Wrong size bike?

Jordansrealm

Jordansrealm

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After riding for a week now I definitely feel stretched out a bit when riding my new Stumpy FSR. The guys at the shop told me I should be on an XL so thats what they sold me. I am just about 6' tall and wondering if I should have opted for a L. I am planning on trading out the stem for a shorter stem and a 2-inch rise bars because thats how I prefer to ride and it will help bring the bike in closer to me for more control.

What do you all think? If you're my height what size bike do you ride?

Thanks,

Jordan
 
Hieght does not have alot do with it, it is all about the dimensions of your torso/arms, and your legs/inseam. Like for me, it was a difficult choice between a medium and a small, I have a long torso so in a small I am a little crunched up, and a medium I cant really stand over the bike but I wasnt crunched up or stretched out. I ended up with a 15.5" bike which is a small/medium. But I was also used to riding crunched up since the bike I had been riding was a little too small. But it is all about how you feel in the "cockpit".

Don't really know how helpful that was but for what it's worth fit is a personal thing.
 
Give it another two weeks.

Whenever I adjust even one headset spacer...my body/back knows it and complains for a while till I get used to it.

If in another week or so you don't settle in, you know it's time to make an adjustment.

Start with a cheapo stem to play with the height you think you want....if it works..then get the nice Thomson or whatever.

my $.02
 
No way....

Those guys at RnR seem to know what they are doing.

I know Specialized specs frames with loong stems and short Seattubes.
I sat on an XL Epic last Monday...it fit perfect. I'm 6'6.

So, if the stock stem is 120mm....try a 110mm at almost 1/2 shorter, would make a big difference. or a 100mm for a relatively huge difference.
 
Just make very small adjustments first. It usually doesn't take much. Looking over the bikes specs on the website it looks like you could ride either one XL or L. But it is true you have to feel comfortable on the bike. Getting a bike that is to small for you would at the most maybe hurt your performance a little and if you're not racing, then I guess it's no big deal.
I say make some small adjustments, starting with the stem like Padre suggested, then maybe move the seat some and depending on what seat post you have you might be able to turn it around and run it backwards to move you foward some more.
Or if you're dead set about it, call the LBS and ask them if they'll take it back on a trade in for a different size. Good luck.
 
Let me just add one last thing I thought of, the fit in the "cockpit" can be adjusted, but your stand over can not. Before I settled on my Trek 6500, I was looking at a Hardrock, the med. was too tall, but I wasnt too stretched out or cramped. But the small had the right stand over, but was cramped. So they were going to switch out the stems to a longer one, to see if that helped. But I ended up going with the 6500 after riding it, so I don't know one way or another how the stem would have helped.
 
I found this web site the other day that has a pretty sophisticated bike fit calculator. Only takes a few minutes to take the measurements and enter them. Then check your bikes measurements vs the recommendations. It is for selling their custom-fitted bikes, but you can just go through the steps on the web site to calculate the recommended bike specs.

http://www.wrenchscience.com/
 
Jordansrealm said:
well they wont take it back they said that alot of people 6 foot ride XL and they said its what i told them in the store. um no. oh well they said they would adjust the seat and bars for me but that really isnt what i wanted to hear. dont think ill be going back there. looks like ill be doing the stem and bars soon. after i thought about it over the weekend i recall the salesguy saying that my XL was the last FSR they had and now I feel like they pushed me into it to sell it.
Click to expand...

why would they take back a bike you've ridden?

we've all told you to wait to see how you adjust to it...before you get all hot and bothered.....

try a shorter stem dude.
 
Jordansrealm said:
well they wont take it back they said that alot of people 6 foot ride XL and they said its what i told them in the store. um no. oh well they said they would adjust the seat and bars for me but that really isnt what i wanted to hear. dont think ill be going back there. looks like ill be doing the stem and bars soon. after i thought about it over the weekend i recall the salesguy saying that my XL was the last FSR they had and now I feel like they pushed me into it to sell it.
Click to expand...

