Custom sizing query/worry

I've ordered a custom mercian super vigorelli and i'm a little bit worried about the frame dimensions ive asked for...
i went up to mercian and chatted with them for over an hour about the frame, what i was going to use it for etc. I requested a really high bottom braket (11 and a half inches), and agressive steering (head tube and seat tube are both 74 degrees on there proposed geometry, my head tube angle is 75 i think).
because of the bottom bracket height, the frame size is 55cm (standover height of about 82cm), the top tube is 54cm.
I'm 6 foot 2 and skinny, so obviously i have long gangly arms...i'm worried that 54cm is going to be too short for a top tube??
I'm planning to chat wit mercian about this (and haven't yet got round to it), but the fact that i was there with the guys for over an hour as they watched me sit on there jig and discuss the frame makes me think that 54cm will be fine??
i'm not really planning to use the bike for the track, more just city riding and weekend rides.
Sorry about rambling, hoping you guys can tell me wot u think/put my mind at ease...would really rather not go all the way back up to derby for a re-fit.
cheers.

The obvious question is why did you request such a high bottom bracket? Could you not just go with what they specified?

I'm slightly shorter than you, also have long gangly arms and generally ride a frame with at least a 57.5 cm top tube if that helps but if it were me I'd ask for a longer top tube. You don't want to look like a frog sat atop a match box.

high bb's are much more fun! what's the wheelbase?

ha, yeah i know wot u mean.
i'm gonna call them and tell them my worries - i seem to remeber mercian saying that the seat tube angle would make 54 seem a little longer...
i asked for the bb height coz i was told that it would pretty much entirely wipe out pedal strike... the norm height for merc tracks is 10 and 3quarters so it's less than an inch higher, and apparently not too unusual.

dont know what the wheel base is...

54cm is too short

[quote=andyp;334678]
I'm slightly shorter than you, also have long gangly arms and generally ride a frame with at least a 57.5 cm top tube if that helps but if it were me I'd ask for a longer top tube. /quote]
well, with a standard bb height i should be riding about a 58/57.5 seat tube - which means i'd ideally want a 56.5/57 top tube... so i guess what i'm asking is will a 54 really change the feel/ride of the bike?

wait till they've built it, have a ride around markeaton roundabout a few times, if it doesn't feel just right tell them to stick it up their arse. They'll probably build you another just to say sorry.

I've heard smithchild is warmly welcomed at framebuilders across the UK and Europe. ;-)

I've heard smithchild is warmly welcomed at framebuilders across the UK and Europe. ;-)

I've heard he's a bit of a knob...

my bb is higher than that, im 6' 3" (are the 's and "s the right way round?)

i think the top tube sounds short though, but i don't work for a frame builders and i haven't seen you on a jig. if they measured you on a jig i am sure it will be fine, unless throughout the session you ignored everything they said and demanded they build you a frame too small?

well that is what im thinking i might have done...i by no means demanded a frame that was too small, but i said i wanted something tight and manuverable - and also that the top tube should be shorter than the seat-tube, from what i understand a track frame shouldn't have a longer top tube than seat tube... if thats right the longest top tube i can get is 55cm anyway.

i'm not really planning to use the bike for the track, more just city riding and weekend rides.

Doh!

you're 6'2" and riding 55cm? ?

You made the bed (hopefully without completely ignoring the advice of a well respected frame builder).
If you're not going to lie in it, who else will.
You pays the money...

you're 6'2" and riding 55cm? ?

standover height 82.5cm - i.e. it's more like a 58cm

You made the bed (hopefully without completely ignoring the advice of a well respected frame builder).
If you're not going to lie in it, who else will.

the frame builder (jeff), was fully supportive of what i was asking, i said from the outset that the ideas of how i wanted the frame to be built were simply that; ideas.
he agreed that the bb height was high but said that it was totally doable, he set the jig up according the bb height and the head tube angle - therfore getting a seat tube of 55, on the basis of that the top tube was set to 54 (which seemed comfortable)...

I am 6ft with a 80cm stand over and I walked out of mercian with a frame 55.5 sq

The question is, how comes if I was measured up on their jig, I ended up with a riser stem..?

p.s this is for sale

i'm obviously not getting something. what difference does a high bb make to the seattube length?

it's not as though you inseam gets shorter if you specify a high bb....

the seat tube starts from the bb, so the higher the bottom bracket the shorter the seattube.
i should be riding a 58cm (standard trck geometry), which would be a standover height of about 82cm (or thereabouts)...therefore, if the bb is raised by an inch, the seattube has to be shortened by an inch to get the same standover. Obviously there are other factors to consider like tube angles etc.

I'm liking your bike budda, i saw it pictured in another thread and was meaning to ask u about it.
so r u selling because ur not happy with the build?

^ but you don't fit a bike using the standover measurement..?

If you have requesteed a higher BB then you will expect greater standover height for an equally fitted frame, n'est-ce pas?

sounds like a fuck-up to me.
i'm half inch shorter than you and ride a 55.5cm TT with 110 stem (short inseam long arms/body)
i'm guessing you are going to look like a circus monkey riding a clown bike, perched on top rather than sitting 'in' the bike. maybe with a long enough stem and deep drops a bike this twitchy would be ideal at calshot velodrome where the high BB is desireable or you need it to have 175's due to lack of leg mobility or some other reason? (FWIW i ride 170's and never had a pedal strike)
for riding anywhere else it's sounds less than ideal. maybe with wide risers it would make a good polo bike.

Custom built mercian vigorelli polo bike?! Nice.

Why did you possibly ask for such a spec? I am guessing you have ridden a bike with this kind of geometry? Thats sounds uncomfortable for a ten lap race, let alone a weekend ride! Did you **Actually **tell them how you plan to use it, or more what you thought you had to to get the bike you want?

from what i understand a track frame shouldn't have a longer top tube than seat tube

Total rubbish, a track frame built for you, as with any other frame, should have the tube lengths that fit you. Also there are many track disciplines, each using different types of bikes, a bike designed for all will take elements from each, that will not cause detriment to the others.

I think you should give them a call, if your worried, go else where, or get a 'standard' vigorelli.

i've spoken with them, and i'm going for a re-fit this sat.
cheers for the advice people, it's all been noted.
i'll let you know the new spec when i get it!