Bike fit.

[kujito]

Trying to find a fairly basic mountain bike that's comfortable. I have a cheap azz Mongoose (remember when they were good? mine's not) that I got for free.
Does anybody know of a bike that will fit a person with short legs and long arms? I'm about 5'9" and I wear shirts with a 34"-35" sleeve (~74" wingspan) and pants with a 30" inseam. Bikes with a decent stand-over height, put me way too close to the handlebars. Bikes with a decent reach put me way too far from the ground (not scared of heights, worried about my junk).
Mostly for commuting from house 2 bus stop 2 work, but not paved/hard surfaces exclusively.
Any suggestions?

 

[Turd_Hurdler]

You might look into the Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo hardtail. I have one, not too high, extremely durable and if you need a little extra length you can always upgrade to a longer handle bar stem.

http://www.fisherbikes.com/bike/model/hoo-koo-e-koo

Jeff

 

[Jester99]

Dude, just go into a bike store and try a bunch out and see what fits you best. There is no way to know without doing that. You have to straddle the frame rail in order to know whats comfortable for you. Usually you should have a few inches to work with in regards to getting the best fit. Ask the sales rep and he will show you what to do.

 

[Cnickgo]

It's time to kick out old ways... Standover is NOT an accurate way to properly fit a bike. This almost used to work when road bikes all had basically the same geometry. These days, there are so many variations in road frames alone, not to mention mountain, this practice goes right out the window.

Your inseam is the most important measurement. The pants is a good start, but you need your cycling inseam. To get your cycling inseam, use a book and place it like a saddle, holding it level to the ground. Make sure it is tight, like the pressure of sitting on a saddle. Have someone measure from the top of the book to the ground.

Once you have your cycling inseam, convert to centimeters and multiply by .67. That will give you the proper seat tube length needed for a road bike.

Here's some simple/quick reading on fitting:
http://www.coloradocyclist.com/BikeFit/index.cfm

The best thing for you to do would be to get a complete cycling fit at a local bike shop (lbs). They will measure your body geometry and be able to dial in a proper fit. That will cost around $20. You could probably get them to just measure your inseam for free and point you towards a bike.

DO NOT let a bike shop sell you a bike based on standover, or asking your height. Promptly inform them that they don't know what they are doing and should start flipping burgers, and walk out the door headed for another shop.


/rant.

 

[Matthew Currie]

Second the bike shop. Go to a decent shop and get someone who knows what to do to fit you. You can fine tune reach with stem length. Modern threadless headset stems are very easy to deal with, and a decent bike shop should be willing to swap stems as needed to fine tune your fit.

Straddle height used to be a moderately useful way to fit a frame when bikes all had horizontal top tubes, but frame geometry has changed, with mountain bikes especially having small frames with low top tubes, and it's no longer a good gauge of fit.

 

[kujito]

I obviously went to the wrong shop. I tried to explain what I was looking for and the dude was clueless and fairly rude. I was actually looking to see if a different seat post or neck for the current bike was an option. Dumbass looked at me like I had asked for a square rim. It seemed a reasonable request to me, but I walked out empty handed with all my money still in my pocket. The thought of buying a bike from those guys is laughable.
It's one of only two bicycle specific shops I know of within a 10 mile radius of my house and it's not been around long. Won't be for much longer if that's their idea of customer service. I was the only customer there.
I don't know much about the other shop, but I do remember a bunch of skater looking kids working there. Shoulda gone there in the first place!

 

[riverfever]

what shop was it?

 

[kujito]

The first one is Derby Bicycle Center. I'll not set foot in there again. I don't know the name of the other shop, but I might run by there today.