I would take it back to them and exchange it for a large. Your height is more suited for a large frame anyways. Any good shop will exhange it for you if they want to keep you as a customer. For all the cash you dropped for it, you should should demand a exchange. I don't know how you paid, but if you paid by CC you have some leverage with them as you can always have the CC company work with you. Don't let them take advantage of you. Good luck!
 
mtbracer36 said:
I would take it back to them and exchange it for a large. Your height is more suited for a large frame anyways. Any good shop will exhange it for you if they want to keep you as a customer. For all the cash you dropped for it, you should should demand a exchange. I don't know how you paid, but if you paid by CC you have some leverage with them as you can always have the CC company work with you. Don't let them take advantage of you. Good luck!
Click to expand...

"Take advantage..."

nice..way to villafy the shop!

on what grounds do you "demand" an exchange???

he wasn't duped...
he wasn't cheated...

expert bike guys worked WITH him to settle on an XL.
he probably just needs a shorter stem....

worth investigating before getting your panties in a bunch....
 
ok went ot RNR and Travis the owner was really cool in person and instantly told me I should be in a L not an XL. he made a call to his Specialized rep but they dont have any more of my frames in stock. He said that he is going to keep calling and maybe he can do a swap with another shop, and I left them my bike. So, I have to say he redeemed himself in person and was VERY VERY nice when I went in. Hopefully theyll swap out the frame this week for me
 
Padre said:
"Take advantage..."

nice..way to villafy the shop!

on what grounds do you "demand" an exchange???

he wasn't duped...
he wasn't cheated...

expert bike guys worked WITH him to settle on an XL.
he probably just needs a shorter stem....

worth investigating before getting your panties in a bunch....
Click to expand...

Do you work there? No one is getting there panties in a bunch or villafying a shop. Any good shop would work with the guy or do an exchange. I bought a bike for my kid, had it a week and realized she would grow out of it too fast and took it back and they gladly exchanged it for a bigger bike. No reason this shop can't do the same if the customer is not satisfied with the fit. They are expert bike guys because of what credentials? He demands an exchange because the bike does not fit!
 
Dude...

He is too small for an XL frame. At 6" tall he should be fine on a large frame. Now, the guys at Rock n road are usually hardcore XC types who probably like the feeling of stretched out top tubes and long stems. It seems that Jordan, coming from a BMX background would most likely want a bike that he can throw around on the trails easier. Question for Jordan, did they have any larges in that model you were looking for?


Padre said:
why would they take back a bike you've ridden?

we've all told you to wait to see how you adjust to it...before you get all hot and bothered.....

try a shorter stem dude.
Click to expand...
 
Jordansrealm said:
He then continued to convince me that his friend is 5'8" and rides and XL comfortably.
Click to expand...

5'8" on an XL? LOL. No L's in stock, so they pushed the XL? Hindsight is 20/20, and I'm sure you know now you should have walked. That's too bad, because these forums spread the word about a shop like wildfire.
 
ok went ot RNR and Travis the owner was really cool in person and instantly told me I should be in a L not an XL. he made a call to his Specialized rep but they dont have any more of my frames in stock. He said that he is going to keep calling and maybe he can do a swap with another shop, and I left them my bike. So, I have to say he redeemed himself in person and was VERY VERY nice when I went in. Hopefully theyll swap out the frame this week for me.
 
That sounds great Jordan. We owners of our own business' always make good! I'll bet Travis is going to ream the salesman for pushing the XL.

Enjoy suffering your bike withdrawls for the next week.
 
I am glad that they are fixing the situtation, probably an over anxious salesperson trying to get rid of the hard to sell XL bike. Hopefully you will have a correct frame and be riding soon.
 
Glad to hear you got the situation resolved Jordan. I'm 5'8 and ride a Medium Heckler, fits me really good. There are too many variables when selecting a new bike that it is pretty tough to really nail down a solid way of determining what size frame one should get. Anyhow, sounds like you are happy now and that is what is important.
 

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