# Tarmac Expert Sizing who rides a 58cm



## Har (Oct 16, 2002)

Just added this bike to my short list for a Carbon Bike for the 2010 season. Just as a starting point, anyone on here tall, like me, with a rarther short torso. I ride my saddle at 83 cm measured form the center of the crank to the top of my Selle Flit Gel. Can i achieve this height on a 58 cm Tarmac's Geometry? I'll learn more when i go to the store but was just curious?

Thanks,


----------



## teapotter (Feb 1, 2007)

I test rode one yesterday, I'm between 6"0 and 6"1, long legs with a short torso, and the 58 seemed to fit properly.

Also interested to hear from other people


----------



## Har (Oct 16, 2002)

*Attn: teapotter*

What do you have the saddel height set at?


----------



## NealH (May 2, 2004)

I have both a 58 Tarmac and Roubaix. I am 6'1" with a 91cm inseam, and my saddle height is 81cm. I use a 110 stem on the Tarmac and a 100 stem on my Roubaix. So I'm not far from you in size and dimensions - meaning I too am long on legs and short on the torso. The saddle can easily be adjusted to an 83 saddle height. But don't be surprised if, once your set-back is adjusted properly, you end up with an 81 or 82cm saddle height.


----------



## Har (Oct 16, 2002)

*ATTN NealH*

Thanks, that is real helpful. At 81 cm is there a lot of seat post showing? I dont want something like what you see the pros on with a crazy amount of seat post showing. Interesting enough my "cycling" inseam is 94 so we are close in size. I am coming off and Aluminum Klein, with a carbon frok and rear. I am looking for something to hammer out the tues/thurs group ride on and also looking for comfort on the 60 - 100 mile weeked rides? How you like your Tarmac? I scratched off the Madone 5.2 from my list last weekend and am considering this bike and also have done a lot research on the Cervelo RS.


----------



## jrosteck (Oct 28, 2007)

If you look at the geometry for the Tarmac, the BB to top of seat tube dimension is 550 mm or 55cm.

With a saddle height of 83 cm that would leave 28 cm (11 inches) from top of saddle to top of seat tube.


----------



## teapotter (Feb 1, 2007)

NealH:

My inseam is also 91cm. Just out of curiosity, what crank length do you use?


----------



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

I ride a 2009 Tarmac Pro SL in size 58cm, and I believe that has an identical frame/geometry to the 2010 Tarmac. My BB to saddle top height is 82cm. It is close to maxing out the seatpost insertion, but I *think* there is about 1cm left. There is a huge amount of seat-post showing - if you look at the geometry charts the seat-tube is only 55cm long, which is 27cm shorter than the 82cm in my case. It is comparable to my Stumpjumper hard-tail mountain bike. Here's a picture. If you don't like that look you will have to size the frame up (and a 61cm frame is only going to take 3cm out of the exposed seatpost), or find another bike without a compact geometry. Personally, I'm happy with how it looks. As the guy in the shop told me, you can kid yourself that you are maximizing the vertical compliance too. Also, aesthetically speaking, I really didn't like the look of the massive head tube on the 61cm and when I saw one in the shop all I could think was - 'wow, that's a big bike'.


----------



## NealH (May 2, 2004)

Here is a picture of my 58 Tarmac with an 80.5cm saddle height with the Toupe saddle. . Some saddles, like the Alias, will drop the post a cm or so since they are taller. But yes, there is quite a bit of post showing. So thinking about this further, a saddle height of 83cm might be pushing the limits on this particular bike. Oh, and my cranks are 175, which is the size that comes on a 58. I probably get a little help from my Rocket 7 shoes too, as they have a very low stack height.


----------



## Har (Oct 16, 2002)

*Thanks Neal*

That helps a lot! Gorgeous bike.


----------



## bdaviskc (Aug 6, 2005)

Har said:


> Just added this bike to my short list for a Carbon Bike for the 2010 season. Just as a starting point, anyone on here tall, like me, with a rarther short torso. I ride my saddle at 83 cm measured form the center of the crank to the top of my Selle Flit Gel. Can i achieve this height on a 58 cm Tarmac's Geometry? I'll learn more when i go to the store but was just curious?
> 
> Thanks,


Not sure how you will feel about the total seat post exposure on a 58 based on your comments--see photo of my bike in this thread:
http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=194449

(Scroll down a bit--Saxo Scheme with Edge wheels)--this is a 58 with saddle height at 79.5cm for what its worth.

Great bike!


----------



## Helmsdini (Nov 19, 2008)

Just for reference: I am a little over 6'1, and I would say my legs and torso are proportional to my height. I have a 56cm Tarmac that I basically purchased sight unseen from a recommendation. I do a lot of racing, and as most proably have noticed: the pros seem to use smaller frames and long stems if they can do it- which is how this bike was set up from the shop that sponsors my team. 

On this bike, the seat tube was long enough to work for me, but I had to progressively push out the stem in order to work with my size, finally settling on a 130mm stem. I also added 175mm cranks to work with my preferences. After getting a bike fit, we realized that the head tube is too short for my position on this frame (17mm). If I have the stem mounted a reasonable distance from the headset, my back becomes arched and I end up putting my quads into my gut and limiting my breathing. With a 25mm cone spacer, and an aditional 15-20mm stack on top, my back is much flatter and I am able to make more power and open up my lungs a bit. I was never uncomfortable on the 56cm frame, but analysis shows I wasn't in an efficient position with the bars "low" and "racy looking" on this smaller frame.

The new tarmac SL3 uses a short 8mm cone spacer, which would mean in order to fit me I would need an alarming 30-35mm worth of spacers, or a longer (older style) cone spacer, and the pretty substantial spacer stack I am currently using, neither of which are vogue nor practical.

In other words, simply based on head tube length, I need a 58cm frame (20mm HT) and probably a more reasonable 110mm stem. A smaller frame will work, and a taller guy can certainly fit on a 56cm frame, but the head tube length really turned out ot be a critical aspect for my personal bike fit- much more so than saddle height or bar reach.


----------



## wobblyRider (May 10, 2009)

Just picked up mine last week. It's a 61cm, the same size as my allez. Can't wait to get it out on the road once they are clear. Note that I had the white tape replaced with black. I repair oil heating equipment and no mater how hard I try to keep white tape clean it never does.


----------

