WTD: decent entry level roadie

No longer happy with doing long distance on my MTB. Looking for a decent road bike with disc brakes. Both 56cm (endurance triangulation only) and 58 (6ft0.5 w over 33" inseam) are good options.

Based in South London. Anyone selling for up to 400? 😁

Why do you want discs? If you're after an entry level bike, braking is a low priority. Besides, fair braking can be had with either type of braking system if what you're after is a decent bike.
I have a fixed gear bike in size 56 that you may want to look at. But then again if you're after a bike to put the miles in then you ought to be looking for an endurance bike. The problem with long miles is that they end up as junk miles. Better to keep the workouts short and intense. The reason I ride fixed is purely for practicality and the odd sport if I feel like it.

My experience with regular break systems, especially when it's wet out (which it often is) is not great. Either too rigid, or too loose.

The distance is not only for health, also to cycle to friends and family. When does it turn into junk miles, do you know(

When does it turn into junk miles, do you know(

Don't worry about that. Just find a disc road bike you like and have fun riding it

56 will be very aggressive for you at your height. I would look for at least a stack height of 610mm.

Hi sb88, it is a bit confusing, the manufacturer sizing charts tell me 58 or even 60, but calculations and binge reading forums tell me to go for 56, then it's also brand depending 😵 confused.com

Depends what you think is "entry level" for some that means £200, for others £1k. What's your cash budget?

Advice will wildly differ dependent on that. For £200, get anything that is close to fitting and ride it till it falls apart. For £1k, spend £150 on a bike fit and spend £850 on a second hand model with shimano 105 and budget wheels.

A lot of 'roadies' will tell you to size down and 'you can always make a small bike bigger but you can't make a big bike smaller'. It's bollocks. I followed that advice while I was more flexible but as I have had physical issues I have gone up from a 52-3cm to a 56-7cm with the stack height of a 58-9 (tall headtubes /longer gravel forks).
The smaller bikes were OK in my twenties but always felt a stretch to the bars - oddly, as if they were too big, and I even wondered if I should go even smaller and did try this. All this included professional fitting, at 'roadie' shops where they don't think much outside of the small frame, low bars box, and sell you funny saddles etc to compensate for the issues you are having exacerbated by a tiny bike.

The bigger bikes don't feel bigger, even with same length stems. The bars being higher negates the increase in top tube length. The saddle tip to bars measurement is very similar, just that the bars are higher.

Note the reach figures on geometry charts tend not to increase as much as the increase in effective top tube length. Smaller bikes usually have steeper seat tube angles so at your height, you would likely need to set the saddle further back resulting in still quite a reach to the bars, as well as them being very low!

As a real example - I am 5ft9, 81cm cycling inseam, 71cm saddle height. I currently have medium Genesis Croix de fer, which has around 593mm stack height and a 56.1 cm effective top tube I think. I can have bar tops level with saddle with 35mm spacers and stem flipped up, or about 5cm drop with stem slammed and flipped down.

This bike is 'sort of' a 56 - but it has a taller front end than a more road-biased 56. It would probably be too small for you unless you are crazy flexible.

I have owned size small Genesis bikes as they were within the 53-54 range most would suggest for a sporty fit for my height. (To Genesis' credit, their size guide would point me to a medium which I and fitters ignored). These gave me 6cm plus of saddle bar drop, with no option for getting the bars higher. They didn't look 'small' - they looked like pretty standard/common road bike fits.

Read up on Rivendell's fit philosophy. People call it extreme, but it is useful counter -balance to trad-roadie views.
Roadies who spend hundreds on bike fits and never get comfortable, which once you have £££ invested in expensive bikes, is a hard world to extricate yourself from. Bars roughly level with saddle is a bit of an 'aha' moment for some people. Bear in mind a non-cyclist would still find that to be a sporty/aggressive position. Perspective is skewed inside the cycling world.

Now erring on the larger side - the bikes still look like well-proportioned road bikes, and all of my physical issues have been improved (not resolved) by being a bit more upright. Hip - less impingement at top of pedal stroke. Lower back - less over-straining when bent forwards. Foot/ankle - flat foot collapses less at top of pedal stroke as pressure throughout the whole leg is less. These are issues that fitters and physios wanted to provide complex and expensive solutions for (saddle mapping, cleat wedging, etc).

This also relates to your braking issue. If the bike is too small, you won't be able to comfortably brake from the drops (back flexibility, eyeline on road, and just getting your forearms comfortably into the drops.

I know a guy very close to your height and inseam who rides a '56-ish' bike - (55cm Condor Fratello with 55.5cm horizontal TT). It looks very aggressive and has 30mm spacers under stem. I would estimate 10-12cm saddle-bar drop. He is an exceptional cyclist, very lean and flexible with no physical issues, still in his 20s.

