Gravel Bike Fit - long legs and short body

Tech Tech Help
1

“Asking for a friend”… well, my wife.

Britta has proportionally long legs and a short upper body. It’s been a few years since she’s ridden anything other than her Dutch bike for commuting, but time is coming up that she wants to get on the right side of a new (or second hand) gravel bike. Her old road bike was a BMC SL01 (this dates things…) at a 55 cm with a jacked up seatpost and short riser stem. Looking at the stack and reach figures for things like the Factor LS in a comparable frame size (even the 2020 mod) the reach seems pretty much the same with a significantly higher stack. I know Specialized now says that women specific design isn’t really a thing any more, but for the hive mind (if you’ve made it this far)

  • Is there any brands which trend towards shorter reach?
  • Or, if not, would the compromise of going to a shorter stem be not too much of a compromise?

I’d love to steer her towards custom steel like I’ve got, but the involved process isn’t what she’s after. Better to have plug and play…

2

Is it an option to go to a good bikefitter for advise?

Apart from that: websites like 99spokes, geometrygeeks, bikeinsights often let you search based on stack to teach ratio.

And yes, using a too short stem given the bike’s design and purpose can result in twitchy handling.

1 Like
3

Honestly, I reckon going to a good bikefitter is probably the way. Geometrygeeks is bloody dangerous in terms of a time sink, I’ve just found out!

In Melbourne, so the only fitter I know is Mitch Anderson.

1 Like
4

Be careful, cause the reach as specified on geo charts takes absolutely no account of stem length, seat tube angle, or seat post layback.

Would definitely suggest finding a good bike fitter (one that focuses on the fit, not selling you a bike). One question to ask before going in is ‘what measurements do we come away with?’. They need to give you

  • saddle height,
  • saddle setback from BB,
  • stack height to bars (not frame)
  • Bar width
  • Crank length
  • Reach from saddle to shifters (or grips, if flat bar), given reach incorporated into the handlebar shape can differ greatly).

and ideally have that presented on a chart, with a list of possible models to consider (and not just ones they might be able to sell you)

1 Like
5

If I were in Australia, especially in the East side, I’d seriously consider going to Neill Stanbury

Hell, if only he would to Europe for a couple of weeks to bike fit people…

1 Like
6

I agree with the other suggestions to go for a fit first to remove some of the guesswork.

It’s worth considering Liv - the Giant Revolt has just been updated, so the Liv Devote equivalent (elivalent?) shouldn’t be far behind. They generally suit a long legs short torso build fairly well, with a shorter reach and higher stack per frame size than the Giant model. There’s also a fractionally higher chance she’ll get on with the saddle and bar width than on a unisex bike, but that’s never a given.

When looking at geo, bear in mind that a lot of modern gravel bikes have longer frame reach, compensated for by a shorter stem, giving the same handlebar reach with more relaxed handling characteristics versus a road bike.

1 Like