Standover height on a road bike. How much room do you have?

[bikecanada]

Hi. I just test rode a giant Avail1 women's specific model. I have a bit of standover (like 3 cm or so, not much) in the small. The reach felt fine. How do I know if it's too big? How much standover height do you guys have on the road bike?

[Cataboo]

3 cms of standover height is fine.

http://www.rivbike.com/article/bike_fit/fit_sizing_position

[bikecanada]

I test rode two bikes, and they both feel pretty good. Would you get the 2009 Giant Avail 1 (all 105 components and 10 speed cassette) or the 2008 Devinci silverstone sl4 in a small (ultegra rear derailleur and shimano 105 shifters, fsa gossamer front derailleur)?
I actually have more standover height on the devinci, but the reach feels about the same. Which one has better components?

[Cataboo]

It's hard to say, I can't find all the details of the devinci bike:
http://www.lacorde.ca/en/produits/details/velo3/?id=5575&sort=nom_fr&brand=%25&page_number=1&page_data=conseilAchat

This is the stats I can find on it
Frame: Silverstone SL aluminum
Fork: Carbon AS, aluminum steerer

Components:
* Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur
* Shimano 105 speed/brake levers
* FSA Gossamer compact crankset, 50/34 teeth chainrings
* Mavic Aksium wheels
* Pedals included

While on the giant, I can find:
http://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?Year=2009&Brand=Giant&Model=Avail+1&Type=bike
Frame Construction TIG-welded
Frame Tubing Material ALUXX SL aluminum
Fork Brand & Model Giant Advanced composite
Fork Material Carbon fiber/aluminum steerer, aero crown
Rear Shock Not applicable

Component Group Shimano 105
Brakeset Shimano 105 Dual Pivot brakes, Shimano R700 Short-Reach levers
Shift Levers Shimano R700 Short-Reach
Front Derailleur Shimano 105
Rear Derailleur Shimano 105
Crankset FSA Gossamer Mega Exo Compact, 34/50 teeth
Pedals Crank Brothers Smarty
Bottom Bracket FSA Mega EXO
BB Shell Width Unspecified
Rear Cogs 10-speed, 12 - 27 teeth
Chain Shimano 105
Seatpost Giant Composite, 30.9mm diameter
Saddle Giant Unity Performance Road, Women's
Handlebar Giant alloy Women's
Handlebar Extensions Not included
Handlebar Stem Giant alloy 31.8mm
Headset 1 1/4"-1 1/8" threadless
Hubs Formula sealed
Rims Mavic CXP 22, 24-hole/28-hole
Tires 700 x 25c Kenda Kriterium
Spoke Brand Sapim Race, 14/15ga. (2.0/1.8mm) butted



What's the price difference? I can't see all the components of the devinci - they both seem to have fsa gossamer compact double cranks - which is fine, the giant definitely has a climbing casette on the back with the 12-27, which is a pretty good combination that should let you have a lot of options on hills... I don't know what the casette is on the devinci.

The giant also has basically ultegra level short reach levers, which is a step up from the 105 shifters that the devinci has, but the devinci's got an ultegra rear derailleur (I can't see what its front derailleur is). And if you have small hands, the short reaches are probably great for you... if you're looking at a size small frame, I'd assume that you probably do.

However, an ultegra double rear derailleur sells for like $40 on ebay, so that's a cheap upgrade if you wanted to upgrade the giant. Upgrading shifters is usually a lot more expensive.

They're both nice bikes... I think I'd have to weigh the price difference, if the devinci's a 2008, are you getting a good deal on it?

[Cataboo]

Btw, in case it wasn't clear - ultegra components are better & more expensive than shimano 105 components...

However, shimano 105 components are perfectly usable and respectable.

[bikecanada]

There's about a $110-$130 difference (the devinci is cheaper). The bar on the giant does feel better. I can reach the brake levers from the drops a lot better. The only difference with the Devinci is that it's got a bigger standover height. The Devinci also doesn't come with pedals.. the Giant has the Crankbrother Candys.

[bikecanada]

Thanks for the help by the way!

[Cataboo]

You're welcome - I wouldn't worry too much about the standover height - as long as you've got clearance and you're comfortable, it's really not as critical on a road bike as it is on a mountain bike.

Given that the devinci's a 2008, you'd think they could cut you a better deal on that bike...

So with the devinci you would still need to buy pedals - if you want to ride clipped in, that's going to be at least another $50, which cuts into the price difference. If the handlebar & reach feels better on the giant, I think I'd say go for the giant.

