I apparently have relatively long legs at around 85cm for my height of 177cm. The sources I've read suggest that as such I should get a better bike fit from more "relaxed" or "endurance" focussed geometry; i.e. a shorter reach and taller stack, or larger stack:reach ratio.
This issue was highlighted when I bought my Boardman; their website suggesting that my leg length dictated a large frame, with my height however being on the borderline between small and medium. In the end I bought a medium and am comfortable on it; FWIW the saddle is sat pretty far back (for the sake of my knees) and I've put a 90mm stem on it to bring the bars back a bit. Left to my own devices I tend to ride with my hands on the rads of the bars between the tops and hoods, although I'll usually use all positions (at least for short periods) throughout a ride.
Knowing the fit of the boardman is pretty decent I used that as a guide when buying my latest bike. Based on height the manufacturers' figures put me at the bottom end of the large size frame, and give no guidance based on leg length. I test rode both large and medium examples, instantly discounting the large as it felt massive with far too much reach. The medium felt a lot better and quite similar to my Boardman; it's frame having a reach just 4mm less and a more relaxed stack of around 33mm more than the Boardman.
I eventually ordered a medium variant of the next model up from the one I'd tried, which has the same frame geometry and stem but apparently different bars.
The bars on the new bike have far more reach, which I really don't like. Compared to the Boardman, relative to the bottom bracket the new bike's bars have 33mm more stack (fine) and 9mm more reach (not the end of the world) on the tops, but 33mm more reach on the drops and 40mm more on the hoods.
As I've mentioned elsewhere on here the bike has to go back due to an issue with the frame. It'll be replaced so I presumably have the option to ask for a small frame in replacement, should I so desire..
The small frame has 21mm less stack and 10mm shorter reach than the medium, but uses the same 100mm long stem and massive bars; so off the shelf it offers little improvement in reach and maybe even a disadvantage with stack (although it'd still be 12mm taller than the Boardman and I could always flip the stem).
Other concerns with the small are that the seat tube is 30mm shorter than the medium; meaning even more leverage against the frame from the seat post, as well as reduced inserted length (around 145mm of the 310mm total which is less than I'd like). Finally the small frame comes with 170mm cranks as opposed to 172.5s on the medium. It would however be lighter and stiffer (whether that's a good thing) with a slightly slacker head angle which would probably be welcome if fitting shorter bars or stem.
The medium frame does feel quite "big"; the standover height is around 10mm more than my Boardman and the head tube quite deep / top tube angle quite steep. I'm not sure how much of the feel is down to the bars though; with their long reach and flared drops (which are wider than I'm used to). I don't recall feeling this way about the medium I test rode with the different bars..
It looks like I'll have to replace the bars and / or stem on whichever size I go for so that doesn't really factor in. Having written it all down there don't appear to be many plus points for the small frame (which is recommended for rider height of 164-170cm while I'm 177cm), while I know by replacing the bars and stem and moving some spacers around I could make the new bike's geometry pretty much the same as the Boardman's regardless of the frame size.. All that said the medium still just looks and feels a bit big.
I'd be interested to hear peoples' thoughts as unfortunately I don't have the ability to test ride a small one to find out for myself!
This issue was highlighted when I bought my Boardman; their website suggesting that my leg length dictated a large frame, with my height however being on the borderline between small and medium. In the end I bought a medium and am comfortable on it; FWIW the saddle is sat pretty far back (for the sake of my knees) and I've put a 90mm stem on it to bring the bars back a bit. Left to my own devices I tend to ride with my hands on the rads of the bars between the tops and hoods, although I'll usually use all positions (at least for short periods) throughout a ride.
Knowing the fit of the boardman is pretty decent I used that as a guide when buying my latest bike. Based on height the manufacturers' figures put me at the bottom end of the large size frame, and give no guidance based on leg length. I test rode both large and medium examples, instantly discounting the large as it felt massive with far too much reach. The medium felt a lot better and quite similar to my Boardman; it's frame having a reach just 4mm less and a more relaxed stack of around 33mm more than the Boardman.
I eventually ordered a medium variant of the next model up from the one I'd tried, which has the same frame geometry and stem but apparently different bars.
The bars on the new bike have far more reach, which I really don't like. Compared to the Boardman, relative to the bottom bracket the new bike's bars have 33mm more stack (fine) and 9mm more reach (not the end of the world) on the tops, but 33mm more reach on the drops and 40mm more on the hoods.
As I've mentioned elsewhere on here the bike has to go back due to an issue with the frame. It'll be replaced so I presumably have the option to ask for a small frame in replacement, should I so desire..
The small frame has 21mm less stack and 10mm shorter reach than the medium, but uses the same 100mm long stem and massive bars; so off the shelf it offers little improvement in reach and maybe even a disadvantage with stack (although it'd still be 12mm taller than the Boardman and I could always flip the stem).
Other concerns with the small are that the seat tube is 30mm shorter than the medium; meaning even more leverage against the frame from the seat post, as well as reduced inserted length (around 145mm of the 310mm total which is less than I'd like). Finally the small frame comes with 170mm cranks as opposed to 172.5s on the medium. It would however be lighter and stiffer (whether that's a good thing) with a slightly slacker head angle which would probably be welcome if fitting shorter bars or stem.
The medium frame does feel quite "big"; the standover height is around 10mm more than my Boardman and the head tube quite deep / top tube angle quite steep. I'm not sure how much of the feel is down to the bars though; with their long reach and flared drops (which are wider than I'm used to). I don't recall feeling this way about the medium I test rode with the different bars..
It looks like I'll have to replace the bars and / or stem on whichever size I go for so that doesn't really factor in. Having written it all down there don't appear to be many plus points for the small frame (which is recommended for rider height of 164-170cm while I'm 177cm), while I know by replacing the bars and stem and moving some spacers around I could make the new bike's geometry pretty much the same as the Boardman's regardless of the frame size.. All that said the medium still just looks and feels a bit big.
I'd be interested to hear peoples' thoughts as unfortunately I don't have the ability to test ride a small one to find out for myself!
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