# colnago sizing question, help



## veloci1 (Nov 29, 2005)

I ride a Cervelo R3 56. 56.5 tt and 160 HT. i am about to pull the triger on a colnago from a private party, no LBS. he has a 52 sloping EP ( my favorite color). i've reading that some people go almost 2 sizes smaller on Colnagos based on the angles and HT, not so much on TT length. when i look at the geometry charts, a 54 sloping is very close to the measurements of my R3. Given that i feel the R3 is a little on the longer side (TT) for me. i wish it was more like a 55.5 TT instead of 56.5. but, none the less, it does not affect me much. i have the following measurememts: 5'10" , 31 inseam. 

will the EP 52 Sloping be ok? i know it has a 54 (53.8) TT and a HT of 161. i would not mind using a 120 Stem. i am just wondering if it is going to be too small for me.

please, let me know. if the general concenses is that the 52 S will fit, i will pull the trigger tonight.


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## Morison (Oct 31, 2005)

*Sizing*

To clarify the sizing of a 52s, the "actual" top tube measurement center to center is 53.8cm but the "virtual" top tube length measured center to center on a horizontal plane is 55.0cm. It seems confusing when you look at their charts on colnago.com but if you look over to the right of the big chart there is a "traditional size reference" chart that shows the virtual top tube as if the top tube was horizontal. The 52s is a sloping equivalent to a 56cm traditional in every dimension except that it has a 4cm shorter seat tube. Cervelo attempts to avoid the confusion between actual and virtual by only providing the measurment that counts, the virtual measurement.

This link is a longer read, but a very informative post about an experienced bike fitter learning how to properly fit a Colnago;

http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/reviews/colnago.shtml


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

I was going to say the same thing as Morison in that it seems you have the Colnago measurements a little off.

If it helps any, I am 5' 9" with a 31.5 inseam and I ride a 50 sloping and I have the bars almost as low as they can go, but I am pretty flexible. The 50 sloping has an effective top tube length of 54cm, and has the exact same dimensions as a 54 traditional Colnago. My ideal size is a 53cm traditional Colnago, and that is what I got my C50 in.

Frame sizing is utterly nuts nowadays. Colnago uses C-T, other manufacturers, which I think is the majority, use C-C, and then there are the virtual measurements of sloping frames. I think I spent over a month trying to figure out what my optimal frame size was in 8 different manufacturers.


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