Last year we read that Philippe Gilbert is riding a 50cm (top tube of 535mm) BMC frame and he is 1.79m (5’10”) tall. Now it’s reported in Cyclingnews that Ritchie Porte’s Pinarello is a 46.5cm frame (top tube of 515mm) and Porte is 1.72m (5’8″) tall. He is no Nairo Quintana but somehow he is on Quintana’s old bike. Porte is just one inch shorter than the average Australian male, he is not short. And I used to think Sean Kelly’s bike was a tiny bit small for him.
Taylor Phinney was moved down from a 60cm to a 58cm frame when he joined BMC. He is 1.96m (6’5″) so it’s not a radical move, I can understand a very tall person wanting a less whippy frame, not that a BMC 60cm carbon frame is in any way loose. And they are getting the advice of people who know what they are doing, so there are some solid ideas here just ones I haven’t thought of.
What are the advantages of riding such small frames? Really, I don’t know and would like to understand. Ritchie Porte is 1.72m, rides a kid’s bike and has a 120mm stem on it, how is that a good bike fit? Has everything we learned about bike fitting been with a huge caveat: after many measurements and calculations, here is what frame you should ride but if you want to throw all that out the window and go down six centimeters, that works too. And yet, Mr Porte looks pretty good on it so tell me, oh wise ones, what am I missing?
[dmalbum path=”/velominati.com/content/Photo Galleries/j.andrews3@comcast.net/frame job/”/]
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@Marko
Fuuuuuuck...
@Marko
Truly a thing of beauty. I hate to say it, but lose the coat hanger bottle cages and the random green rubbers (an homage to the clover-leaf tubes?)
@The Pressure More like an homage to awesome bottle cages and awesome tires made for the cobbles. Really nothing random about it. All things carefully chosen after some deliberation.
@The Pressure I'll put a finer point on it. If those cages and tires were good enough for the rider of this bike, they're certainly good enough for me. How many classics wins on this bike again, 3,4,5?
@Marko
Nothing not to like here ! Move along all ye detractors, That thing is very, very, very nice. Ernesto would approve
@Marko Guess I'm jealous...
@Marko
Bike is beyond perfect.
@PeakInTwoYears
What he said. When did that get added to the stable?
@Marko That has got to be one of the finest bikes to have graced this site; the cages and tubulars don't detract at all. Chapeau.
Rule 8 should be amended to cover the use of tubulars in hardman northern classic green or blue. (Road surfaces/weather conditions permitting of course).
The bent seatpost, on the other hand, probably stops it from being the finest bike...
@Marko Drooooool !!