The best brakes I have used for all round performance, ease of maintenance and affordability (compared to a full hydro system) are Ultegra rim calipers and TRP long drop rim calipers. The calipers themselves are not cheap compared to hydro calipers, but the overall cost of the groupset will be. If you get a bike that takes long drops and 28mm+ tyres, that opens up the terrain too.

It is worth considering a flat bar road/gravel bike - if you have a decent position on the MTB, you will get 90% of the benefits from lighter bike, no suspension, tyres etc. And the braking may be more to your tastes.

I rode my new very upright Brompton on a group ride recently with serious cycling friends who don't hang about (fast PBP / nearly went pro sort of riders) and while it wasn't a chaingang ride, it made no difference to our typical pace and I was comfortable.

Well put together. I concur with 56 being on a small side for 6'1" height. I'd suggest to have couple of test drives at your local bike shop to see for yourself what difference it makes having correct size frame.

100% go and try some sizes. I'm 6"1 and a 58 would be too big due to my proportions. But sizing down does have the disadvantage for some people of being lower at the front but you can add spacers and raise your bars without making the top tube longer and sizing up

Agree - try sizes. But bear in mind that if it's on the small size and has an alu or carbon steerer, you are limited with max spacers. I only found the difference to be noticeable with 5-10cm difference in bar height, rather than the more minimal adjustment available with spacers. Would say spacers are to tweak fit, not make or break it. Bikefitjames says something like 'this is a game of several cm, not mm'. If you watch his side-on instagram videos it takes significant changes in bar placement to noticeably alter back/hip/neck angle

All this, I'm 5ft 11, 32" inseam, maybe a touch more and my biggest bike is a 62cm traditional diamond, carbon bike is a 59 and the tourer is a converted part carbon hybrid (58x59) with a large number of spacers on the fork steerer.
So much easier to get a comfortable position and not stress hands, shoulders, back, neck etc small aero sacrifice but you're not racing so comfort is more important and that helps with going further/longer if not maintain speed.

Thanks for the detail! Flat bar is good for more upright positioning, but getting somewhat uncomfortable due to shoulder injury, which a narrower vertical grip negates.

As result of your advice and that of others, the local cycling club is letting me try on some sizes 🤗

"I'd like a disc brake road bike for my long distance rides."

LFGSS: "Here's a fixed gear gravel bike for high tempo sprints."

😂

Also consider multi-position bars like Jones (or copies). I have some PRs on road sections on a heavy 12.5kg bike with Jones bars as they allow more of an aero tuck than drop bars, without compromising power as still not too closed at hip. I couldn't beat that on a 7.5kg road bike.

After trying four bikes, a 56cm endurance setup was comfy, as well as the 58 endurance and more horizontal setup, although it was a bit difficult to touch the ground 😁

Advert adjusted, any offers welcome!

Do you know the other dimensions, other than the bikes being called 56 or 58? E.g. my 56-ish bikes that are close to a 56 traditional geometry are called all sorts of things: 52, 54, Medium, etc, due to differences in Measuring styles. For example the new Soma Doublecross Disc - I would take the '54' in that but it's much larger than a traditional 54

Shame the Pinnacles don't seem available any more after M*** A*****'s take over of Evans. An arkose or dolomite would be ideal

Yes, it was the Canyon Endurance 7.0, from the website are below, the only alteration made was by extending the reach a little through a new bracket (?) that holds the bars. Definitely not an entry level bike, I know 🤣

SEAT HEIGHT IN MM (A)
713 - 813
SEAT TUBE LENGTH IN MM (B)
522
TOP TUBE LENGTH IN MM (C)
553
HEAD TUBE LENGTH IN MM (D)
158
HEAD TUBE ANGLE (E)
73°
SEAT TUBE ANGLE (F)
73,5°
CHAINSTAY LENGTH IN MM (G)
415
WHEEL BASE IN MM (H)
990
STACK IN MM (I)
578
REACH IN MM (J)
382
STAND-OVER HEIGHT IN MM (K)
806
BOTTOM BRACKET OFFSET IN MM (L)
73
STACK+ IN MM
680
REACH+ IN MM
458

I would ride that size, roughly, at 5ft 9. Though Canyon would put me on the next size down. It's equivalent to a 57-58 with a short top tube. You may be more flexible than me of course. I would have thought you'd be comfortably within their expected saddle height range. Despite being an endurance model, it's still a racy road bike and they will be sizing it for people to ride it with some drop from saddle to bar tops, just not Tour de France amounts drop, which may be fine for you.

Was the stem flipped up, or down, and how long was the longer one fitted?

Both should have been same difficulty to touch the ground as saddle height should have been the same on each. And with proper saddle height, depending on wheel size, you would likely have similar / less distance to ground than on your MTB as MTBs have a higher bottom bracket than road bikes. Unless you have been riding your MTB with saddle too low - fine for trails but not good for road/gravel.

Question deleted... Researching bike fitting

Look up Scheritt Kneesen