November 27, 201213 yr Author Thanks guys. I'm pretty happy. For those of you who don't know, the guy we ran into tonight is my fitter, so it was just really weird timing. Chris, I actually thought of that, but if it's any consolation, you will be the only one with the new Calfee that fits you perfectly. I took some more measurements when I got home, and I am definitely going to have to lower the seat 2-3 cm, which won't be ideal and will be pretty close to being level with the headtube. The reason I suspect she sold the bike is also why it's in mint condition: she's my size, even an inch smaller, and the bike had to be too big to ride.
November 27, 201213 yr that bike is absolutely mint and stunning, looking over several sections of the bike like the cassette and front rings they look brand new and the bar tape was spotless. While I didn't buy a bike last night I was excited to be along for the ride. I can't wait to see you on it!!
November 27, 201213 yr Vicki, very excited for you, don't mind my teenage pettiness. What measurements did you do? It's funny but the geometry can be a bit counter intuitive on bikes which can lead to issues. When fitting my Calfee I was convinced that I seat tube angle was wrong until I realized the seat height was off by about 8cm and that was making everything else crazy. My recommendations are:Height of saddle off groundHeight of BB off groundHeight of top center of handlebar (near stem attachment) off groundLength from BB to tip of saddle (I assume you'll put the same saddle on both)Length from tip of saddle to top center of handlebarLength from BB to top center of handlebar If you could get those for your current bike and match them on your Calfee your fit will be identical. The only difficulty in general is if the saddle has to move too much and you need to get a different post and more commonly the need for a new stem for the handlebars. I hope it works out as the bike sounds like an incredible deal. Edited November 27, 201213 yr by Dreadhead
November 27, 201213 yr Chris, I'll admit I'm no expert on bike fit and geometry, but your 1st 3 bullets referencing the ground confuse me a bit. You have no control over BB height from ground, and the chances of it matching from one frame to the next, particularly with different builders, would seem slim? If everything measurement-wise matches in relation to the BB (i.e., your last 3 bullets), shouldn't you be good? The standover height may differ, but shouldn't be much of a concern unless it is ridiculous. My Raleigh has always been "tight" down there, but has never been a issue. Edited November 27, 201213 yr by Pars
November 27, 201213 yr I believe the goal with that set of measurements is to give independence from seat tube and top tube angles. But I could easily be wrong. Edit: Actually, independence is the wrong word. Those measurements integrate the angles into the fit measurement. Edited November 27, 201213 yr by morphsci
November 27, 201213 yr The reference to ground is actually to correct for the variation in BB height which we can't control. I'm sorry I should have worded it better. You can't get those numbers to match. I should have said "Using those measurement numbers you can get the fit to match". What we want to match is:Height of saddle tip off ground - Height of BB off groundHeight of top center of handlebar (near stem attachment) off ground - Height of BB off groundLength from BB to tip of saddle (I assume you'll put the same saddle on both)Length from BB to top center of handlebarLength from tip of saddle to top center of handlebar Edit: And yes the relation to the BB for the saddle and handlebars are all that matter to fit (as long as saddle is the same and crank arms are the same length). Bike handling is a whole different story but fit wise the bikes would be identical (well unless you care about the width between the pedals too, which is a concern for some). Edited November 27, 201213 yr by Dreadhead
November 27, 201213 yr Author While I get and appreciate what everyone is saying here re measurements, the main deal is that I'm probably going have to lower the seat to reach the pedals. My method was to climb on the bike and look at my feet. I'll figure all the rest out later.
November 27, 201213 yr Sounds good. I was just letting you know in case you wanted to try and figure out the fit while you were still incapacitated. All it takes is a level floor and a tape measure.
November 27, 201213 yr It's a gorgeous bike Vicki! Enjoy it as soon as possible! As for me...I'm on the phone now, finalizing my own order of a brand new Calfee. Just keeeding Chris! Edited November 27, 201213 yr by swt61
November 28, 201213 yr Finished building it up today and took it for a nice spin this afternoon. Had some fun playing around with the sliding dropouts to see how different chainstay lengths affected handling, ended up with the sliders set to the exact same length as my old Explosif. Rides just the way a Kona should, it's like I've had the bike my whole life.
November 28, 201213 yr Finished building it up today and took it for a nice spin this afternoon. Had some fun playing around with the sliding dropouts to see how different chainstay lengths affected handling, ended up with the sliders set to the exact same length as my old Explosif. Rides just the way a Kona should, it's like I've had the bike my whole life. I really like my Kona - it's so much better than the Huffy my brother-in-law gave me last summer. And I got to pay it forward by giving the Huffy away to a needy teenager friend of my son.
November 28, 201213 yr Congrat on the bike Vicki. That is a real looker. Thanks for everyone's opinion on biking shoes. You absolutely convinced me that I had to try them on since there is a lot of variation in fit. Well after trying on what seems like thousands of pairs I finally bought a pair of Bontrager Race DLX. They were absolutely the most comfortable for me and they were actually one of the least expensive shoes I tried on. Edited November 28, 201213 yr by morphsci
November 28, 201213 yr Glad you found something that worked for you! I'm jealous that you're able to try stuff on, I'm a size 13 and it's not ever in stock...
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