I’m remaining stubbornly loyal to my 2012 Felt DA2 until someone makes a bike with longer reach. Anyone have any rumors to share about long-reach bikes? Which companies? When might they become available?
One would think they should be coming soon, given a clear shift in triathlon bike positions in the last few years, and the insane, expensive game of customization folks are playing in order to accomplish what should (IMHO) be included in the price of a bike that already costs more than any car I’ve owned.
Thanks! Can you confirm that 620+ (pad reach, BB to pad center) is feasible?
I’ve seen those options mentioned here, but it seems like I’d be pushing it a bit just to replicate my current pad reach (~585 BB to pad center). I’d like to get to about 625 without having my elbows too far over the wheel, and without front-end craziness that makes one feel he might be tempting the gods of leverage.
Yes, there will be a bike coming in around June with the longest pad reach currently available.
Size XL will be in the area of frame stack 570 and reach 475, the integrated base bar stem combo most likely 110 mm and on top of that it will have a large amount of adjustability in the cockpit.
Not sure we can count the Speedmax in this list. You can opt for the basebar with longer reach when buying, but it doesn’t get you into the realm of modern long reach fits.
If you have to buy an angled spacer to get you the reach, just like all the pros are now using, it doesn’t count.
I love the fit I now have with my Speedmax, but it wasn’t cheap to achieve it and in no way can it be classed as having a modern long fit out of the box.
I ride M, with my arm pad reach (back, not center, as center is meaningless if you have long arm pads) to BB of 460mm. That’s probably 490mm to the center. One could extend it by longer (possible when configuring new) stem by another 40mm (65mm->105mm). So out of the box you get 530mm arm pad reach from pads center to BB. Custom spacer from a reputable company gets you another 40-50mm reach. I’m not a fitter but I personally don’t know anybody who needs 570-580mm reach in size M.
Scott Plasma 6 is however fully complaint. Ku Cycle can be custom made front to the specification.
The ‘thing’ with the Ku is, although a great bike, that the longer it gets the higher the top tube comes up and in the end the stand over height becomes an issue. When I ride mine not even particularly long it was already almost touching the crown juwels :-).
That said, when you built it with the FastTT bars you will get extra reach without going higher.
Currently the Plasma 6 is about the longest bike without extra parts.
Replying to watch this thread. I am 5’10" / 178cm but have a long-ish torso and require a bit more reach. My current bike a QR PR4 (size 54) with a 110mm stem. My bike fitter set me up with 509mm of arm pad reach (tip of saddle to back of arm pad). I think I could use even more reach but would need a longer stem (currently my seat is all the way back and extensions / pad are all the way forward).
I’d like a new tri bike but really struggle with finding the right bike or needing to pay thousands more for a new cockpit. I’m interested in the Scott Plasma 6 and my LBS, RA Cycles (also an online store) is a Scott dealer. But they’ve told me they are super rare in the US and they import around 6 / year, with reservations on those bikes going quickly.
So I’ve stuck with my QR4 because it takes regular stems and seems easier to set up. A new bike seems like a giant money pit full of uncertainty on fit.
Concur…
Long stems are not an issue at all. The bikes handle just fine. The concern are long carbon steerer tubes and custom aluminum parts fatigue cracking due to torque stress.
Buy yes, frames today should be at least offered in a long reach option even if only in size medium.
I actually snagged one of these for AliExpress for my road bike (the other way round, negatove 12deg) Only time it gets awkward is standing up to climb, but once you’re used to it it’s okay. Otherwise it handles exactly normally. Tbf I paired it with 35mm bars, so the distance hand -to-steerer isnt too different than a normal stem on 40’s
I’ll be in pro crits with it this summer and have the slightest hesitation about when the front wheel squirrels a bit in corners, but that’s a bridge to cross when we get there.
Reach is 445 on their largest option. I don’t know what edge they’re cutting, but the rest of us have moved on to new one. Old Felt geometry seems better than new Felt geometry
