oh JEEZ - another thread on recommending a bike!!!

[Vladimir]

Ok ladies and gents.
This is a recommend a bike thread, so I do apologise in advance.
First if all - I am EDIT: 175cm (the nurse that measured me at 177cm tall must have had a duff measuring stick and/or I was wearing shoes at the time, perhaps?). The inseam is about 80cm to the floor as I stand barefoot.
I would like recommendations for drop bar bikes. I've ridden around on a Carrera Virtuoso and I really like certain aspects of road bikes. I hate other aspects of the virtuoso in a 54 cm frame - the main issue being is that it's a very far reach, too far for me. This is probably exacerbated by my painful back and that I'm not very flexible. I can lean forward a bit and produce a bend in my elbows with the original 110mm stem, but it feels very uncomfortable. I've had to put on a 35 degree rise 70mm short stem on the Virtuoso to make it comfortable, but then the steering becomes very twitchy to steer.
The moment I jump on my large pompino frame, the fit is damn near excellent! The cockpit is just that bit closer, but the stem is a more normal length - and the whole thing steers quite nicely.
So basically I would like a recommendation for a bike with:
1.drop bar, flappy shifters (such as Claris or other shimano groupset)
2.a rather short top tube such that I'm not reaching forward too far
3.cockpit quite high up.
4.clearance for large tyres - 32mm as a bare minimum
Now, I know that I'm essentially describing a cyclocross bike, but at the same time I'm aware that TRUE cyclocross bikes have the BB quite high up and the cockpit relatively low down which then results in a quite aggressive riding position, which I want to avoid.
So far I've found that the evans listgings have detailed geometry and I can see that possible contenders are:

Option 1: Dolomite has great reviews online, the dolomite 3, 4, or 5 in medium has a standover of 771mm, reach of 386 and stack of 568, which sounds perfect on paper - but will have to test ride one first. http://images.evanscycles.com/product_d ... 2-2015.pdf
I'd probably go for a dolomite 4, as it's got a nice set of components: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... 9#features

Alternative 2: [great online reviews] Arkose 3: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pin ... e-ec071307
The Arkose in a medium has a standover of 796mm, reach of 388mm, and a stack of 578, which again, sounds good on paper and I will test ride it soon enough http://images.evanscycles.com/product_d ... -chart.pdf

Alternative 3: Fuji touring bike; http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuj ... e-ec072794 I can't get much info on this, neither on gemoetry or any reviews online.

Alternative 4: Raleigh Soujourn: mixed reviews online, rather heavy, BB5 brakes (not BB7) http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/r ... -road-bike

All thoughts welomed.

P.s. I'm moving to Kent, lots of good cycling roads around here (Eynsford and surrounding area) so the bike is with a view to take advantage of these roads

Budget is around £600 - £1000

[Valbrona]

I hate other aspects of the virtuoso in a 54 cm frame - the main issue being is that it's a very far reach, too far for me.

The sizing of a bike should be based on the reach factor alone. Perhaps follow that up with a short stem/high rise/compact bars. Don't focus on how much seat post you got showing.

[Vladimir]

I hate other aspects of the virtuoso in a 54 cm frame - the main issue being is that it's a very far reach, too far for me.

The sizing of a bike should be based on the reach factor alone. Perhaps follow that up with a short stem/high rise/compact bars. Don't focus on how much seat post you got showing.

That bike is no longer with me, so I don't have the chance to check on that.
Cheers
Vlad

[Penfolds11]

Ha-ha - I interpreted the subject line to mean that you wanted us to pick our favourite bike threads from this forum to recommend to you, rather than this being a thread in which to recommend a bike.

D'oh - sometimes my brain just doesn't connect in the right way!

[Merry_Wanderer]

What's the geometry on the pompino frame and what is your budget?

[Vladimir]

Ha-ha - I interpreted the subject line to mean that you wanted us to pick our favourite bike threads from this forum to recommend to you, rather than this being a thread in which to recommend a bike.

D'oh - sometimes my brain just doesn't connect in the right way!

Fair enough. I changed the thread title. I suppose it does sound that way.
Thanks
Vlad

[Vladimir]

What's the geometry on the pompino frame and what is your budget?

I'm not great at interpreting these, but here is the geometry of the newest pompino frame. I have the previous version, not sure if the gemoetry has been changed at all.

Large frame
A Head Angle (°) 72
B Head Tube Length (mm) 135
C Effective Top Tobe horizontal (mm) 565
D Seat Angle (°) 72.5
E Seat tube Length centre to Top (mm) 540
F Chainstay Length (mm) 420
G Standover Height (inches) 30.7

Budget is £1000 at the very most.

[Freddie]

I hate other aspects of the virtuoso in a 54 cm frame - the main issue being is that it's a very far reach, too far for me.

The sizing of a bike should be based on the reach factor alone. Perhaps follow that up with a short stem/high rise/compact bars. Don't focus on how much seat post you got showing.

Sorry, but this is bad advice. The relationship between saddle height and handlebar height is very important (therefore seat tube size is very important), regardless of what all the racing magazines say. The smaller the frame, the bigger the issues (toe overlap, small headtube = excess wear on headset, worse head and seat angles). In a non racing scenario, one should ride as large a frame as is reasonable.

I'd like to see a picture of your On One from the side on, so I can gauge your fit on it. I imagine half the problem with the Virtuoso you tested was that you were reaching too far down as opposed too far forward.

Edit: I've seen your On One from the link in your signature. It has a relatively long top tube, 56.5cm, which I doubt the Virtuoso had, but I bet the virtuoso had a longer drop to the bars. When the bars comes up, your reach gets longer (easily demonstrated by rotating your arms upwards at the elbow). One thing to bear in mind, is that the midge bars are rather wide and have quite a forward position on the bars for the brake levers. I'd advise trying a pair of short reach, narrower bars on your On One like the FSA Vero, to see how this impacts on reach.

[Vladimir]

I'd like to see a picture of your On One from the side on, so I can gauge your fit on it. I imagine half the problem with the Virtuoso you tested was that you were reaching too far down as opposed too far forward.

Regarding reaching too far down - I don't think this was the case. I only really use the drops for taking off from traffic lights. Otherwise, I'm on the hoods or the tops.

Here are some pics of me on the pompino. sorry for the ugly mug and that it took a while to find a skilled/willing photographer
side-on, stationary, simulated riding stance:

side-on, stationary, heel down:

riding:

riding some more:

[Vladimir]

Apropo the pictures I posted, my cycling buddy at uni reckons I need to:
1. move the saddle forward about 5-10mm
2. exchange the 80mm "diddy" stem for 100mm.
Thoughts?
Cheers
Vlad

[531colin]

For comparison, this is me aged about 64...



If you move the saddle forward and add 20mm to the stem, you will still be riding much shorter than a (now) 67 year old.

Bike positioning thread from too good to lose....http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=74985&p=654836#p654836

[Vladimir]

If you move the saddle forward and add 20mm to the stem, you will still be riding much shorter than a (now) 67 year old.

Bike positioning thread from too good to lose....http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=74985&p=654836#p654836

Absolutely no shame in that! I quite like my position relatively upright anyway, it helps with my aching back. Suffering with back pain in your 20s isn't normal either, but there ya go!