Completely upgrading my bike – stem size question

[GoodOmens]

So after a minor collision with a vehicle after just getting back into cycling, insurance has given me money to repair my bike (right now it’s being repainted by Joe Bell ). As the bike has to be disassembled to be repainted I figured it was a excellent opportunity to upgrade to the latest 10 speed ultegra (now that prices are dropping because of 11speed).

For reference I have a 2001 Lemond Zurich – sizing info can be found here on page 85.

While the stem itself is in perfect condition, I just noticed that my frame size is a little big for me, I have a 53CM and I’m 5’8″. The tech manual mentions I should have had a 51CM.

Now my question is this – should I order a 90mm/100mm to compensate? I’ve noticed that on long rides my back will get a little soar. I attested this to not being used to cycling/seat being too high (I haven’t ridden regularly in about 5 years) – but now I’m thinking is because I might be a little too stretched out.

Thoughts?

Topic

[hozn]

I definitely wouldn’t trust a tech manual alone, though you can use it to bolster your own suspicions if you really think the bike is too long. Lemonds are generally designed to be very stretched-out geometries, though; that’s something LeMond riders claim to love about them. (I’m not sure I “get” the LeMond geometry, honestly; everything since my Lemond Victoire has made so much more sense fit-wise). Lower-back pain could very well be something else, as you note. I don’t have my Pruitt medical cycling book in front of me, but would recommend looking at some other ways to determine the correct length/stretch for your body dimensions. Also consider the setback of your seatpost. My Lemond had a 25+mm setback which put me fairly significantly behind the pedal spindler (as in knee-over-pedal-spindle), which is another whole holy-war debate — but I think general consensus is that a good place to start is with your knee directly above the spindle.

[GoodOmens]

@hozn 53917 wrote:

I definitely wouldn’t trust a tech manual alone, though you can use it to bolster your own suspicions if you really think the bike is too long. Lemonds are generally designed to be very stretched-out geometries, though; that’s something LeMond riders claim to love about them. (I’m not sure I “get” the LeMond geometry, honestly; everything since my Lemond Victoire has made so much more sense fit-wise). Lower-back pain could very well be something else, as you note. I don’t have my Pruitt medical cycling book in front of me, but would recommend looking at some other ways to determine the correct length/stretch for your body dimensions. Also consider the setback of your seatpost. My Lemond had a 25+mm setback which put me fairly significantly behind the pedal spindler (as in knee-over-pedal-spindle), which is another whole holy-war debate — but I think general consensus is that a good place to start is with your knee directly above the spindle.

Yea when I have it reassembled I’m definitely going to have my bike refitted. I don’t think anything has been touched adjustment wise (seat height etc) since at least 2003 haha.

I guess this is something I should have done before I had the bike sent off (to even determine if it was worth repainting) – but hindsight is 20/20. I didn’t even thing framing size was a issue until I was digging around to make sure I was ordering the right parts for it and came across the tech manual.

[pikebike]

I recently purchased a 2004 Poprad in a 57cm, when I should have gone with a 55cm due to the different geometry of the Lemonds. It had a 120mm stem on it stock, which stretched me out far too much. My road bike is a true 58cm with a 100mm stem and fits me perfectly. I swapped the stem with a 110mm I had laying around, and while it felt better, I still felt too stretched. So I bought a 90mm stem and the bike fits me perfectly now. I say you buy a 100mm stem and see how it works. They’re fairly cheap and easy to install, and help when you have a few laying around if you end up with a stockade of bikes.

I guessed on the 90mm size by just placing my hands in a comfortable position on my handle bars, and then roughly measuring the distance from my hands to the hoods to see how much I needed to remove with a shorter stem. It worked pretty well for me.

[Author]

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