Help, what to do with my bike?!

Hi there,
Am new to this forum which had me amazed by the sheer number of biker girls out there, fab! Am a bit of a roadie but may be coaxed into trying out some proper MTBing come fall...

Now I need some help...
Found a fantastic deal on a Giant TCR composite in frame size S (46.5cm according to the Giant size chart). It has great specs and having tried it, it seemed a little bit on the large side but not disastrously so. Am 5'2 with a 29" inseam and reasonably long arms for my height. Can stand over it in socks with maybe half- to an inch of clearance, comfortably so with shoes. Then went to a well known local shop who measured me up and said that with my inseam, a 46.5cm frame would be just right, at least in terms of standover. The problem with this bike is that it's been ridden by a small bloke, so nothing is set for girls. The handlebars are massive and it feels I have to stretch quite a long way. The stem is 10cm at present.

My question is:
Should I go with the bike and try to fiddle with the smaller things like stem and handlebars, or should I simply get a new frame and keep the rest of the stuff (it's got full ultegra, ksyrium es wheels and a v nice finishing kit which is worth more than I paid for the entire bike)? Is there even a possibility that I'd be able to make it fit? I'm not made of money however and it'd feel a bit sad trading the nice full carbon monocoque frame for something simpler... Please help!

Change the bike to fit you - even if you'd bought a new bike, you'd be fiddling with the handlebars and stem.

If you're feeling stretched out - you can put a 60-90 mm stem on it to shorten that.

There are shallow drop handlebars you can get as well (search around on here, you'll find something)

If after doing all that you still don't think it fits you, then consider changing your frame.

Thanks for your advice. I'll go and have a look for compact handlebars and a shorter stem and hope I'll get away with that.

On a more general note, is it only possible to get a small enough frame that allows getting into a proper aero tuck using 650cc wheels? I've seen some of the previous posts aroud here that suggest so, but is that really the only option?

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Originally Posted by Teeny

Thanks for your advice. I'll go and have a look for compact handlebars and a shorter stem and hope I'll get away with that.

On a more general note, is it only possible to get a small enough frame that allows getting into a proper aero tuck using 650cc wheels? I've seen some of the previous posts around here that suggest so, but is that really the only option?

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For someone your size, you'd probably need 650 wheels.

One handlebar that's well liked is the Salsa Poco. It has a shorter reach and a shorter drop. There are others.

Hi Teeny - I am 5 1.5 with really short legs (28 or less) and short arms too. I ride a size 47 Trek Madone (women's specific). I did have to put on a shorter stem, but it has nice standover clearance for me and a nice stiff frame and racy feeling responsive geometry that makes it handle very nicely. And 700 wheels. Descending is fun! Because I have size 7 feet, I don't have toe overlap either! The bike guy wouldn't show me a Giant, he said they were all too big for me. My other bike is a 49 Ruby (specialized) the geometry on that is very stable, it is a much more "resiliant" feeling bike, and not very racy handling. Since I am racing now, I love my Trek. Ironically, I have just had an aero bar set up put on the Ruby for TTing, and this summer, I will put her comfy carbon bars back on for part 3 of my tour across the northern US. Have fun! Tokie

Luckly. like you Tokie, I also have small feet so my toes aren't anywhere near the spokes:D. The trek madone WSD seems nice but I'm not a huge fan of some of the standard kit it comes with (no reason other than preference). How small is the 47? Are you able to get into a really tight aero position on it?

With regards to 650 wheels, I could see why perhaps that would be a better option geometrically, but it's a bit of a hassle finding them and getting spare bits etc. Also, wouldn't want to change my nice Ksyriums (ES) as they're so nice!

Teeny, I can't really see you on your bike - but how high does your seatpost rise above the top tube? If you put a 0 degree or a negative stem on your bike, you can get the handlebar down so that you can get it a more aerodynamic position. Whether that'll qualify as a full racing tuck or not, it'll definitely help with wind resistence!

I tend to like to be more upright and I think my shoulders are wider or my arms aren't really WSD - so I don't really use the narrow or shallow bars a lot of people on here use. (I may really like 'em if I ever try 'em, but I've been fine with that I have)... I use the FSA k-wing carbon handlebars on my bike... the wing part rises up a little bit above the center that the stem area - so if I'm holding on to the wing area I can be fairly upright, then if I reach for the hoods I'm slightly stretched out because those are a bit further down than on normal bars, and then if I get into the drops, I'm fairly bent over.

But I'm not a racer by any means!

Good question Teeny - every time I take out spacers and raise my saddle, my right leg feels .5 inches too short and I get back pain. So I'm racing in a not too aero configuration. I'm taking out Ruby franken bike today, but I'll check how tucked I could get on the Trek - if my body went along - and get back to you. tokie

The seatpost is roughly 4 inches above the top tube (not a v exact as have no spirit level at home). I'm fairly petite so I reckon short reach narrow bars would help no matter which bike I was on.

I guess in an ideal world, I'd like a setup with a very compact frame so I could have my saddle a long way above the top tube but with my height, I reckon the dimensions would be that of a kids bike!

Do you guys reckon a 70 or 80mm stem would be OK in terms of handling? I know a longer stem would obviously be better but in a world of trade-offs, are those lengths reasonable?

I'm 5'4" and ride a small Giant carbon bike. The Giants are compact frame geometry. They do work fairly well for women, but I'm not sure at 5'2" you should be on a small? I am a woman who is not short in the torso, so for a woman, fairly long in the torso and have fit men's bikes in the past with no problem. I do put shorter stems on usually and narrower bars.

Are there any XS Giant frames around for you to try?

spoke

I very extremely highly recommend the Bontrager Fit VR

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Originally Posted by Zen

I very extremely highly recommend the Bontrager Fit VR

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I am 5'1" tall and have a 47cm Trek 2.3 WSD wih the Bontrager Fit VR. I am short in the torso and have short arms. I love the fit and can get very aero if I want to.

I am 5'3 and i have a small framed Giant TCR C1, which i bought 2nd hand but luckily the previous owner changed the handlebars to smaller ones so all i had to get changed for a proper set up was a shorter stem. I got it changed from 100mm to 60mm, since that the bike has felt really good to ride. According to the giant website i was on the borderline of needing a small frame and an extra-small frame. So in my opinion go for the bike and customise it for you, you'll have to do this for a new bike anyway if you don't get a women specific bike, there wasn't that many choices for that when i looked before i bought the bike i purchased.

Great to hear from some other Giant riders! I've had some difficulty finding any shops who do the giant frames in XS, have a feeling the xs would be fairly ideal though. Unfortunately, the tcr composite doesn't come in that size. :(
Jodz, it's quite reassuring to hear you get on OK with your TCR. What sort of build are you, short legs, long torso or vice versa?

I'm going on a ride tomorrow, will try to post some pics (this would be before any adjustments to bar and stem as haven't taken the bike to the shop yet).

Keep your ideas coming!