Ribble Sportive Carbon

[amcauliffe]

Can anyone out there help me with the sizing for the Ribble Sportive frames. I called Ribble and a relatively unhelpful guy told me that at 5 foot 9.5 that my correct sizing was a large. My first instinct is that at 5 ft 9.5, I have never been a large in anything. I stopped a guy who road past me on one of these but that was no good as he had a small (it did look very small). I currently ride a 56cm Trek road bike and would say I am relatively normally proportioned top half and bottom half. Web site contains no sizing measurements for the Sportive. Bike looks great, and v cheap but I don't want to end up with the wrong basic size.
Whilst I'm on I was going to go with a Compact chainset and I won't be racing it and hopefully taking it to the Alps in the summer. Never had one before but at my age beginning to strugggle with the steeper climbs and don't want a triple. Anyone think this is a daft idea?

 

[MajorMantra]

The geometry for the Sportive is here:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/content/images/Sportive_Geometry.jpg

I'm about 5'8.5" and I went for the 52cm (medium) frame with a 100mm stem which seems to be about right. What is the TT length of your Trek? Is it comfortable? The 52cm Ribble has an equivalent TT of 550.6mm which is probably similar to the Trek.

Sounds like a compact chainset might suit you, but before deciding you should have a play with Sheldon's gear calculator:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Compare the available chainset/cassette combinations with what you currently have. You should try and figure out which gears you use most and how high and how low you need them to go. I went with a 53/39 and a 12-25 cassette because that's what my Cannondale has and it seemed to work for me. In gear inches that's about 40 at the low end and 116 and the high end IIRC.

Cheers,
Matthew

EDIT: You aren't the guy I talked to in Edinburgh yesterday are you?

 

[amcauliffe]

Matthew
Thanks for that. That is what I was looking for, some indications of length. Are you happy with the bike, did you go for many upgrades?
Will measute my Trek. I'm not the guy you spoke to in Edin yesterday as London based but I am the guy who chases don any Ribble bike and asking about sizings. Is 100mm stem standard?
Many thanks for your reply.
A

 

[MajorMantra]

Matthew
Thanks for that. That is what I was looking for, some indications of length. Are you happy with the bike, did you go for many upgrades?
Will measute my Trek. I'm not the guy you spoke to in Edin yesterday as London based but I am the guy who chases don any Ribble bike and asking about sizings. Is 100mm stem standard?
Many thanks for your reply.
A

I've only recently returned to Edinburgh and have ridden the bike just twice, but so far I love it. I went for the standard special edition spec (Campag Centaur, Khamsin wheels). When I ordered it was a grand but it's now gone up to £1060 I think. Still one of the best deals out there.

You can choose a variety of stem lengths. 100mm is pretty typical and I chose it on grounds that I doubted I needed to go longer, and that I have a 90mm spare in case I need to go shorter. If you were to choose the same frame size as me you might want a longer one since you are taller than me.

Cheers,
Matthew