Cycling UK Forum

simonl123 wrote:This is an interesting thread. I'm 6'4" and I've been looking for a while for a new flat-bar tourer/trekker with a good long reach - since I'm quite long in the body as well. The Surly Long Haul trucker looks close, but one problem is being able to test ride anything. Virtually all bikes broadly classed as "tourers" sold complete seem to have drop bars

Yep, and a bike designed for drops will have a shorter top tube to keep the reach reasonable, swapping to flat bars from drops will make the reach shorter unless the stem is also changed. Either way those seeking a long reach with flat bars should be looking at bikes designed for flat bars. In the uk 'touring bike' seems to mean 'drop barred touring bike'. Get beyond this pigeon holeing and bikes very like European trekking bikes are sold in the UK as hybrids. they also tend to be cheaper than drop bar bikes. For more off-road orientated touring there are rigid mountain bike based tourers such as the Surly Ogre (700c) and Troll (26")

That's a good point - one of the reasons I'd followed up on the LHT was seeing touring cyclists in other places riding a flat-bar version, though, of course they weren't necessarily in the larger sizes.
Ultimately, though there are a vast number of different bikes available but in the end they are only slightly different. We are offered the spectacle of Choice but in fact there is very little choice if you want anything even slightly outside the mainstream. Just like anything else really.

Simon123.....what are you riding now? Can't you use that as a basis for a new bike fit?

You are not prepared to pay for a bike fit session, and doubt its value, yet you seem unwilling to specify your own measurements.
However you expect a bike shop to build up a bike for you to try, so you can return it if you don't like it. Where is the shop to get a specification from?....pull some numbers out of the air?....even better, they could build 3 randomly-different bikes for you so you can choose?
I don't know about you, but I'm on a pension.....when I was working for myself I had to make a living, and building bikes up for people to play with and return for a full refund is not the way to do it.

A middle course would be to find somewhere to sit on an LHT or whatever else takes your fancy. Holding the "tops" of the drops and comparing the reach with your current bike will give you an idea of the reach you can get with flat bars.....stems 120mm long are commonly available to extend the reach.
If you offered a non-refundable deposit, a shop might be prepared to build a bike to your spec. and let you try it with a couple of different stems. Then if you reject the bike, the deposit covers the mechanics time to build the bike, and the difficulty of selling the biggest size bike with an individual spec. Even better, both customer and shop have an incentive to get the bike right.......you don't forfeit your deposit, and the shop makes a sale.

I entirely agree with Colin's POV.
I think it unreasonable to compare £100 shoes with £1500 to £2000 bikes,because of the difference in cost and also if a bike is specially built to a customers spec and if that customer is,as in your case,taller than average or even if they're smaller than average the shop can't simply send it back the manufacturer/importer/wholesaler as it becomes used as soon as it leaves the shop.Also because of the size it can't be displayed in the hope that someone of the same height requiring the same spec happens along.
I,like Colin had my own business for 30years and if I operated on money back no quibble terms could have become bankrupt overnight with just a few customers.
TBH if I thought I couldn't satisfy the customer for whatever reason I wouldn't do business with them.It only happened a handful of times after first contact but I dropped them like a stone(in the nicest possible way) if I was in doubt,though I was dealing contracts a lot more than £2K.
Call it a minimum risk strategy but it helped me continue in business and sleep at night,running your own business is stressful enough as it is.
That point out of the way,I'd look at your present bike's set up,ask yourself if you're happy with that,then look for a bike that fits that riding position.
If you don't have a bike presently you need to find a setup and a bike fit is you're only way forward.
If your sure of the level of parts spec you require,go frameset only and seek a reliable shop to build it.
It's the nearest you'll get.
One final point,Thorn are the only bike shop I'm aware of that offer a money back no quibble guarantee,and are more expensive than other shops because of that.IME they are good people to deal with.
There's no such thing as a free lunch

Thanks both colin and reohn2, your points are very fair. I wish I had easy (or any) access to bike shops run by guys like yourselves!