MTB rider getting cyclocross bike, sizing???

[[email protected]]

Getting a cyclocross bike for the city. I ride a Specialized 18" MTB.
Anyone care to guess approx cyclocross size?

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[Marc]

wrote:
> Getting a cyclocross bike for the city. I ride a Specialized 18" MTB.
> Anyone care to guess approx cyclocross size?
>
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> rec.bicycles.off-road is moderated by volunteers. To find help solving
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2/3rds of your inseam...

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[Mark Hickey]

wrote:

>Getting a cyclocross bike for the city. I ride a Specialized 18" MTB.
>Anyone care to guess approx cyclocross size?

A good starting point is to look for a bike that has a combined
effective (horizontal) top tube plus stem length of about 1-2cm
shorter than your MTB. If you're going to ride it "in anger"
off-road, you might want to go a cm shorter.

That's based on having your MTB set up for "all-around riding". If
you live for the downhill or trials-type riding, your MTB "cockpit"
may be a bit short to use as a comparison.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

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[Marc]

Mark makes a good point that top tube length is the best place to compare.

I was curious how my bikes compared- I measured reach from the tip of
the saddle to the handlebars (center).

i am 6'2".

my road and cyclocross bikes were about 58.5-59 cm seat tip to C-handlebar.

my mtn bike was about 64 cm for the same measurement. more than the 1-2
(or 3) cm difference comapred to CX Mark recommends.

measuring the road/CX bikes from seat tip to an imaginagy line that goes
between the brake hoods where the crotch of my thumb goes gave a reach
of about 75cm.

all of these position feel pretty reasonable to me. so, my mtn position
is intermediate between being on the handlebar tops and on the hoods.

I ride both my CX and Mtn bikes off-road. for my CX set-up I use top
mounted brake levers- so I have a fairly upright poisition on the tops
and can still brake. and I have a comfortable road position on the hoods
for when i'm pedaling normally.

-marc

Mark Hickey wrote:
> wrote:
>
>
>>Getting a cyclocross bike for the city. I ride a Specialized 18" MTB.
>>Anyone care to guess approx cyclocross size?
>
>
> A good starting point is to look for a bike that has a combined
> effective (horizontal) top tube plus stem length of about 1-2cm
> shorter than your MTB. If you're going to ride it "in anger"
> off-road, you might want to go a cm shorter.
>
> That's based on having your MTB set up for "all-around riding". If
> you live for the downhill or trials-type riding, your MTB "cockpit"
> may be a bit short to use as a comparison.
>
> Mark Hickey
> Habanero Cycles
> http://www.habcycles.com
> Home of the $695 ti frame
>
> --
> rec.bicycles.off-road is moderated by volunteers. To find help solving
> posting problems, or contact the moderators, please see http://rbor.org/
> Please read the charter before posting: http://rbor.org/rbor_charter.txt
>

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