But go back and ride both of them again and think more about how the shifters & handlebars feel while you're doing it.

I'm guessing the bike shop thought both of the bikes fit you pretty well? I think the shifters on the giant and the 12-27 cassette (again, I don't know what the devinci has) on the back of it would make me go with the giant. The short reach shifters are like $420 if you buy them new:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=24751&estore_ID=1056

So if you like how they feel, it's better to get them now while it's included in the price of the bike.

That being said - I'm 5'1 with really short fingers and don't have short reach shifters on my bikes, and I manage. I'd like them, but can't really justify the expense of switching them out.

[bikecanada]

I dont know the cassette on the Devinci either, but the front derailleur is the FSA gossamer. The crankset is the FSA Gossamere mega exo 50/34T.
This kind of information is confusing to me because I don't even know what the FSA gosssamer is. Is that the brand?

[Cataboo]

FSA is a brand - Full speed ahead. Gossamer is one of their crank lines - which are metal cranks that are relatively lightweight. It's not one of their higher end compact cranks - but they're still good cranks.

FSA doesn't make front derailleurs so I think you mean that the crank on the devinci is an FSA gossamer as well, this is what the site I found listed;

* FSA Gossamer compact crankset, 50/34 teeth chainrings

That's the same that the giant has on it. The mega EXO that's listed on the giant is referring to the bottom bracket. Which is what holds the cranks to the bike and basically both bikes are going to have the same one of those.


Basically, both of these bikes have a double in the front - 2 chain rings. The big one has 50 teeth, and the small one has 34 teeth. That's called a compact double - a normal double crankset has 53 teeth on the big chain ring, and 39 teeth on the small chain ring. Basically, the smaller the number of teeth on the smaller chain ring, the easier it is going to be to go up hills.... With a standard double at 53/39, you'd probably initially have trouble on hills.

A bike with a triple crankset up front typically has rings with 52, 39, and 30 teeth - and you'd drop into the 30 teeth smallest gear if you needed it on hills... So the compact double tries to compensate for that by having smaller tooth gears to begin with.

The giant has a 12 to 27 gear cassette on the back - meaning the biggest gear has 27 teeth and the smallest gear has 12 teeth. Typically bikes have a 12 to 23 gear casette or a 12-25 gear cassette. The larger the number of teeth that you have on a gear in the back means the easier it is going to be to go up hills... (there is a thread on triple vs double cranks somewhere on here that gives a lot of info on this and how to calculate gear ratios and such that's really informative) So the giant bike has bigger rear gears to compensate for it being a double... If you're riding in hilly places, you're going to appreciate that.

I can't compare that to the devinci, because frankly the stats they list on the web are really not all that complete for it...


I guess the other thing that you might want to check is the length of the cranks on each bikes - whether one has longer cranks than the other and how it feels on your legs while riding. The bike guys can help you with that. If you're on the short side, you probably want something like 165 mm cranks, definitely nothing bigger than 170 mm cranks.

[dex]

FSA doesn't make front derailleurs...

Actually, they do have a front derailleur that's supposed to be specifically made for smoother shifting on compact cranks. I have one sitting in my closet waiting to go on a bike.

http://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=115

[Cataboo]

Actually, they do have a front derailleur that's supposed to be specifically made for smoother shifting on compact cranks. I have one sitting in my closet waiting to go on a bike.

http://road.fullspeedahead.com/fly.aspx?layout=product&taxid=115

Huh... I didn't know that :)

And it looks like it does make a gossamer front derailleur, so the devinci has both a gossamer crank & derailleur.

I have no idea how that compares to a 105 front derailleur however.

[aicabsolut]

105 derailleurs work just fine with FSA compact cranksets. FSA says theirs are designed to work better (and the shimano ones may have to be fine tuned in setup, a little more carefully than on a standard crankset). I only have experience with Shimano and not FSA FDs, so I can't really compare. I do know that you can make a 105 FD or Ultegra FD work just fine. Is the FSA easier to tune? I dunno.

[bikecanada]

hmm, thanks for the input guys!
I have one more question. I only had the chance to ride the small, which has a 52.5cm ttube and 29.9 inches of standover. It feels okay in the reach but I was wondering if the xsmall would feel better. They don't have an xsmall and would have to order it in, or wait until Christmas. The xs has a 51cm ttube. Would that make a huge difference?
I think, based on their size stickers, that I'm supposed to be an xs (since smalls fit people from 5'4-5'7), but I'm not sure if the small is okay since I've got longer-ish legs and flexibility to fit a small.

What would you do?