Giant Bikes? Compact Sizing?

[Triskeliongirl]

I was just perusing the Giant site, and the bikes have fairly relaxed seat tube angles for commercial racing bikes. That means they might work for me. Does anyone know how to choose a size with the compact geometry. The standover heights seem low for the size. Is there anyone out there that is 5'4" with a 30.5" inseam that rides a giant? What frame size are you? Doe they have toe clip overlap? How do they handle? I am looking for a high end carbon racing frame.

[spokewench]

I ride a small Giant - I am 5'4" tall, 30 inch inseam, rather long in the waist rather than short like a lot of women. You almost don't have to worry about standover height with this bikes with the compact geometry - the top tube just doesn't get in your way when it runs down. You need to measure your top tube length and compare it to the top tube length for a Giant. This will start you in the right direction. Then go ride some bikes and talk to a dealer, they will have a good idea how the bikes fit people.

Compact frames work well for a lot of ladies, so you might try it and see. I love my Giant TCR - it is SWEET!

[Tri Girl]

I don't know how to choose a bike with the compact geometry (that's why I went to the LBS so they'd have to figure it out :D ).
I have an XS giant- I'm 5'3" and have a 30" inseam. I have an OCR1, and bought it with the intention of doing tris. The compact geometry is nice- and although the top tube is slanted I still manage to scratch it when I get on. :)
They make very nice quality bikes, IMO, and for the price you can't beat their reputation and durability!

[Tater]

I am 5'4" with a 30 inch inseam and I have a small Giant TCR cw. I love it. I don't have toe overlap and the slanting top tube isn't an issue at all. Great bike, Tiagra/105 mix, double, and rides so smooth.

[GLC1968]

I had a compact frame Specialized before I bought my Terry. I'd also ridden a few Giants when I was shopping around. My inseam is a tad shorter than your's and I was between and XS and a S but probably would have gone for the XS had I bought one.

The one thing I noticed about both the Giant and the Specialized (that was vastly different from the Terry) was that the steering was way different. The Terry almost felt squirley or 'twitchy' in comparison. Once I'd gotten used to the Terry I rode my old Specialized (I sold it to a friend) and it felt horribly sluggish. I believe this is due to the larger front fork rake. It means no toe overlap, but it affects steering (which isn't a bad thing...just different).

And I don't know about the XS Giant, but my Specialized did not have room for 2 water bottle cages in the frame and it wouldn't fit on a regular bike rack (I had to buy an extension rod) due to the small size and compact geometry.

[spokewench]

The Giant TCR is NOT slow in front! It is actually a pretty quick bike so if you are looking for a laid back bike, this is not the one for you. My small does not have toe overlap.

spoke

[ehirsch83]

I love giants, I have had two(now have a litespeed) and my mom has the ocr c3. I previously had the tcr advanced limited(great first bike!) and then I got the '04 t-mobile women's race frame.
The only thing I have to say, especially since you are shorter is to test them all out! I am almost 5'6 and was on a small and the top tube was to long for me(53.5 i think, where my new bike is 51). It fit my legs perfectly, but not my upper body.

Even though Giant says they make women specific bikes, the only size that they actually change the measurements for is the XS.

But they ride great,handle great, good product for your money.

I would definitaly suggest finding a giant dealer and stopping in

[Tri Girl]

My Giant XS can hold two water bottles (a smaller one under my seat and a larger one on the down tube). I'm riding a Cervelo tri bike now, and I'm sad that it only has room for one small bottle. :( I have noticed that the Cervelo steering is much looser than the Giant. It took a little while to get used to. The stability of the steering on the Giant is great (and responsive), but you adapt to what your riding anyway, and then it's all good.

And... if you decide you want a Giant XS OCR1 in blue- I'm selling mine...:) (I know you're going carbon tho- shameless plug! ;) )

[Triskeliongirl]

