URGENT Frame Size question: Novara Randonee for Touring



navitatl

New Member
Oct 1, 2006
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I'm about 5' 11", thin, not very muscular or fat.
I'm looking at buying a "Novara Randonee" from REI for touring, and they have in stock the 52 CM frame.
Will this be a good size for touring? I've never had a road bike before, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
It's $750 on clearance and I've heard it's a great bike.
So, any thoughts about the frame size or its capabilities for touring?
Thanks so much.

EDIT: I'm going to buy this tomorrow morning if you guys think it will be good.
 
navitatl said:
I'm about 5' 11", thin, ...and they have in stock the 52 CM frame.
Will this be a good size for touring?
I'd be very surprised if you fit onto a 52cm frame even if it's measured center to center (C-C). I'm 5'10" with fairly normal arm and leg proportions and ride 55cm or 56cm frames measured center to top.

It used to be easy with lugged steel frames, but some frames are measured quite differently or have a lot more rise from the center of the top tube to the top of the seatpost clamp but 52cm seems like a very small frame for touring at your height. If in doubt first stand over (should be an inch or more of clearance to your crotch when standing flat footed on the ground) and then sit on the bike and see what kind of reach you have to the handlebars. You can change stems to some degree to make up for top tube length but at some point the geometry becomes comical with extra long high rise stems and handling will suffer.

If it's a standalone frame then take a couple of relevant measurements and test ride or at least sit on a fully built bike with the same dimensions.

No deal is worth a bike that doesn't fit :)

-Dave
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Dave! I called around with some more REI stores and found one carrying a 55 CM frame. I guess I'll go with that one, then.
 
navitatl said:
Thanks for the quick reply, Dave! I called around with some more REI stores and found one carrying a 55 CM frame. I guess I'll go with that one, then.
That's probably a better bet, but I hope you'll take the time to sit on it or better yet test ride it. Frame sizes vary quite a bit from bike to bike and I have no idea how they're making their frame measurements.

Good luck,
Dave
 
Alright I went to that REI today and rode it around a bit. I think it was a bit too big. I'm going up to Boulder tomorrow to try a 52 CM frame.
 

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