What would be the maximum road frame size for someone who is 5'3"? And what are your thought between a Cannondale and Klein road bike. The store that sells only Cannondales, of course, says that they are much better than Kleins, but I just don't know... Please help. Thanks.
What would be the maximum road frame size for someone who is 5'3"? And what are your thought between a Cannondale and Klein road bike. The store that sells only Cannondales, of course, says that they are much better than Kleins, but I just don't know... Please help. Thanks.
Ok, a couple of things. Firstly, road bike sizing is a pretty finnicky process -- there are a lot of things to consider, and unless you've really got a good sense of what you're dealing with, you need an experienced professional to help you find your size.
Keep in mind, for instance, that sizing varies wildly between frames of different manufacturers -- a 58cm Trek could differ from a 58cm Colnago in a number of ways. Equally important is understanding that your height only provides a general ballpark reference for your bike size -- things like inseam and torso length make all the difference. As a guess, though, I'd say you're somewhere in the 49-53cm range, but there's no way to tell.
Finally, when you get that fitting, consider a different shop. These guys are chumps to be knocking Klein. Cannondale and Klein are both great bike manufacturers, but their reputations are different. C'Dale is an interesting company -- they're good-sized and succesful, but as far as I know, still independently operated and fully domestic (US). They specialize in proprietary parts and flashy new technologies; the Lefty Fork and the Six13 frame are good examples. Good stuff; I like'em.
Klein, by contrast, is a company with a bit narrower focus, and a slightly more purist approach. They only make two MTB frames (a hardtail and a suspension frame) and two road frames (a compact and a standard). One of the original pioneers of the aluminum frame movement, they're sort of specialists in that field, making subtly sculpted, fat-tubed bikes with sexy details like internal cable-routing and rear-facing micro-dropouts (C'Dale, by the way, is also big on using fat aluminum tubes). The other thing Klein is famous for is rich, luxurious paint schemes. Klein, like Gary Fisher and Lemond, is now owned by Trek (though the three seem to operate fairly independently of their parent).
Good luck hunting.