Wow, thanks for all the great information. I am currently riding a 19" steel terry isis that I am *very happy* with the fit on, but she is heavy. I made a mistake and prior to this bike bought a 17.5" titanium isis which I am finally willing to admit to myself is simply too small, although she is light. Gosh, one feels bad when they make a $2000+ mistake......... But, then its like going in circles, the bikes with toe clip overlap handle well, the ones without are sluggish, etc. But even then, how fast the steering is can be influenced by what you are used to.......... While I like the fast steering of my terry's, I can't ride no hands either, so maybe I would like a bike with more neutral steering, I don't know. For me its further complicated by the fact that test rides are difficult since I can only ride a bike with a modified crank set. While the top tubes on the giants appear long, the seat tube angles are slack, so the reach is comparable to the specialized that have shorter top tubes and steeper seat tube angles. For me I need a slack seat tube for my long thighs. My problem is my height is all in my legs, and my arms and upper body are short. I am kicking myself that I didn't buy Isis in the 19" but they only made her for one year in titanium. I bought the 17.5" to get the slacker seat tube angle, but maybe I should have just looked for a different saddle with longer rails. As I write this, I think I really have to think hard about going custom. We have a local carbon framebuilder, Crumpton, in Austin, who has a good reputation for really working with people (which I need), but I have no idea how he does with women's bike. I am thinking of going carbon, since the goal is to have a very light go fast bike to complement my steel terry travel bike.

[SouthernBelle]

The most common criticism of the Giant OCRs is the xero wheels. Mine feel a little squirelly and I'm 99.9% sure the wheels are not stiff enough. Most of us end up changing out things. That is my next major changeout.

[RoadRaven]

The Giant TCR is NOT slow in front! It is actually a pretty quick bike so if you are looking for a laid back bike, this is not the one for you. My small does not have toe overlap.

spoke

This is my Time Trial bike... as Spoke says, its not a "slow" bike (just the rider, but working on it! :p )

I have recently posted this pic, but here it is for ease of access for you. My pretty Giant, 'spec'ed up for time trialling...

[Eden]

Might I suggest trying out a Ruby? I'm similar in shape to you more leg than torso and short arms - I am 5'0 with around a 28.5/29" bike inseam, stubby arms... I went for the Ruby since the 44cm frame had the shortest virtual tt measurement I could find at the time I was ready to purchase (don't think Giant had the xxsm's yet and they do tend to run long...) I love that this bike has 700c wheels, I don't find it to be sluggish or overly twitchy - it handles very much the same as my 650c wheel ti-bike and it suits my longer legs better too. I can ride no handed easily even though I switched the stem out for an 80 too...
I can't really compare it to the Giant, no experience there, but I do love my bike!
(oh and no toe overlap - but I have quite small feet....)

[GLC1968]

Spoke and Raven - are you referring to my post? :confused:

I didn't say the Giant was slow! The steering is not as 'twitchy' as the Isis (which Triskelion and I both ride) so that's why I mentioned it. The steering is more stable/easy going/predictable...I don't know the best word for it....than the Isis. But, it has nothing to do with the speed of the bike!! It's just different...that's all.

I did not mean to offend any Giant owners!! :o

[kabewyou]

Toe overlap was something I never really thought about until recently. I bought a new bike last month; am close to 5'6" with 32 inch inseam; was tired of trying out bikes where I felt I was on a torture rack, bought a WSD 51cm bike that felt perfect. Then panic set in when someone mentioned I had toe overlap. Did I buy something that was going to cause me to have an accident and other similar thoughts occurred. Well, I had a new pair of riding shoes with light blue tips and wore them out on my old bike for several long rides and found out that I have been riding with toe overlap for 9 years and never knew it. I suspect the brush is so light and not that frequent, but my shoe tips are evidence that I brush the wheel now and then. Personally, I love the way the bike handles, how easily I can control it and how the geometry of the bike with me allows me to really push it. I had another person tell me on my weekend ride that I had toe overlap like it was a problem. I could see where if I was riding in a velodrome it might be a problem, but in most riding situations it is really hard to have the foot in a completely forward position with the wheel angled the same way as well. Has it been a serious problem for anyone out there?

[RoadRaven]

GLC... I was replying to Spoke's comment...

I thought your comment was more about the Terry! And you said the steering on the Giant was 'different - not bad, just different'

I just wanted to reinforce the idea that a TCR is not slow... and I took no offence at all to your post!!!
:p

[SouthernBelle]

I have big time toe lap on my Giant but it is seldom an issue. About the only time I notice is going from a dead stop into a left turn at an intersection. That's because I'm actually turning the bars rather than leaning as I would at speed. When I'm actually riding it isn't an issue at all.

[spokewench]

Spoke and Raven - are you referring to my post? :confused:

I didn't say the Giant was slow! The steering is not as 'twitchy' as the Isis (which Triskelion and I both ride) so that's why I mentioned it. The steering is more stable/easy going/predictable...I don't know the best word for it....than the Isis. But, it has nothing to do with the speed of the bike!! It's just different...that's all.

