I have been looking for a road bike for a while and am having a real problem finding a bike that would fit me. I am a woman, 5’8" with long legs and arms, short torso. I currently ride a Look frame size 53. The top tube of 53cm is too long, and despite having a short stem (100-110) and long head tube (14), I am very stretched out on my bike, and I feel too much pressure on my shoulders for some reason. My husband is a big fan of R3, but I cannot seem to get an R3 to fit me. I tried a 51 today, but the top tube at 53 was too big. This bike seems to have an aggressively short head tube (12), so I do not want to go to a smaller frame. What do you recommend? The bike store fitter (at Helen’s in LA) thinks I should get a 52 top tube.
I was also evaluating a custom Serotta or one of their stock frames (as Serotta seems to have more sizes than many other manufacturers), but I don’t know if I am necessarily getting the best bike vs. the price. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I’m certainly not a fit expert, but you can find stems much shorter than 100-110. I believe mine is a 70. Not sure how shortening the stem will affect handling, but thats 3-4 cm of reach right there.
According to my husband, shorter stem will compromise bike handling and balance. He just re-measured my stem, and it is apparently a 90 stem. I have been researching bike manufacturers that make women-specific frames - Trek Madone 6.5, Specialized S-Works and Look, but it still appears that R3 was reviewed for having great stiffness to weight ratio as well as handling and comfort. I already have a good bike (Look 381), so if I am going to buy a new bike, I really want the one that I would love and that would fit me perfectly.
Look are releasing a 585 Elle which will have a shorter tt and longer ht. Sounds like this would be a good option for you to consider if you like the 381. Specialized Ruby/Roubaix have similar proportions. You are not likely to be able to make a cervelo fit as they are designed as race bikes and are thus low in front. If you feel that you need heaps of stiffness then go for a custom crumpton or parlee and get them to overbuild it.
Do you know where I can get geometry on the 385 Elle? Look website only lists men’s sizing.
I would not buy my bike at Helen’s. They are no F.I.S.T. fitters there. Go instead to Triathlon Lab in Torrance where you will get fitted by a F.I.S.T. fitter. At TL they carry Cervlos also. Better to get FIST fitted and instead of trying to fit your bike later based on a poor recommendation at Helen’s.
I actually did get my bike fitted on Serotta fit system. I have not had a great experience at Helen’s - it seems too crowded there all the time. I just went there today because they told me that they had an R3 51 in stock, and I could come in today and see the fit. Unfortunately, they did not actually have a built-up 51, and I ended up getting a very short abbreviated fit on Scott Addict which apparently has a very long top tube. I will actually try this store in Torrance.
Do you know where I can get geometry on the 385 Elle? Look website only lists men’s sizing.
It’s not actually available yet, should be in the next couple of months. Will check at work tomorrow but it’s something like 3cm taller headtube and 1cm shorter tt than the correspondingly named mens size.
if you are looking for a road bike and having that much difficulty i would recommend you consider custom. a custom ti from Seven or Serotta will fit you right and last a lifetime, worth the extra you pay. don’t force a bike to fit. personally i never want to see someone with a stem shorter than 100 on a road bike. take a look and see what’s out there.
I would not buy my bike at Helen’s. They are no F.I.S.T. fitters there. Go instead to Triathlon Lab in Torrance where you will get fitted by a F.I.S.T. fitter. At TL they carry Cervlos also. Better to get FIST fitted and instead of trying to fit your bike later based on a poor recommendation at Helen’s.
Is FIST relevant to road bikes? I was under the impression that it was a tri fitting system.
I have spent a lot of time evaluating serotta actually. I am primarily focused on carbon bikes - when I test rode titanium, I honestly did not like the bike as much as my current carbon. That leaves me Ottrot - which costs $6000 for frame only (no forks or anything else). I cannot justify spending $8000+ for Meivici carbon frame. Serotta Fierte comes in a frame size that would fit me, so that is an option.
