canadan said:Hmm, well that certainly does make me a little anxious.
You were not the only one who told me to go with the smaller frame. Two rider friends told me that if I am in doubt, to go with the smaller frame. Another rider, a little smaller than me, told me that he rides a 54 and he paid a lot of dough to get properly sized.
At that point it was 3-0 in favour of the smaller 53cm frame (I was even considering a 50 frame on reading your post). In addition, I had a line on a 2008 Jamis Aurora for $605 on closeout special. I went ahead and initiated the procedure to buy the 53cm.
The bike mechanic that I spoke with over the phone who was selling the 53cm Jamis took a bunch of measurements (height, foot, torso, inseam, arm length) asked me a bunch of questions (will you be using the bike for fully loaded touring - yes!!) and concluded that the 53 is slightly too small. He said that my foot hitting the paniers was a concern with a smaller frame. Considering that he was confident enough in his assesment of my needs that knowingly gave up a sale in telling me that, I trusted his opinion.
I took a 56cm bike from the local bike shop (not a Jamis dealer) for a test ride. It was a bike that the salesman chose for me that was his estimate of an appropriate size. I didn't have much to compare it to, but the ride was nice. It felt a little bit strained when I rode with my hands on the bottom part of the handlebars, but he said that that was my aggressive position and it was supposed to be a little less comfortable than the others.
So, that's basically the research on which I based my decision. Perhaps it was rash, but it's done. Like I said, I'll report again when I ride on it for a bit.
dan
PS I've long since stopped growing. In fact, I might even be shrinking.
PPS The geometry of the 2009 model (the model I bought) is different than that of the 2010 model whose specs you posted. I really don't have a feel for how these numbers translate to the feel of the bike, so the difference might be negligible but it does indicate that the standover on the 2009 model is smaller.
Well, if you ordered the 53cm frame, then I guess everything will be "okay"/(workable), but you had previously indicated that you had ordered the 55cm frame.
If you just ordered the frame on Saturday, then you can probably change it to a different size because I doubt it was shipped out, yet.
Now, there's no reason to trust me, but as far as the mechanic being concerned with your feet hitting the panniers -- THE GEOMETRY CHART INDICATES THAT ALL OF THE JAMIS AURORA FRAMES HAVE THE SAME LENGTH CHAIN STAYS -- 440mm (17.32 inches).
BTW. You didn't indicate (which means the guy who was sized for a 54cm frame probably didn't indicate) if that 54cm size was c-c or c-t OR c-to-the-top-of-the-seat-tube (which is how I think Trek actually measures their frames just to describe a third sizing option). No offense, but that would be like suggesting that you chose a particular shoe size because it was the size that someone else you know wears that size!
BTW/FWIW. Touring frames & CX frames (i.e., frames with cantilever brake bosses) are usually (but, not always) sized ONE SIZE smaller than the same rider would choose for a ROAD frame ...
- The primary reason is the BB height is often higher on a CX/touring frame than on a Road frame ... and, that raises the standover height.
- A secondary reason is that CX/touring tyre choice is often larger, and that also raises the standover height.
