TallRider

I'm looking to build a fixed-gear bike in the near future, and am trying to learn as much as possible about them in the meantime. One question I have is, to what extent is riding style different on a fixed-gear in a way that affects ideal sizing, and how much is sizing thus affected? I'm sure that many of you have geared road bikes as well as fixed-gears, and thus have some experience with which to answer this. Plus, there may be some general consensus on this question that I've not yet run into. Some specifics, most having to do with the bars and stem:
* Longer or shorter reach to the bars (a.k.a. cockpit length)?
* Ideally run with a longer or shorter stem, independent of cockpit length (so assuming you could get a longer or shorter top tube to get the correct cockpit length with any stem, would you want a 70mm stem or a 130mm stem)? I ask this because fixed-gear riding may involve different sorts of torquing on the bar than does most riding of a geared road bike.
* Higher or lower handlebars compared to regular road-riding? Or no difference?

Any other axes of comparison that you think of, I'd be interested to hear about as well. Thanks much. Part of my reason for being really interested in these sorts of fit questions is that I'm 6'5" and fitting is therefore always somewhat tricky for me.

harryhood

in my opinion, none of these makes a real difference. if you are comfortable on your road bike, you will be comfortable on it as a fixed gear.

when i converted my road frame, i didn't change the cockpit at all. years later and it still feels great.

humancongereel

yeah, if you're converting, no difference. on, say, a bianchi pista, the size is different than the actual measurement because the BB on a track bike is higher, so the seat tube is shorter, but a smaller size will work for you. with bianchi pistas and others for road bike users, they have a "size" apart from the measurement, to avoid confusion. does that all make sense? i don't think it does, but if you do....

just for future reference, anyhow.

r-dub

+1 what harry said. I also feel that way too many folks ride bikes too small for them on the street. The short track frame with lots of seatpost showing and several inches of drop to the bars is great for sprints on the track when you're trying to cheat the wind as much as possible, but is generally less comfortable in daily riding and makes it harder to see things around you w/o craning your neck. (and no, I'm not saying that everyone is uncomfortable or unsafe in that position, so please don't flame me)