Calculated bike recomendations

McTigs

Is there any website that provides a calculator to recomend the best bikes for an individual?

Where you can type you various leg inseem, arm length, torso and whatnot..... also purpose, spec, budget etc...

and out pops 4 or 5 suggestions based on the criteria entered.

eg, the best bikes for a short legged, long torsoed, medium armed freak with a carbon frame for under 2k are yada yada yada

The reason i'm asking is cos 4 years ago i bought my first roadbike and it's been a joy to cycle but the more i cycle the more i realise that it doesn't fit exactly right and i could do better. I bought it in my LBS and they reckoned it was right for me at the time, and they were prolly right, it's a great starter bike but before i trade up i wanna make sure i'm getting a bike that fits me like a glove.

There appears to be a multitude of different road bikes geometries and i'm looking for a quick route to an answer.

so, is there?

Lumen

Are bike frames really that person-specific? Manufacturers would like us to think so but I'm not convinced.

By adjusting saddle position, stem, and handlebar you can make a bike fit people of quite different sizes, as long as the frame isn't way too big.

I've ridden my wife's road bike with reasonable comfort despite her being almost a foot shorter than me, just by raising the saddle height. The handlebars are too low for long cycles but I could probably fix that with a riser stem.

C3PO

I agree with Lumen here. Frame size/geometry is only ever going to be a starting point and fine tuning for perfect fit will be arrived at by changing the adjustable parameters - saddle height, stem length, saddle fore/aft, bar height/width etc etc!

In theory my 54cm Felt Z frame is a little too small for me but with a few adjustments I have achieved an extremely comfortable riding position even for longer spins!

ashleey

The canyon website has a fit calculator that will help you with stem length etc based on your measurements. Then you can go and buy the perfect bike from them for about 4 grand! Or try adjusting your stem and saddle height. It's worth running it through just to give yourself peace of mind

macnab

Rule of thumb for me is: if in doubt choose the smaller frame.
Its easy to make a smaller frame fit, but a larger frame not so easy.
There are some well known ratios to decide frame size ie inside leg x .667 for a standard non sloping frame.

McTigs

Yeah, i think where i went wrong (or was sent wrong) is getting a 56 istead of a 54.

I'm 179cm but my inseam is just 80cm and i just can't seem to get quite as "aero" or "aggressive" as i want. I've already lowered the handlebars and raised the saddle as much as possible... maybe i can do something with the stem.

but the important thing is i'll be better aware next purchase, live and learn i guess.

thanks for the answers