Visited a local bike store today looking for a deal on an 09 Transition and the guy told me he hated to steer business away but the Transition might not be the best choice for me. Im 5’9 and 153ish pounds. He said that the bike was designed for the tallermore powerful riders and that even at the small frame sizes the amount of bike and fairing size was larger than optimal for a shorter person. Anybody else ever heard this? Im not sure if this is backed up by research or just one mans opinion. Seems like Tollakson and Ficker ride a Transition very well and I dont think they are much taller than me if at all. I probably would have still picked one up (they didnt have any in stock), its a sweet looking ride.
sounds ridiculous to me.
I’m 5’8, 31" inseam… Small Transition fits me fabulously. Review some of the bike fitting info. from Jordan and Dan and you’ll get a better understanding of how the fit works.
While some bikes are more optimal for certain riders, most can be made to fit with relative ease.
I’m very surprised he didn’t sell it to you!
The bike may or may not be a suitable fit for you based on it’s geometry. The reasoning he is using sounds ridiculous, and to top it off he sounds like he thinks he’s being righteous for ‘hating to turn away business.’
well, I’m your height and I’m riding a medium…
At the very small range (like a rider 5’4"), there’s quite a bit of stack, so it’ll limit your bar/stem options–but the guy who you’re dealing with is being ridiculous.
in your store’s defense, last year’s transition came in four sizes, this year it comes in six sizes, including a size that’s smaller than anything made last year. so, maybe he’s not aware of the new smaller size.
it’s entirely possible that YOU might be a 5’9" guy who might not fit well on a LAST YEAR’S smallest transition, depending on how low you need to get, and what bar’s you’re riding.
but if he said that just 5’9" and you’re too short, without fitting you, or asking you about your choice in aerobars, yeah, that sounds like a quick judgment.
I’m 5’10" 145lbs and ride a M Specialized Transition. The bike fits me great.
I would definitely recommend a Transition but would recommend going elsewhere if the salesman is going to provide that type of rational.
Holy crapoly… I have a M Transition. And since I’m 5’9.5", I clearly I am overmatched.
hmm, just a hair under 6’0" and working on a large, possible that it’s too big? he’ll be getting some mediums in shortly, might just go with those dependin on feel/fit… he did a fairly good initial fit in the time I had, everything fit vertically… needed to make some adjustments to the seat, but not much…
5’9" is short now??
5’10" 185 on a large transition w/ s works seat post, fit is very comfortable.
Um . . . did you bother riding one for yourself? I’m 6’0 and ride a medium. I found the large way too uncomfortable for me. Go figure.
this is all going to only be relative to a point unless we start sharing all of the different measurements that would apply to being fit to a bike… add to that personal preference… you can see where it will go…
I’m about the same as you measurement wise and ride a large. super comfortable. just got retuled a few weeks ago and everything looked peachy.
If I can fit on one and be really aero, and you’re 5’9’’ you’ll be just fine…that’s someone who either doesn’t know what he’s talking about or someone who wants to sell something else.
If I can fit on one and be really aero, and you’re 5’9’’ you’ll be just fine…that’s someone who either doesn’t know what he’s talking about or someone who wants to sell something else.
Interesting point. After the remarks about the Transition he pointed me to a $7k Giant and Cannondale saying now these you would be perfect for. I currently ride a 52cm Slice and Im thinking that with the new Specialized sizes available that would probably equate to a M? Im going to test ride several makes and models and probably one or two sizes purchasing but the Transition is still my #1.
I agree with Dan. My shop experienced most shorter riders feeling “stretched out” on the bike, but now that Specialized has the two new sizes, it’s less of an issue. I personally have a very long torso and long arms, and on the Specialized, I still have a more obtuse elbow angle than a similar geometry on other TT bikes. If you look at Macca’s set-up last year, he also has a fairly open elbow angle…
I rode both this year’s and last year’s. I’m just under 5.8 (1m72) and I was able to ride very low, and never felt stretched out.
If the OP were 5.5 I’d understand the remark. At 5.9 without even putting him on the bike, it’s crap. That sounds like ‘let’s not sell a $1800 frame when you have $4000 frames that have to go’.
At 5’8" which size did you ride–2009 model??
I ride the small white and red 2010 model. Same when I had the previous black an yellow model.
Stem is 110mm (on both).