Road novice bike advice/help required!

[oonaff]

Hi i believe a lot of people have misconceptions of racing handle bar's,
i only use the drops free wheeling down hill or on the flat when i want to occasionaly.
drop bars with exeption to[ 'criterium' curved in the top part] are straight along the top.
mostly i grip the hoods thumb and index finger, its not a lot different to a mountain bike with horns.
some times i grab the tops and pull when tackling a short hill or relax my hands in that position so it becomes
a mini staight bar . judging by your height i would recommend 44cm cc open up the chest and more leveridge
for them hill's. always some on the bay[ok 46 cm not common though]

 

[wookiee]

Hi i believe a lot of people have misconceptions of racing handle bar's,
i only use the drops free wheeling down hill or on the flat when i want to occasionaly.
drop bars with exeption to[ 'criterium' curved in the top part] are straight along the top.
mostly i grip the hoods thumb and index finger, its not a lot different to a mountain bike with horns.
some times i grab the tops and pull when tackling a short hill or relax my hands in that position so it becomes
a mini staight bar . judging by your height i would recommend 44cm cc open up the chest and more leveridge
for them hill's. always some on the bay

44cm??? sounds a bit small even by my standards...

 

[NeilM]

...what about this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171215041371? ... 1438.l2649

Nice looking bike, but I think it may be too small. As it's local, any chance you could go for a 'viewing', that would then give you a much better idea of what will fit.

Regarding bars and bar width, you have to stop looking at road bikes with mtb eyes, they are completely different machines. On an mtb I feel unhappy with 525 bars and prefer 580 to 590. On a road bike I am more than comfortable with 42 cm bars and have used 44 on a cx/mtb frankenbike I built. That said, 44's on a rocky downhill was not my idea of fun.

 

[Robbied196]

A Trek 1.2 is a great choice but not easy to find for £200, a Dawes Giro would be easier to find for that kind of price.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/dawes-competi ... 7675.l2557

 

[oonaff]

hi again, im on e bay quite a lot when i should beburning calories on my bike !
id just like to 2nd the advice on the trek alpha range s/hand on ebay !
treks seem to be good value s/hand , even better if you can get 105 or ultegra.

 

[Bats]

44cm??? sounds a bit small even by my standards...

For years they were 38. I just bought some 42s and that matches my shoulders. No point going wider.

 

[torqueless]

If the OP is 6'4" with 33" inside leg, they might be better off with a non-parallel frame like the ones in this thread: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=283650, about 23-23 1/2" centre-to-top.
Make certain of your inside-leg measurement- it's not the same as your trousers. Stand next to a wall and slide a hardback book up the wall between your legs. Mark the wall when you cannot get it any further.

 

[wookiee]

Ok here's what I have found out! Road bikes seem to be measured in werid ways! I went into my LBS today who are a stockist of Specialized bikes and the guys there thought a 61cm Allez would fit me...I slung my leg over and it felt pretty good. So I asked where the 61cm was measured from...centre bb to about 5cm up the seat post??! He explaiined that the measurement is taken from the top of the head tube in a level horizonal line across to the seat post. Given that the Allez has a sloping top tube this meant the it hit the seat post. So the actual measurement of the seat tube is probably nearer 56/57cm...

...so are all bikes measured in this weird way?? This is why I thought I would need a 58cmish frame...do other brands measure differently?

Yours confusedly!

Doug

 

[NeilM]

All my road frames are measured from the BB centre to the top of the seat tube and from the centre of the seat tube to the centre of the head tube.... but then all my frames are steel and retro. It was based on those measurements that I was suggesting 60 cm plus.

What was the top tube measurement of the Specialized?

 

[wookiee]

All my road frames are measured from the BB centre to the top of the seat tube and from the centre of the seat tube to the centre of the head tube.... but then all my frames are steel and retro. It was based on those measurements that I was suggesting 60 cm plus.

What was the top tube measurement of the Specialized?

Top tube measured 58.5cm and the stem 105cm and it felt like it fit me well...I dont want to be too bent over...