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Gravel/Road Bike Fit suggestions
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Looking for some fit suggestions from the experts. I'm coming off a 2019 Santa Cruz Stigmata and looking for a bike to handle all my road and gravel needs. The Racemax looks solid for that option, but I'm a bit hung up on sizing between a 56 and 58. I have previously tried a TCX in L (roughly their 58) and a Cervelo S 2/3 in 58, and the frames on both felt massive. When I picked up the SC Stigmata in 56, it seems to work pretty well for me with a 10mm spacer, 100 stem and Zipp Xplr (70mm reach) handlebars for a somewhat conservative setup. My current road bike has Stack around 577, Reach of 392, no spacers, and -12 110 stem with 70mm reach handlebars. I'm 6'1" and thinking a little more aggressive than my Stigmata fit and less aggressive than my road fit is a solid compromise.
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Re: Gravel/Road Bike Fit suggestions [Minorsubplot] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Gravel/Road Bike Fit suggestions [Minorsubplot] [ In reply to ]
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It looks like you are sitting straight up.

Maybe more length.
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Re: Gravel/Road Bike Fit suggestions [Minorsubplot] [ In reply to ]
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Minorsubplot wrote:
Looking for some fit suggestions from the experts. I'm coming off a 2019 Santa Cruz Stigmata and looking for a bike to handle all my road and gravel needs. The Racemax looks solid for that option, but I'm a bit hung up on sizing between a 56 and 58. I have previously tried a TCX in L (roughly their 58) and a Cervelo S 2/3 in 58, and the frames on both felt massive. When I picked up the SC Stigmata in 56, it seems to work pretty well for me with a 10mm spacer, 100 stem and Zipp Xplr (70mm reach) handlebars for a somewhat conservative setup. My current road bike has Stack around 577, Reach of 392, no spacers, and -12 110 stem with 70mm reach handlebars. I'm 6'1" and thinking a little more aggressive than my Stigmata fit and less aggressive than my road fit is a solid compromise.

i believe the current gravel geometry i'm riding (i'm the same height as you, tend toward the same size bikes as you) has a stack/reach of about 585mm to 590mm and 385mm to 390mm. that's typically a size smaller than i would usually ride in a road bike: 56mm instead of 58mm. i ride that in the OBED, the caledonia, and that's what i'd do on the racemax. size 56.

the thing that makes this possible in these bikes is what happens when you get down toward the ground. the front-center is 611mm, the wheelbase 1014mm. another bike that has a FC of 611mm - and a pretty similar wheelbase, 1011mm - is the cervelo R5. in 58cm. if you want the bike to fit right, and not be too high in front, and handle well, these new generation bikes with 72° head angles, 50mm fork offsets, moderately longer chain stays (415mm), you need to size down from what you traditionally rode as a road bike.

mind, the cervelo caledonia has almost the same wheelbase, FC, CS, as the R5, but you have to down to a 56cm caledonia to get it. i could ride the 58cm caledonia, but it's too high in front. cervelo's road bikes are too high in front for me. but the caledonia, with it's length below the waist, gives me a really stable bike, plenty of footprint, in with a lower front end (as long as i size down 1 size) without being too high in front.

the caledonia basically is a road bike with (good) gravel geometry (as opposed to bad gravel geometry, which is certainly out there). it has almost exactly the same geometry as the 3T racemax. were i in your shoes, i'd get the racemax in 56cm, outfit it with a set of 700c wheels with 30mm tires for road, and then your gravel wheels which, if you're like me, would be a set of 650b with something like a 53mm tire. this will net out almost exactly the same wheel radius, wheel to wheel, meaning your handling experience on the bike will not change much as you change wheels.

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman
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