my toes.
Ok, now back to you. How is the reach to the bars? Do you feel like you're stretching? You certainly won't be cramped. How high is the seat for proper leg extension? Is the seatpost barely poking out of the frame, or are there at least a few inches showing?
What kind of riding are you doing? Is it just road and fire trails? Some easy XC stuff? A larger frame provides more comfort when travelling at a steady pace on smooth track. But if you're into rough and technical stuff, you probably want something smaller and more flickable.
That salesperson was a tool. You need to go and talk to the manager or owner. Ask him which is more important - a sale, or customer satisfaction. He should want you on the correct size frame. What could be worse for him than you telling people you got sold a bike that doesn't suit you? And don't let your ego get in the way. Smooth salespeople can get the best of any of us. It happens. Go back and exchange your regret for a bike that fits. Let us know how you go.
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Originally Posted by mtnbiker66
That salesman is a flippin idiot!! ...
Is the shop more road orriented? If so that could be the problem. I and many of the gus I ride with are 6'2" and the largest frame we would use is a 19". Three my friends are between 6'4" and 6'6" and even the 6'6" guy only rides a 20" frame.
21" frame will work great for you if you are riding strickly on easy fireroads and on the road. If you get into any technical stuff or steep descents you will run into troubles.
DBD
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Originally Posted by mtnbiker66
That salesman is a flippin idiot!! You should be on something around 17 or 18" for normal riding. If your into freeriding or the like most like a smaller frame. My street/urban bike is a 15" frame. My trail bike is a 18" and I'm the same hight with a 32"inseam. You will enjoy your ride a lot more if the bike fits.
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Originally Posted by mlh122
What if they wanna be buttheads and not do anything?
If they say no, it's a question of how far you want to go from there, including being persistent, copying them on a note to the manufacturer explaining the situation, parading up and down the street in front of their shop with a sandwich board... )
Good luck!
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Im also 5'10" and 200lbs. A 19 inch frame fits me like a glove. For more agressive riding I prefer a 17inch frame though.
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I personally think that you should decide on what feels comfortable for you depending on what kind of riding you plan on doing. In your case I would exchange the bike for something more comfortable. When you get a different size try it out and see if its comfortable for you. I'm 6' 160 lbs and I ride a 21" Iron Horse. It fits me perfectly and I wouldn't trade it for anything smaller. Make sure to get whats comfortable and what you will be happy with. Good luck with the exchange.
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Originally Posted by MidnightKiss
I personally think that you should decide on what feels comfortable for you depending on what kind of riding you plan on doing. In your case I would exchange the bike for something more comfortable. When you get a different size try it out and see if its comfortable for you. I'm 6' 160 lbs and I ride a 21" Iron Horse. It fits me perfectly and I wouldn't trade it for anything smaller. Make sure to get whats comfortable and what you will be happy with. Good luck with the exchange.
Well therein lies my dilemma, the 21" is very comfortable to me. The reason I ended up going with the 21" was that the 19.5" and the 21" felt pretty much the same, but the salesman was insistent on the 21", so I thought I'd just go with the professional's opinion. I haven't taken it on technical terrain yet, so far just an 8 foot deep hole that goes down and back up in a span of about 10 feet, so its fairly steep, and that handled just fine. I also took it on a local trail that had some steep switchbacks and it did fine. I'd hate to trade it for a 19" for a while and then decide the 19" is too small. I think then I'd feel too dumb to try to trade back and I'd try and swap a frame from ebay or something.
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Originally Posted by Namenda
I've got a 4500 that's 19.5, and I'm 6'2. I was close to going with a smaller size. My standover clearance is between 1 and 2 inches, which borders on dangerous. Before you end up in the ER, go back to the shop and see what they will do for you.
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I ride my 21" up into the mountains and take it on the downhill hitting jumps with ease. The only thing that sometimes makes it difficult is if the seats to high. Other than that it seems perfect. I say to keep the 21" if it feels comfortable. Since your limited to what you can do on that bike it should be perfect for what you can do if it feels great. When I bought my bike I had a similiar problem. I had decided on what bike I wanted but I couldn't decide on the size. They didn't have the 21" of the bike I wanted in stock but they did have the 19". I tried a different 21" and it didn't feel any different from the bike I wanted in the 19" model. I decided to order the 21" and let me tell you I havn't regretted it since. I ride that bike hard and it rides me back just as hard. Ride what feels comfortable not what people say you should be riding. Also, I say just wait until you want a different size. Especially with a lower end bike it would be much easier to just sell your current bike and purchase a different one instead of transfering parts. Ride the 21" until you don't want to ride it anymore and then trade or buy a new bike. This is only an opinion and I don't want to make you keep something that you will be unhappy with. Good luck with making your decision.
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Originally Posted by mlh122
I was just wondering, what's the dangerous part? I mean it doesn't feel any more likely to wreck than my 17" did, which handled great but was too small. My 21" handles very well too, and I've recovered from a few mud slides and a few wet-white-line slides already.
#25
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It's not uncommom to have to jsut suddenly drop off the pedals to the ground either to avoid falling or whatever. Not gonna be pretty dropping off the pedals of a bike that is technically(by the rough standards) several sizes too big. My boys hurt just thinking about it.
It's totally up to you what to do. It seems like you are jsut more embarassed to ask for a different size bike. Don't be. The salesman(I use that term loosely) is the one who should be embarassed. You took the advise of a "trained professional" who was either very immoral and trying to get rid of the big sizes, or very wrong and uneducated about bikes. Either way, it's not your fault.
This could maybe be a case for the BBB if they don't help you out.
It's totally up to you what to do. It seems like you are jsut more embarassed to ask for a different size bike. Don't be. The salesman(I use that term loosely) is the one who should be embarassed. You took the advise of a "trained professional" who was either very immoral and trying to get rid of the big sizes, or very wrong and uneducated about bikes. Either way, it's not your fault.
This could maybe be a case for the BBB if they don't help you out.