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Unexpectedly come into a bit of money, thought I'd treat myself to a new bike.
Currently looking at a Marin Rift Zone or an Orange 5.
Marin website suggests I need an XL, Have seen Orange owners recommend a Medium for my size. The discrepancy seems odd.
I'm 5'11" , long monkey arms, 33" inside leg, about 90kg.
All help appreciated.
Cheers!
Like all things, the name a manufacturer gives its sizes is largely irrelevant, especially when comparing between the two.
I’d be looking at reach numbers around 470mm to 490mm ish. what size does that correlate to in each of the ranges?
I concur, around 480 on modern steeper seattube angles frame, gibbon or T-rex arms and unusual inside leg measurements can throw a spanner in the works, but I reckon you're good at 480, sit on some at the lbs while googling their geometry.
I don’t understand obsession with reach. It’s only half the story. Sat down it’s all about effective top tube, which is linked with seat tube angle. I’d be paying more attention to effective top tube as most manufacturers seem to have seat tube angles sorted now.
Also, do you prefer agility over ploughing? If so, size down if between sizes. I’m 5’10” and have sized down to mediums in my most recent bikes.
An Orange will generally be longer than other more vanilla manufacturers, so a Large in a Marin might be the same as a medium Orange.
It’s only half the story.
Which is considerably more than an arbitrary word.
Compare both bikes and sizes with your current bike on geometrygeeks.
That should give you a good starting point to help you decide.
I am also 5'11" with an inside leg of 33" and I ride a large Orbea Occam which has a reach of 474mm (and a 627mm stack). Wouldn't want to go any longer than that personally.
Reach is generally what I look at first as that’s very relevant to when you’re standing up going fast over rough stuff - so that has to be right.
ETT is relevant to how comfy you will be sat down pedalling distance - ETT’s have got shorter vs reach in recent years as seat tube angles have got steeper.
Stack gives you an idea how low / high the front is - I think some manufacturers have their stack a bit low on the bigger / longer reach models so that’s something worth considering.
Chainstay length will give you an idea how balanced the bike is vs the reach. Longer is generally more stable.
If you have long arms vs shorter legs then picking a brand that have short and straight seat tubes will allow you to fit in a decent length dropper. I love my medium Transition Sentinel as at 5’9 I can fit in a 210mm dropper comfortably.
I’m 5’11” and have settled on reaches around 480 too.
It’s not the only number though and I’ve had 2 bikes with only 3mm difference in reach but 1 degree difference in seat and head angles and 23mm difference in wheelbase, 15mm of that in the rear centre. The longer slacker bike rode very differently to the shorter one despite the similar reach numbers. Much happier to just go in a straight line.
One is a manufacturers L and the other a ML. I can’t imagine riding an XL with modern geometry of any brand.
At a minimum go sit on them to try - you're spending decent money so it'd be daft to chance it.
Have seen Orange owners recommend a Medium for my size
Yeah, but anyone that owns an Orange is still living in the 90s when "playfully small" was still considered fashionable.
If you have long arms vs shorter legs then picking a brand that have short and straight seat tubes will allow you to fit in a decent length dropper. I love my medium Transition Sentinel as at 5’9 I can fit in a 210mm dropper comfortably.
The mans got 33" legs so the seat tube length ain't gonna be an issue! Long arms, long legs, probably a short torso? (same as me)
The main thing he will have to watch for is weight distribution. If he buys a bike which is too long in the front centre and too short in the rear centre then he will be stuck with too much weight over the rear end. Having the same proportions I look for a bike with a medium/short reach and a medium/long chainstay in order to keep my weight in the middle of the bike. I also run the front end pretty low (no spacers under the stem and 10mm rise bars) otherwise it's difficult to get weight through the front wheel.
The riding you do has much more of an effect on sizing first of all, before settling on a size/number. The riding I enjoy is steep tight tech so at 188cm tall i won’t go above 480 reach on paper but like my bars to be 115cm off the ground to the end of grips so that usually shortens the reach a bit due to headset spacers. The trade off is my bikes feel awful on flat terrain like trail centres but as I’m not keen on that sort of riding it doesn’t bother me.
So first off I’d suggest thinking hard about the riding you prefer
The trade off is my bikes feel awful on flat terrain like trail centres but as I’m not keen on that sort of riding it doesn’t bother me.
+1
My Cotic with a -2 headset feels a bit crap on reds & the like, but brilliant for the steeps & off-pistes.
L or XL. Reach is everything. Because pretty much all other dimensions can be adjusted somehow. Reach cannot. And yeah, circa 480mm reach for you IMO.