Wow, this is really hard. I’ve been looking and looking for a small, 48-50cm top-tube, steep, > 75 degrees, frame with 700c wheels and I’ve only found two so far. K2 T-Nine, but the XS size isn’t available yet, and the Giant TCR Aero, but that’s what I have and we don’t want to look like twins ;).
I know you are going to say 650c, 650c!!! Yes, but I think you would be wrong. My wife is 5’ 6.5" with long legs. She currently rides a 52cm top tube at 80 degrees and a 90mm stem and her arms are still much greater than 90 degrees. So a 48-50ish top-tube and 100mm stem should be pretty good. The problem with 650c wheels is that she doesn’t need a short head tube. She would end up with a ton of spacers on a 650c bike to get the bars up where they need to be. Her moderately aero (more aero than most, but not agressive) position only has the pads about 5cm below her seat. Height wise everything points towards 700c wheels, but she needs a really short top tube.
Finally, we really just want to get a new frame as she has nice wheels and nice compact cranks and neither would work, obviously, on a 650c bike.
Any suggestions on another frame besides the K2 or Giant. Not looking for anything exotic, just want it to fit.
If I were you and/or your wife, I’d either get together with or at least talk to a well-respected fitter, and then go custom. Guru, Elite, Yaqui . . . something along those lines.
How can you have “long legs long torso”?!!! Doesn’t that make you a tall 5’6"?
I can’t recall the inseam measurement, but my wife has the same inseam as me and I’m a normally proportioned 5’9".
To add to the top tube length problem, my wife rides like many women do. She doesn’t rotate her hips very much, so her back is curved. This shortens her up even more. My 52cm, 75 degree bike with a 100cm stem is much too long for her.
The Soloist though… Hadn’t thought of that. Probably not a 650c bike in small sizes.
I’m 5’7" with (relatively) long legs (82cm inseam), the QR Lucero Small 700c fits me quite well (50cm top tube, 77deg seat angle), with a Fizik Arione Tri I’m at 80deg (measured at 14cm from saddle nose), 15cm drop and 2cm of spacers just in case…
I’m sure my wife would love a Lucero, but that frame would be worth more than both of our complete bikes put together! Do you know if any other QR’s have the same geometry as the Lucero? I’m thinking no, and that the other bikes in the line are all 650c in small sizes.
Sorry, I meant long legs, long arms short torso. Likely the worst combo to get a good fit, thus my sail like position on the bike. Seriously though, the trilite will work. Options from QR include the Santos (tribike). You might also look at the Cervelo Dual which is also moderately steep and available in 700 in the small sizes if that fits your price point better.
If she rides like you said she does, then a 51 cm soloist set up at 77 degrees with a 90 mm stem, would result in a nose of saddle to centre of stem clamp measurement of 46 cm with a 9 cm drop from nose to armrests. I know cause I am on a 51 soloist at 79 with a 46 cm “reach” with a 110 mm stem and I am somewhat cramped, but I ran out of time to change it before Ironman LP, so I will just deal with it. Do you think this might work for her ?
Seriously, in 18 years of riding with aerobars, the Soloist is the first road bike that actually "behaves properly and not squirrly when ridden beyong 76 degrees. You can read my review up on the Cervelo web site.
I still think 650’s are your best options. I say a Guru Chron’Alu (that’s the cheapest one, right?), but with custom geometry. She doesn’t want to be really low? Get a longer head tube. Since she has a short torso and needs the correspondingly short top tube, she’ll likely have a lot of toe overlap on a 700c bike. Eh?
I’m sure my wife would love a Lucero, but that frame would be worth more than both of our complete bikes put together! Do you know if any other QR’s have the same geometry as the Lucero? I’m thinking no, and that the other bikes in the line are all 650c in small sizes.
Doesn’t that make you a tall 5’6"? 