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Old August 4th 03, 03:57 AM
Boyd Speerschneider
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Default Fitting short legs

"Bret" wrote in
:

"Boyd Speerschneider" wrote in message

I am also a rider with a longer torso and shorter legs. I'm 5'8.75" and
have a 31.25" inseam. Like another poster mentioned, go to
www.wrenchscience.com and use their fit calculator. I did this and
found that I needed a bike with a 52cm frame (seat tube
center-to-center) and a 65 cm reach. This was tricky to pull of
without a) using a crazy long

stem
or b) getting a custom-made frame.
However, shopping around I found that the Fuji team bike has a nice
geometry for people shaped like me. Their 56cm fram is actually 52cm
center to center with a 56 cm top tube. So I got the appropriate stem
(which actually wasn't that long) and I was set.
LeMond is also notorious for making frames with these sort of "relaxed"
geometries (ie., a longer top tube to seat tube ratio).

Hope this helps,

- Boyd S.

ps. Lose your stem spacers, slam that bad boy all the way down, level
your drops with the ground, and learn how to ride with your back flat.
Stretching helps with the flexablity required.


OK, take 1.25" off your inseam and add 2.5" to your
torso and you have my frame geometry! (-; Thanks for the link, I'm
heading over there. It sounds like increasing the stem length is going
to be my only chance of salvation at this point. The bike doesn't hurt
me, but I can't
get my back to flatten out. When you lose the stem spacers, what do
you do with the rest of the vertical tube that's left? Do people cut
these off? When my "friends" notice my stem with 4 spacers on it they
yell "dork alert!"


You have 2 options:

1) Cut the extra tubing off; a pipe cutter works well.
2) Put the stem spacers on top of the stem.

The second option is probably the best if you ever plan on selling the bike
as it offers the most flexibility for fit.
The first option is optimal if you are trying to make your bike as light as
possible.
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