I did not mean to offend any Giant owners!! :o

You did not offend me, I just wanted to make sure that someone did not buy say a TCR 1 like the one I have and think it was going to be really slow up front, cause it's not. There may be faster twitchier bikes up front but the TCR up front is not a slow, raked out bike either. It was just a clarification about the handling characteristics of the bike, that is all.:)

[RoadRaven]

So... Spoke... is that your TCR1 in your avatar??

[Triskeliongirl]

Well thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunatly a bike like a ruby has too steep a seat tube angle for me to achieve a good KOP on. I mentioned this in a private email that stemmed from this discussion and was asked to explain the relationship between seat tube angle, top tube length and reach. I thought this might be of interest to the group so here it is again:

This is how the seat tube angle stuff works. Don't worry if you find it hard to get, the manufacturers try to use this to fool women all the time. Its really very simple. All you have to understand is that every 1 degree increase in seat tube angle pushes the seat tube closer to the handlebars, so while this trick can be used to reduce the top tube length, it doesn't change the reach, because the saddle then needs to go back 1 cm to get the same KOP position. So in other words, the REACH ON the following bikes are identical:

BIKE STA TT

1 73 52
2 74 51
3 75 50
4 76 49

The problem is that someone might purchase bike 4, thinking it has the shortest top tube, without realizing that it is identical to the other choices. For example, someone may recommend the specialized ruby cuz it has the shortest TT, but it also has the steepest seat tube so it is really not very different from the giants with slacker seat tubes and longer top tubes. For ME, the problem with too steep a seat tube is that even with the saddle all the way back on the rails, my knee is too far forward of the pedal axle. Obviously if you can get set up on a bike with a steep seat tube angle its not problem, which is why there are may happy ruby owners out there.

Toe clip overlap is different, that depends on how the bike is built, both in terms of top tube length, wheel size, head tube angle and fork rake. Some combintations will be problematic and some won't. In general, to get good neutral steering with a 700c wheel you need a top tube of ~53 cm, and with 650c wheels ~52cm. So when the TT is shortened too much, either you have TCO or they decrease the head tube angle and fork rake which makes for sluggish handling.

Writing this made me realize that I have to go custom, to get a very slack STA, and normal HTA and fork rake, I think I could tolerate a long enough TT that wouldn't have TCO with 650c wheels by using a shorter reach bar than I am currently using. But, I have to get a builder to buy into this idea. And if a custom builder tells me it can't be done with 650c wheels, then I could ask him to copy my 19" steel terry isis in carbon (i.e. using the 700/24" combo).

[spokewench]

So... Spoke... is that your TCR1 in your avatar??

Nope, that is my old Bridgestone RB1 - steel lugged frame Way different bike than my new TCR

Don't have a digital camera picture of my giant. Don't have a digital camera. Maybe when I have some extra money when I don't spend it on TCRs, I might have the money to buy a digital camera!:D

[RoadRaven]

Ahhhh... I was squinting and couldn't work it out... bike is too tiny...

If it was I was gonna ask for a bigger pic, no offence to your Bridgestone :p

[BadgerGirl]

I was doing the same thing Road Raven. I pulled up your avatar Spoke to see your bike! How funny. I own a TCR C2 and I love it....did I say how much I love it.

I don't have the problem some women have because I am tall. I actually don't have a WSD and wouldn't be able to fit on one. I am 5'11" and have a M/L frame. It is fast and very agile too. Just learned how to go no hands on it! Was worried because it is quick on the turns!:D

[wiseowl]

Sizing is right on Giant's site:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/technology/compactroad/

Scroll to the bottom. I just got an OCR comp w in xxs, as I am 5 feet tall with 28 inch inseam. I think the XS could have worked too.

[10ch]

For reference I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam and am riding a compact, small TCR.

[TexanCzexican]

Sizing is right on Giant's site:
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-US/technology/compactroad/

Scroll to the bottom. I just got an OCR comp w in xxs, as I am 5 feet tall with 28 inch inseam. I think the XS could have worked too.

I'm the same height & inseam and I have a OCR 3 in XS....oddly enough the OCR3w in XS felt odd to me :rolleyes: I'm a wierdo, lol.

[kelownagirl]

One more with an ocr1. I'm 5-3" and have an XS. Feels good to me. Oh and I have two water bottles mounted on the frame.

[michelem]

I am 5'2"-ish and was fitted on an XXS compact Giant w/650 wheels. It was between that and the 44cm Specialized Ruby w/700 wheels and after months of agonizing, the Ruby won out. The fits on both felt good, but something about the Ruby just felt better - I can't put my finger on it, I just knew . . .