Problems buying bikes for tall blokes....

[Hinden]

Hi All,

I'm doing the LEJOG in Sept and am in need of a new bike. After hunting around I'm seen one that I think will fit my needs, a Specialized Tricross Sport Triple. However, I've only ever ridden my old mountain bike and have zero experience of riding road or touring bikes. Working on the principle that 'comfort is key' and I want to get at least a few miles in on this sort of bike (ideally the exact bike) before I part with any cash.

Snag is I'm 6ft 5 and no bloomin cycling shop has anything close to my size that they'll let me take out, and nor do they seem to be jumping over themselves to help me out. So I'm stuck, I think I know what I want but I have no way to test the thing before I buy it. Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Cheers all

[gbnz]

I'd look for another bike as a starting point, the Specialized Tricross really is an appalling bike in many respects. Have a look of the reviews on the forum

(I'm still waiting

[random37]

I think if you're willing to spend that sort of money, any bike that won't let you test ride doesn't deserve the money.
I'd go to Paul Hewitt for a fitting; £50 is well worth the expert advice, miles better than you can get from the forum.
And the best bit is, buy one of his bikes (some of the best tourers money can buy, IMO) and you get that money back.

[brianleach]

My son is 6ft 4ins and has recently purchased a new machine. Evans Cycles were quite prepared to allow him to try bikes, subject to a deposit of course.

The cycle he purchased was in a larger frame size than he originally thought he needed so trying proved essential.

Brian

[travelling]

For me at 6ft 3 the problem wasn't just a large frame

I am a 32 inside leg but a long body so the reach was important. I did find that it is rare to get an off the shelf bike to be big and long to fit me

If it's just a bit of fun then buy a bike that is a good fit...if your going to keep it a long time then spend some pennies and get a custom fit such as paul hewitt, thorn etc etc

they may look exspensive at first but if you keep it a while and use it regulary then it's money well spent

[stewartpratt]

I am 6'5" and my 61cm Langster fits me very nicely indeed. The 61cm Tricross is only very slightly shorter. I think you'd be fine - though of course (with the caveat that - from experience - even if you know what you want in mountain bike sizing, that doesn't always map at all to road bikes) it's best to test. Whereabouts are you?

[Freddie]

All depends where you want the bar height in relation to the saddle.

If you don't mind a standard racing drop of about 4 inches from saddle to tops of handlebars, then a 61cm compact frame might do (seems to be the largest compact size).

If you're after more of a touring drop, bars around 2 inches below to level with saddle, things become trickier. Measure the combined length of the seat tube and seat post in your mountain bike and deduct three fingers to a fist worth to find the seat tube length of a traditional diamond frame.

The latter would probably need to be custom built, as I'd put money on you needing larger than a 64cm frame.

[nimchimpsky82]

At 6'6", I'm in a similar situation as you are (have posted about this predicament as well, see http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=24968))

My son is 6ft 4ins and has recently purchased a new machine. Evans Cycles were quite prepared to allow him to try bikes, subject to a deposit of course.

Leisure Lakes (http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/) told me they'd be prepared to order two large bikes in, without any obligation on my part. And Epic Cycles (http://www.epic-cycles.co.uk/) have a 60cm Orbea Orca in their demo bike fleet, which has the same or very similar geo as the entry level models.

Good luck!

[bigjim]

I had the same problem. I bought a small bike and then tranferred all the components to a large 25" frame [not compact] off the net. Did it myself but LBS quoted £25 to change all components over to new frame.

Jim