# Orbea sizing for an upright fit



## seabiscuit (Oct 31, 2006)

I'm 5'5&1/2 and trying to figure if I should go with a size 48 or 51 Orca. My inseam is 77cm and my arm length is 55cm. I'd like my fit to be as upright as possible (bad neck). Would I do this with the smaller (48) or bigger frame (51)?


----------



## Roadrider22 (May 24, 2006)

I am 5'8 with a 31" cycling inseam and was looking for a more upright position on an Orca. My measurements would have suggested a 51cm frame but I went with a 54 and a 90mm stem to get a more upright position. The key is in the headtube measurement. The longer the headtube the higher the bar height. The Orbeas do have a longer top tube than most other brands so try to test ride if possible.


----------



## Edster (Aug 22, 2004)

Seabicuit - I am about the same heigth as you but I have a 29 inch inseam. I ride a 48cm Opal. When I was getting fitted at the LBS, they had flipped the stem for more of an upright position (which I didn't care for). You may want to try to look at different stems with various rise to see if that will give you an upright position


----------



## seabiscuit (Oct 31, 2006)

Thanks, Edster. What kind of stem did you end up going with? I am curious on how much rise/what length stem to go with. I plan on heading to my LBS later this week for a fit, but it would still be good to have an idea what has worked for others.


----------



## Edster (Aug 22, 2004)

I have an Easton EA70 stem on both my Opal and Litespeed Tuscany. It's 100, 26.0 and I believe it has a +/- rise of 6 degrees. I ended up flipping the stem downward as I felt the it was too much of an upright position, flipped the other way. It's a personal choice and I have other riding buddies who prefer a more upright position.


----------



## FLbiker (May 21, 2005)

*Onix*

My wife is right about your height. I have no idea about her inseam and arm length. She rides a 51cm Onix. She has a 90mm flipped up and the top of the bars are right about even with the saddle.


----------



## seabiscuit (Oct 31, 2006)

*Ordered a 48 Orca*

Thanks everyone for all your help!!! I have a 48 Orca on the way and I'm setting up my fitting appt. I'll post the end result when the bike is done.


----------



## mangotreat0808 (Sep 4, 2006)

*Fitting is key*

Hello - I think after you get the frame size down pat, the fitting is key. One other item, I did go back to my LBS to have my stem swapped out from a 100 to a 90. My lower torso is proportionately longer than my upper torso. After getting laser fitted with my seat and knee positioning, I just noticed I had a "shorter" reach, with my shorter upper torso and arms; hence the 90 vs 100 stem swap, and the stem is also positioned in the upright position. I think the laser fitting does great wonders for the lower body adjustment (seat, pedal, etc). Since I had a proportionately shorter upper body, I had to have my upper reach adjusted with a slightly shorter stem (90 versus 100). The dialed in seat (after fitting) should not be pulled forward to compensate for a shorter upper body reach (i.e., shorter arms), since the fitted sitting (height, horizontal position, shoe/pedal fittings) provides the correct positioning and leveraging for the flats and hills. On the upper body part, I rest the bony part of my hands (just above the wrist) to rest right before the hoods. This touch point in the hands and the proper seat positioning and the shoe fitting are three keys to help for very efficient riding on the flats and hills.

After this swap with the fitted sallde height and horizontal position, and with a 44 handlebar (my shoulders are also wide), I felt a world of difference compared to a previous bike I had, where I had the right vertical frame size, but the previous bike did not have the compact, sloping horizontal tube that the Orbea has. I have an Orbea Opal '06 with a 51cm frame, and I stand a hair under 5 foot, 7"; the "compact" frame with slopping horizontal tube (the main tube which connects the fork and the saddle), and the proper fitting makes for a very aggressive stance which helps me power down and up on my pedals on flats, and helps me in the hills after I move my anterior back on the saddle to get more climbing leverage. My crankset is a triple with Ultegra deraillerus.


----------