What I liked about R3 is that it is an extremely light, stiff yet comfortable frame. Around where I live, I have to climb a lot, so it would be great to have an extremely light climbing bike.
My husband and I did some more research into R3 geometry, and it appears that due to the angled designe, Cervelo frames actually have a shorter reach than many of the other frames. I am trying to locate a 51 R3 somehwere (Competitive Cyclist) and see if this will fit me (without any added features (e.g. 70 stem) that would compromise balance).
Have you tried turning the seat around on the Cervelo to the forward facing position? I was having the same problem and that solved it. I am also 5’ 8" and a woman.
Do you have R3? I actually do have seats as forward as feasible, but this time around, I would like to have my frame to be a better fit. What is your frame size?
No I have a P3 SL. I am not talking about moving the seat forward, that 's what I kept doing. What I am talking about is taking the seat off and flipping the seat post around to the forward facing position, it will get you a lot more forward. It took me a long time to figure this out and the “bike fitters” never mentioned that a Cervelo can do this. Go on the Cervelo web page and you will see that there are two seat positions and the forward facing position has the shortest top tube length.
I am not sure what size mine is. It is either a 51 or a 53. I bought it so long ago. I just bought a Orbea Diva in size 53 though.
Thanks. How do you like your Orbea? I did test ride that in 53, and it was a decent fit.
I like the Diva a lot, but I am still racing on the Cervelo. The Cervelo is 4 pounds heavier but it is so much more aero that I am still faster on it.
I am talking about is taking the seat off and flipping the seat post around to the forward facing position, it will get you a lot more forward.
That may not be possible on the R3, it is a conventional road bike without a flippable seat post. In any case, for a road bike fit, you do not want to adjust seat position to compensate for an incorrect reach. Set the seat to where it should be, and then figure out the correct TT / stem length combo.
The flippable seatpost on the Soloist models is intended for someone who wants to ride a tribike-like position on a road bike.
According to my husband, shorter stem will compromise bike handling and balance. He just re-measured my stem, and it is apparently a 90 stem. I have been researching bike manufacturers that make women-specific frames - Trek Madone 6.5, Specialized S-Works and Look, but it still appears that R3 was reviewed for having great stiffness to weight ratio as well as handling and comfort. I already have a good bike (Look 381), so if I am going to buy a new bike, I really want the one that I would love and that would fit me perfectly.
The R3 has a shorter effective toptube than ANY women’s specific frame. First off, most manufacturers claim that women need shorter toptubes because their torsos are shorter. Guess what, that’s simply not true. Morphological data from DOJ actually shows that women have a relatively longer torso (but only by a fraction, so not really relevant).
Anyway, so manufacturers have it in their heads that they want to give women short toptubes, but they do this not by bringing the headtube closer to the rider, but by steepening the seattube. It doesn’t really shorten the toptube, it merely forces women to move the seat forward. Well, if that’s what you want, then a neutral offset seatpost will do that.
A fitter who says “you need a 52cm toptube” makes me cringe. 52cm toptube with what seattube angle? A 52cm toptube on a frame with a 75 degree seattube angle makes for a lot longer frame than the same toptube on a 73 degree seattube angle (it’s around a 2cm difference. In other words, a 53cm toptube with a 73 degree seattube gives you a frame that fits 1cm shorter than a 52cm toptube on a 75 degree seattube frame. Counterintuitive, but true.
In your case, there are two things to look at:
- a neutral-offset post is probably the way to go
- you really don’t need a 100-110mm stem. On a 51cm frame, that’s on the long side if anything. I think standard we spec 90mm, my wife rides with a 70mm stem and is absolutely delighted with it.
Cheers,
Thank you. I will definitely buy R3- now have to decide whether I will get R3 or R3 SL. I like the fact that SL is lighter, but prefer the color scheme of the regular R3.
Does Cerverlo offer neutral offset post? Doesn’t the frame come with a post that is a bit set back? If Cervelo does not offer any of these posts, could you kindly recommend me a brand / model? Thank you very much!