Large or Medium?

[Thompson]

I am hoping to get a new bike (not sure what yet) but i'm not sure what size frame to get. I got my road bike about 5 months ago or more and we had quite a ponder on what size frame to get:

Medium: The frame length was perfect and so my reach was comfortable, yet, I had to have the seat raised to it's maximum and it's still a tad too low and I seem to still be growing for some reason (18 yrs old).

Large: The reach is a tad too far and so not perfectly comfortable but manageable, and the seat is raised part way up with room for more raising.

I don't know which will be better to get, both my mtb and road bike are mediums but as I said, the seats a raised to the max.

Thanks.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Sounds like a large from what you've said, and you can easily swop the stem to a shorter one to reduce the reach.

The best thing you can do IMO, and considering you don't have a particular bike in mind yet, is get along to a large bike shop, somewhere like Evans is ideal due to the amount of stock they carry, and try different bikes for size. You might find a medium in one make is better than a large in another, and vice versa.

 

[Moodyman]

If you fall in between two sizes, the recommendation is to get the smaller size.

You can sort the seatpost out by installing a longer one. You can't chop your larger frame down to size though.

Edit: Smokey's advice is good about trying different sizes

 

[HLaB]

Ideally you'd get something in-between but IMO its easier to adjust a bike thats too small whereas with large you might be at the limits and not be able to go further. However it sounds like you can, I'd seek some professional advice before you part with hard cash.

 

[Norm]

I'd be looking at specific frames before wondering about sizes.

Even within a single manufacturer, frame sizes and geometries are different for different designs and different purposes - I ride a Spesh Secteur in medium and a Spesh Tricross in large because the bikes are used differently.

 

[Thompson]

Well i'm after a cross bike and i've heard the frames are slightly shorter which is why the large tempted me. While getting the road bike I tried hundreds of bikes of both frame sizes before settling for my Vanquish. I will indeed be trying different sizes and never thought of getting a longer seat stand thingy. Thanks for the advice.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Well i'm after a cross bike and i've heard the frames are slightly shorter which is why the large tempted me. While getting the road bike I tried hundreds of bikes of both frame sizes before settling for my Vanquish. I will indeed be trying different sizes and never thought of getting a longer seat stand thingy. Thanks for the advice.

I had a 60cm Focus Cayo Cayo Pro, I also bought a Focus AX 1.0 (CX bike), and that was also a 60cm and was bang on for me. My Cannondale CAAD10 is also a 60cm yet my 1980's Peugeot framed commuter is a 62cm, go figure.

You need to try as many as possible and milk the shops for their advice. Sounds like a pro fit session could be of use as well. Some shops actually knock the price of a pro fit off the cost of a bike if you buy from them so it could even work out to be free