Choosing Gravel Bike dilemma

[vickster]

Is Fuji making a bad quality frames ?

No, but Cannondale are recognised as making very good Alu frames.

Go back to the shop with the M Cannondale and ask if they can put a shorter stem on for you to try. Have you actually ridden it (outside or on a turbo) or just sat on? The latter is a poor way to gauge fit

 

[Venod]

I don't think so, the Fuji looks a fine bike, but I prefer the smooth weld profile of the Cannondale, I have had three of their aluminium frames all have been faultless, I have a Carbon Synapse that I am also impressed with.

 

[kingspirit]

No, but Cannondale are recognised as making very good Alu frames.

Go back to the shop with the M Cannondale and ask if they can put a shorter stem on for you to try. Have you actually ridden it (outside or on a turbo) or just sat on? The latter is a poor way to gauge fit

I just actually just sat on it, several times in the same shop, I think if I will ask them to swap the stem or even sit again they wont be happy about it
I'm now thinking, if I will be getting it online, I will have sometime to spend with the bike and if I will feel its not right after all I can send it back for a refund

 

[vickster]

I just actually just sat on it, several times in the same shop, I think if I will ask them to swap the stem or even sit again they wont be happy about it
I'm now thinking, if I will be getting it online, I will have sometime to spend with the bike and if I will feel its not right after all I can send it back for a refund

Buy from your LBS, they can trouble shoot, help with set up, do the 6 week service etc.
Otherwise, don’t waste any more of their time.

Many online retailers won’t take a used bike back and/or will charge a restocking fee, plus return delivery

 

[yo vanilla]

A shorter stem may also change the handling characteristics of the bike. Slightly shorter, perhaps not so much, but a fair amount then perhaps.

For me, if it is a cheap bike (second hand or whatever) I would be inclined to take my favorite choice and adjust parts as necessary. Part of the fun. BUT if I were spending two large on a new bike I would go for what fits me best. Unless I was head-over-heels in love with the other.

 

[Vantage]

I can see plenty of my bike when I’m riding

I prefer looking where I'm going.

 

[vickster]

I prefer looking where I'm going.

Can still see top tube, handlebars etc

 

[Doug.]

Get the Fuji then. There’s nothing worse than an ill fitting bike

Get the Fuji then
income tax is worse.

 

[fair weather cyclist]

How relevant are all these discussions about stem length and shorter/longer stems making the bike more/less twitchy?

I mean, they surely are relevant when you're a pro or anyways pretty strong and you race at good speeds in the peloton. But is the average overweight 50 years old british cyclist really going to notice the effects of a shorter/longer stem when he's out riding on a Sunday at 15mph surrounded by other overweight weekend cyclists?

We're not as good as we think we are
Any bike is going to be good enough for us.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

An 80mm will sharpen the steering a little, not a bad thing off road, perhaps somebody running an 80mm stem on a similar bike would like to comment, I have a 80mm on the MTB, but that's a different beast, some people run much shorter on MTB's

Stem length is a red herring. You don't steer a bike by holding it's stem, you steer it from whatever hand hold position you choose (or have to use with flats) on the bars. The amount of percieved responsiveness or control depends on how long the lever is from the steering axis to the hand grip position.
Think of bars and stem as being like two sides of a right angled triangle. The stem length determines how long the shortest side is. The width of the bars determines the second side length. The length of the actual steering lever, the hypotenuse, is the resulting product of both.

 

[Venod]

Stem length is a red herring. You don't steer a bike by holding it's stem, you steer it from whatever hand hold position you choose (or have to use with flats) on the bars. The amount of percieved responsiveness or control depends on how long the lever is from the steering axis to the hand grip position.
Think of bars and stem as being like two sides of a right angled triangle. The stem length determines how long the shortest side is. The width of the bars determines the second side length. The length of the actual steering lever, the hypotenuse, is the resulting product of both.

So if you have the same hand position on the same bars a 110mm stem will produce a different steering feel to a 50mm stem ?

So its not a red herring, it makes a difference.

 

[weareHKR]

Both short & long stem lengths absolutely make a difference to the handling, however, there are so many factors to consider in deciding what is best or indeed needed for us, or as @fair weather cyclist correctly put it... " The average overweight 50 years old British cyclist"
Although I did change my hybrid bike stem from 90 to 50 & it made it a lot more comfortable to ride the longer distances!

 

[matticus]

Fair point but cx racing is cool AF.

It's pretty cool. Also very inclusive (as cycle-sport goes), and super family-friendly.

But I've come in half-way through this thread, which might be why I don't understand @battered 's little speech!

 

[battered]

It's pretty cool. Also very inclusive (as cycle-sport goes), and super family-friendly.

But I've come in half-way through this thread, which might be why I don't understand @battered 's little speech!

It's a joke in reply to this remark:
" Try a cyclocross bike instead they're miles better. Next big thing I've heard. "
and it reflects the fact that marketing departments are forever reinventing the bike. The key success was the MTB in the 90's, prior to that there had been no massive changes in the market. Inspired by this they went on in the 21st century to attempt to reinvent the tourer (fail), the drop bar racer (success, driven by the TdF wins), the hybrid (success), the CX (fail) and now the gravel racer (success) the funny thing is that half these bikes are just rehashed versions of what went before and the parts bin, so you had manufacturers trying to punt out CX bikes that were basically last year's tourers with knobbly tyres and they still had pannier hangers. Because you need them on a CX, don't you?
So I'm suggesting the the marketing guys are going to try to make the CX the next big thing, and I'm working up a comedy skit around hipsters, CX racing being about carrying a bike round somewhere grim in the rain, and what's going to happen when the novelty wears off.

 

[Paul_Smith SRCC]

... I really like a lot Cannondale Topstone, they way it looks and etc but Cannondale size M doesn't fit me well, I feel slightly stretched on it, where the Fuji Jari 1.1 I like less but in size M it fits me well....

Those two are quite close interms of bike fit, yes the Cannondale is slightly longer and lower interms of reach and drop, but fit a 1cm shorter stem compared to the Fuji and a minor reposition of the shifter and the reach will be very close, slightly lower but still conservative.

Fuji Jari 1.1
Stack 581
Reach 372
Top tube 550
Seat tube angle 73

Cannondale Topstone 1
Stack 579
Reach 385
Top tube 561
Seat tube angle 73.1

I have tried Cannondale in M size, was not to bad, but still something was not right, I felt a bit stretched on the bike. Of course i probably would be able to switch the stem, but on the other hand there is a Fuji which is already has a shorter reach fits me well
.

Were the saddle height and setback the same on both bikes? If not you may be surprised how different that will make each feel and could definitely influence your conclusion of "something was not right". You may not actually need to change the stem at all, it could we be you just need the bike set up correctly interms of fitting.