Conference noted::bicycle

Like I said Piers, you have 3 choices -

	1. Put up with a whippy frame
	2. Pay the money for a special design (Tried Giant? - ho! ho! ho!)
	3. Take up Basketball

Happy to help ....

Hi Piers,

If your bike hunt is anything like mine two years ago you could be in for a bit
of a rough time given your size. I'm 6'3" and my size was the single biggest
barrier to finding a bike. Most bikes just don't come big enough so the choices
were severly limited. Many steel bikes stop at 62 cm and the hi-tech bikes
(carbon and Ti) generally run even smaller maximum sizes. 

FWIW. My inseam when measured in the way advocated by Hinault and Lemond for
their frame sizing formulas comes to 38 inches. I get by on a Serotta 63 cm
(ctr-to-ctr) steel (oversized Nivacrom) with a 60 cm top tube. I have no
problems with lack of stiffness. If anything this bike is *too* stiff. However
it bears mentioning that my weight ranges from 155 to 165 - very light for 6'3".

I don't recall ever seeing a stock carbon fiber that would fit someone our size.
If you were to consider Ti, Serotta does make a stock Ti big enough for you.
Beware of someone trying to sell you a bike that's too small and telling you to
just get an extra-long seat post and stem to make up for it. A long seat tube
and stem can only make up for so much.

Karol

RE: .last few

I too am doing the new bike search with some of the same constraints.  I'm
6'6"/230lbs/38" pant inseam and average 100 miles/week over rough hilly roads.
I'm tired of hauling my 27" c-to-t, 30+lb steel road bike over this terrain 
and would like to lighten up a bit ... of course it'd be easier and cheaper 
to just loose 15lbs off of me ... but not as much fun ;^).

Lately I'm been checking out the places that will custom build a frame.  Most
will build either steel or Ti, however I did find on that will build carbon.
I've even talked to Alexi Grewal @ Green Gear Cycling who make the Pocket
Rocket folding cycle.  Alexi claims that they can build a sub-20lb bike with
Dura Ace components for about $2700.  My concern here is frame flex and
long term durability (and the small wheels).

I've also talked to Ti Cycles here in Seattle.  They'll build a Ti frame
~$2000 or a choice-of-steel frame ~$900 customized to your riding needs and
fit. (If anyone has worked with these guys, I'd like to hear what you think).

Of course I'm still looking for a good comparison study describing the 
different frame materials (i.e. Ti .vs. Steel .vs. Aluminum .vs. Carbon .vs.
... etc.) their benefits, problems, durability, comfort, etc.

I guess what I'm really rambling about is that I haven't been able to find
a stock bike, that uses modern frame technology, that would fit and meet my
need.  Therefore, I'm concentrating on the companies that will build me a
custom frame.

Paul

     Paul do a DIR/TItle=Ti (or) Frames, etc... There's a lot of dialog
     in this note about preferrences, material's +'s and -'s... There 
     have been many articles in all of the major cycling rags as well.
    
     I'd tell you to go Ti, but others might tell you I'm a bit biased.
     Okay, addicted!
    
     I'll fill in a little info here for you to think about...
    
    
                    Titanium          Steel          Aluminum        Composites
    ___________________________________________________________________________
    
 *  Tensile Strgth. Excellent        Very good        Good           Very Good 
    
 *  Ride            Excellent        Very Good        Hard           Excellent   
    
 *  Frame Maint'ce  Very Easy        ****   Paint requires attention   ***
    
    Life            Heirloom         Rust             Fatigue         Unknown
    
 *  Repairability   Easy             Easy             Uh-Uh           Difficult
              
 *  Whippy-ness     Some             Better           None            Some
    
 *  Cost            A lot            Reasonable       Good Value      A lot
    
    If you are serious about laying down some "healthy" money, go to a very
    reputable dealer. They'll be more than happy to answer questions and
    provide advice...
    
     Good luck!

    I have similar dimensions to challenge bike manufacturers, I'm 6'9" and
    weigh about 250 lbs.  I've been looking around and found that
    Cannondale makes a 66cm frame in their 2.8 and 3.0 series road bikes.
    This is the only stock 66cm frame I've found to date, though I haven't 
    looked all that much this year as this year was mountain bike purchase 
    time. Maybe next year....
    

    I saw a beautiful CARBONFIBER frame, the one Lemond used to use at
    O'neils in Worcester MA.  It was 62cm.
    
    Another option, although may be custom is a beam bike.  Serotta and
    others make them, they should be able to get pretty big.
    
    steve

    I enjoy reading things like this.  I'm 5'6".
    
    Thanks, guys.  I feel much better now...		;^)

    <- Me too! It must stink being deformed like that! :-)
    
       Chip

    
    Piers,
    
    Have you thought about trying a frame like Van Hooydoncks? Essentially
    it is a smaller frame size, but both the head and seat tube extend
    beyond the top tube so that you don't have a seat post the size of the
    Eiffel tower sticking out. Not sure who makes them, although I'd guess
    that a lot of the UK frame manufacturers could. Certainly, Van
    Hooydonck has ridden Colnago for the last few years so I'd say that
    they will almost certainly sell you one if you are willing to go to
    that price level.
    
    Graham.

    This is exactly what I've done.
    I didn't go for Colonago (Various reasons) but I choose a 62cm
    Chesini-frame with extended seat-post and a spacer on the head set.
    The frame is made of Columbus oversized THRON tubes. 
    I'm very pleased with the result.
    
    Here in Belgium (Geraardsbergen - Where you find the famous "Muur" of
    the "Tour of Flandres") we have a maufacturer (Giacomelli) who makes 
    bike up to 68cm In all kind of Columbus tubes in whatever form you
    want. I know Giacomelli sounds very Italian-like but it is not.
    If you are interested in some doc. about this let me know.
    
    Peter
    

    Leonard Zinn is a custom framebuilder out in Colorado who specializes
    in frames for tall people (he's well over 6' himself).  He advertises
    in VELONEWS (and also writes a column for them).
    
    Karol makes a good point that's important to remember:  the length of
    your top tube is almost important as the length of your seat tube.
    Cannondale tends toward a shorter top, so while 66 might accomodate
    the inseam of someone who's 6'9", that person might also need a 14 or
    15cm stem to get proper forward extension.
    
    Serotta has a very good understanding of proper geometry for "stock"
    frames, but custom is worth exploring.
    
    Justin
    
    

    Thanks all.
    
    I think what all this has shown me more than anything is that my next
    visit will be to a couple of builders in and around London at Christmas
    and let them do some measurements. There's one in Bexley who's using
    the new Vitus steel tubing that looks pretty nifty. Finally I thought
    that it's all very well looking at the Colnagos and Bianchis in the
    catalogue, but unless you have a big big budget they're going to be off
    the shelf frames, albeit nice ones, and what I want is a frame for me.
    
    Piers