Hi - I made the trip to Derby last week for a bike fit at
Mercian Cycles - it's my 50th birthday next year (which is when the bike will be ready) and will also be 10 years since I got rid of my last car (and all the associated expenses) so I've decided to treat myself.
I was greeted by Grant, who first of all asked me some questions about what i was looking for from the bike (said I wanted a relatively light, but traditional, lugged steel road/sportive/club bike for spring/summer use, to complement my all-weathers 9-year old Hewitt Cheviot tourer - which I had with me) and if I already had one of their specific frame models in mind or not - I'd pretty much already decided on their
Strada Speciale, in non-oversized tubing with a 1" threaded stem and a non-sloping top tube, onto which I'll be putting a silver alloy 10-speed Campagnolo setup. After discussing tubing material and my requirements with Grant, I ended up choosing Reynold 853 Pro Team, which Grant thought would work well in that configuration for my size (I'm 5'8", 74Kg) and requirements (even over 953 steel!), but said he doesn't recommend 853 Pro Team non-oversize for much taller/heavier riders on large frames. I did consider as an alternative a King of Mercian, but with "road" geometry, but the Strada seems to be more what I'm after.
Also, one of his first questions after I said I was looking for a road/sportive frame was "how do you feel about toe overlap?", which was not something I was expecting, so didn't quite know how to answer, though my understanding is that it's not usually a big issue in practice - not sure if it will be for this frame or not, as forgot to ask him again about that later...
We then moved onto discussing some basics of the frame and add-ons - 130mm OLN was agreed for the rear, vertical drop-outs, braze-ons on the seatpost tube and downtube for water bottles, no rack braze-ons (I might carry a saddlebag on this bike, but would use my tourer if wanting to carry serious loads and use a rack), clearance for just 39/49mm (or Campag 40/50mm...) brakes (not long drop - I know...), but mudguard clearance (for 23mm tyres only) and drillings/braze-ons for them- TBH I will probably run 25mm tyres on this bike without mudguards, as it's for spring/summer use only, and want something quite stripped-down to the basics, but also wanted the option still to be there for mudguards.
Some things I wasn't sure about:
* when asked whether I wanted to run the rear brake cable (with full outer) through three brazed-on guides on the top of the top tube (the traditional approach), or just to run an exposed cable between two stops on the bottom left of the top tube I wasn't sure - the bike is deliberately going to be quite retro-looking, but the latter setup I thought would look neater, so that's what I said (for now). The other option would be internal routing, but that would cost quite a bit more and I didn't really like the idea. I still have time to change my mind, though, if this seems like a bad idea!
* I asked about whether to have a braze-on for the front-derailleur, as thought that might look neater than a band-on, but Grant said it would be stronger to use a band-on adapter (even with a braze-on FD), and if I was using the FD with a triple (more on that below) would be even more advisable(?).
Anyway, he looked at the old drawings I had from my Hewitt Cheviot bike fit to get a general ball-park for my sizing (though obviously the geometry is different for a touring bike), then told me to pop on their fitting jig. Unfortunately although I had the pedals I would be putting on the bike (Campagnolo Pro Fit), I didn't have the shoes (not bought them yet!), so for sizing had to just use the pedals with toe clips they had fitted.
First off was measuring up the frame/seatpost heights - he asked how much visible seatpost I would be expecting to see, and said about a "handful" is what he usually recommends these days (i.e. more than was traditional, though less than you see on most modern road bikes or even my Hewitt), Grant said doing this would also then leave enough room for a saddlebag etc., especially as it will be a quite small frame (I'm only 5'8" or so) - I said I'd go with his suggestion. Sometime was spent with me pedaling on the jig and grant observing my stance as I pedaled, me getting off whilst he made adjustments, then repeating this until he felt that I was "looking good" and it also felt right to me.
We then moved onto trying to get the measurements right for my reach at the front of the bike and height of the stem, this took a lot longer, partly because one of the indicators Grant would look at for a good fit is the curvature of the rider's spine, but the middle part of my back is very flat (always has been, genetics..), so it was a bit difficult for him to gauge and lots of different adjustments were tried. I also have chronic (if low-grade) lower back pain (partly a consequence of my flat back), so the level of the handlebar below the saddle I can cope with is not as low down as most "road" cyclists would probably want (I told Grant this), though still lower than on my touring bike (on which I'm fine, even on the drops for reasonable distances). I
think in the end we got to a position that felt about right and Grant thought looked okay, though I still have a slight nagging doubt that it's not perfect for me. One potential reason is that I haven't ridden a true road bike since my teens, so my "muscle memory" is more used to the position of my touring bike and anything else feels a little strange. In the end I think he said they would need to extend the head tube above top tube slightly more than they usually would to get a good fit for me, but said they've done this for other riders and that it should still look okay.
We talk a bit about wheels and Grant suggested silver Mavic Open Pros on silver Miche hubs - which sounded okay, though I haven't fuly decided on the wheels/hubs yet, and may change my mind.
One thing that did come up - I was intending to use a silver Campagnolo 50/40/30 Comp Triple chainset on the bike, which I'd bought on ebay not the long ago, but Grant thought the 175mm cranks would be way too long for me, and that I should look for 170mm ones - there's a long thread about this
here. He also seemed to think putting a triple on a road bike was a bad idea and that I should go for a 50/34 Compact instead - I'm less convinced about this, partly because I don't like the idea of the big jumps between the chain rings (and also rear cogs - as I'd need a wider range cassette than with a triple), but also because it would mean fitting the awkward to maintain Power Torque bottom bracket, if sticking with Campagnolo cranks. As mentioned earlier, I also have quite a bad back and not great knees (have had arthroscopy operations on both), so to date have been more used to spinning on hills than honking up them. The road bike fashionista would not be impressed, though. Perhaps I will find hills less challenging on a road bike than an (unloaded) tourer? Anyway, that decision doesn't have to be made right now, I guess.
Grant then sat down and put his measurements to paper - here's what he came up with:
Regarding seat post height etc. he was basing this on me using a leather saddle (e.g. like the Gilles Berthoud saddle I have on my Hewitt), as that's what I will likely be using.
Other measurements not on this - (quill) stem length 90mm, handlebar width 42cm (though Grant also seemed to think 40cm could be worth a try - I have 42mm on my touring bike, though).
I guess I should post the measurements of my Hewitt Cheviot for comparison when I have time to take a picture.
We then had a discussion about paint and other possible finishing options (e.g. "barber's pole" or not, screw-on metal headbadge vs sticker, old style badge/sticker vs. new etc.), but I'll save that for another post - I made a tentative suggestion, but think I might change that and ask for some feedback here.
Anyway, apologies for rambling, hope this is interesting/helpful for some!
