What road bike has shortest top tube?

[Bluetree]

There is a new Bianchi, the DB Elle, out there with an extremely short effective TT - even shorter than my Ruby, which at the time was the smallest one I could find. I'm also 5' nothing, I ride a Ruby and I've put an 80cm stem on it. I race so odd wheel bikes, like the Terry, are not an option for me.

+1

My 44cm Ruby has a sub <50 TT and I need the 700c race wheels as well. The Ruby was the only stock frame I could find with those specs. I'm 5-1 and use a 90mm stem.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I realize this is likely outside of your price range and so I hope you don't mind I mention it, but I thought I'd post it in case there are other short riders reading this thread and looking for a road bike with very short top tube too. Luna Cycles has a very small pre-built steel road bike for sale right now that is ready to go:
http://www.lunacycles.com/36cmPrebuilt.html
It's top tube is only 46.5 cm. It's a honey, waiting for *someone* out there to ride it!

[GeoCam]

OMG, Lisa, I have SEEN that bike already and drooled over it! Margo even lives in Nederland, CO, a little town I am very familiar with as my brother and his family have lived there for 20+ years. My brother just passed away in March (52 yo - melanoma). He was a cyclist and only 5'2". I would like to know what he rode, but will save that question for a later time. I do wonder if my sister in law knows Margo - it's a pretty small place. I do know for sure that the next time I go to Nederland, I will visit Margo just to see her bikes and what she does. Oh, man, that is a sweet bike!!!

[Kathi]

Look for a bike with the longest head tube as well as short tt. I'm 5'1" and my arms are short too and stock frames have ht's that are too short. The problem can be solved with spacers and stems with rise but the problem with needing a longer HT is getting the correct standover height.

With custom you can end the search for the perfect fitting bike. Handling is better and you chose your components.

My suggestion is to spend your money on a custom frame, put the components from you old bike on it then as you can afford it improve your components.

The best fitting bike I found was a Serotta Fierte.

Look for a fitter or builder that understands small riders. Your tt length can be perfect but if your short arm issue is missed you can still end up with problems. If you do buy a stock frame do not let anyone cut the steerer tube until you have your fit dialed in.

[GeoCam]

Kathi,

Thanks for the tip about head tubes. I hope I don't sound stupid, but I hadn't properly considered this aspect of bike fit. It only makes sense that raising the bars is another way to bring them closer, and I have been perhaps too focused on making sure they were horizontally closer. Does this mean that for someone with really short arms the bars will likely be higher than the saddle? It seems most bikes have the bars about even with the saddle or even lower. I'm going to start paying more attention to this!

[Kathi]

Don't apologize, I didn't know this until I had a bike fitting. The person who built my Aegis and the fitters of my other bikes didn't consider it either.

Heres pics of my two bikes the first is the Aegis. It's a long story but here's how it ended up for my short arms. The HT length is 8.4 cm.

The second is my custom bike. It does have spacers and is designed for me to go higher or lower depending on what is comfortable for me.

Compare the differences between the ht's. I think the Serotta Ht is something like 14 cm. The Serotta has a 1 degree slope but it doesn't look like it.

Also consider your shoulder width. Orginally I had a 38 cm handlebar on my Aegis. When I was fitted for my Serotta I found out I needed a 34 cm handlebar! Only one company makes handlebars that small but having the correct fitting handlebars helped too.

Trek Pilot's have a longer ht but wasn't long enough for me.

[Kathi]

Pics of both bikes.

[GeoCam]

Kathi,

Your bikes are gorgeous!