“You can get a negative drop stem or Look Ergostem and get pretty well as much drop on the front end as you want”
if the solution to ill-fitting bikes is to fix it with a look ergostem, then, yes, you can have your stem do mobius flips and whatnot and we’re back to needing only two or three sizes for everybody. when you start with the idea that a custom guru – probably at a cost north of $5k – is the intended option, then i would hope that a production or custom bike that fits properly ought to be the reasonable expectation.
the negative drop stems will not work. i’ve explained before on the forum why this is. the custom also may not work, because every custom builder has a minimum head tube height he can build his bikes down to. production bikes often can offer a smaller functional head tube. the kestrel airfoil is the perfect case in point, with 76mm of integrated head tube. yes, perhaps a custom maker might claim he can build this, but at what cost? the head tubes on these production carbon bikes are extremely beefy, and these top and down tube areas just behind the head tube is the weakest part of the frame.
i was talking to a gal, right at 5 feet tall, at the OC tri club meeting a coupla weeks ago. we talked a year ago, she was contemplating (and was eventually) sold a custom seven or serotta, i don’t remember which. i counseled her back then to get a production 650c tri bike (any of the usual suspects), and she’s now, a year later, unsatisfied and is probably going to get an airfoil.
the airfoil is my idea of the best production tri bike for anyone in this under-5’ to 5’3" range. since just yesterday i was accused of taking the positions i do because i’m getting paid to do it, may i take this opportunity to say that i’ve never received a nickel from kestrel and don’t see that happening in the future (but i’m always open to it. preston, are you out there?).
what any person contemplating this needs to do is find out what his fit coordinates are. really, anybody of any height ought to do this. discover your fit coordinates, irrespective of any bike or frame that you might contemplate. your fit coordinates – your points in space – are your bible. they follow you around from bike to bike, from year to year. they are yours, and remain yours irrespective of brand. it’s like your shoe size, it’s yours, and if nike offers sizes 9, 11, and 13 and you’re a size 10 then i’m sorry, no amount of swoosh appeal is going to make that nike fit.
once you’ve found your fit coordinates, THEN you find which bikes match YOUR coordinates. best not to fall in love with a headbadge until you’ve prioritized this process correctly.
