some advice on frame sizes and stem extensions

[subaqua]

friend of my daughters wants a bike like hers. Triban 3. she is in between frame sizes 54 is too small and she is still growing . 57 is too large as she needs to stretch a little bit . is there a stem bit that will bring the bars back slightly or should she just wait until she has grown a bit more ?

regards

 

[festival]

How tall is she and is she generally in proportion?
How is the 54 to small?
How old?

 

[subaqua]

How tall is she and is she generally in proportion?
How is the 54 to small?
How old?

64 inches tall.
she is hunched up on it
nearly 12

 

[Alun]

I'd surprised if a 54cm frame was too small for someone who is 5'4", but if so get the 57cm, stems are available in all sorts of lengths.

 

[festival]

A 5ft 4 inches 12 year old, believe me even the 54cm frame is to big!
You seriously need to visit a good LBS for some basic advise on bike sizing and fitting.
I am a 5ft 8 inch adult ex racing cyclist who rides 54 cm frame.

 

[subaqua]

A 5ft 4 inches 12 year old! believe me even the 54cm frame is to big.
You seriously need to visit a good LBS for some basic advise on bike sizing and fitting.
I am a 5ft 8 inch adult ex racing cyclist who rides 54 cm frame.

oh so you don't get tall kids anymore then?

must tell my daughter who is taller than her friend by a good few inches ( and several months younger) that they are a figment of my imagination.
we ( me and her father) have been to several bike shops all with the same answer of she is in between frame sizes. On yer bike, 3 branches of Evans, 2 cycle surgery. what her parents don't want to do is buy a bike thats going to last 12 months before she outgrows it . I had a similar problem as a kid.
PS I am nearly 6ft 4 was 5ft 10 at 12. my grandfathers were both 6ft 4 , my daughters friends father is 6ft 7 and his grandparents were of similar height. questions i asked to get a vague idea of how tall she is likely to grow. i will tell them to not bother till she has stopped growing

 

[black'n'yellow]

Regardless of age, I'm stuggling to understand how a 54cm frame is 'too small' for someone who is 5'4". If she's serious about her cycling, get her a bike that fits her now, not in a year's time. Either way, if you buy bikes for kids you have to accept that you will be moving them on to something else within 18 months...

 

[subaqua]

Regardless of age, I'm stuggling to understand how a 54cm frame is 'too small' for someone who is 5'4". If she's serious about her cycling, get her a bike that fits her now, not in a year's time. Either way, if you buy bikes for kids you have to accept that you will be moving them on to something else within 18 months...

when she was sat on it with the saddle adjuted properly her elbows were in her chest. and the staff said it didn't look right. they wouldn't sell the bike even though i suggested a stem extension.

as i said earlier have spoken to her friends dad and they will not buy one now. they understand buying bikes every 18months as that is what they have done for the last few bikes. they havent been £300 plus bikes tho , they have been gas pipers . he has said he will wait 12 or so months and she should be looking right on a 57 .

 

[festival]

Calm down!
The point is a child or anyone else at 5ft 4 inches is to small for a 57cm frame to the point of it being dangerous.
A frame sized at 54cm would also be to big and even allowing for growth is a compromise many would not make.
If you don't like the answer that's up to you but i assume you come on here for expert advice because you have little knowledge of these things, I am not trying to make a sale, only answer the question.

 

[Cyclist33]

oh so you don't get tall kids anymore then?

must tell my daughter who is taller than her friend by a good few inches ( and several months younger) that they are a figment of my imagination.
we ( me and her father) have been to several bike shops all with the same answer of she is in between frame sizes. On yer bike, 3 branches of Evans, 2 cycle surgery. what her parents don't want to do is buy a bike thats going to last 12 months before she outgrows it . I had a similar problem as a kid.
PS I am nearly 6ft 4 was 5ft 10 at 12. my grandfathers were both 6ft 4 , my daughters friends father is 6ft 7 and his grandparents were of similar height. questions i asked to get a vague idea of how tall she is likely to grow. i will tell them to not bother till she has stopped growing

to be fair, I think he meant the 54 is too large for a 5'4" person, not that you're lying about the girl's height.

 

[subaqua]

Calm down!
The point is a child or anyone else at 5ft 4 inches is to small for a 57cm frame to the point of it being dangerous.
A frame sized at 54cm would also be to big and even allowing for growth is a compromise many would not make.
If you don't like the answer that's up to you but i assume you come on here for expert advice because you have little knowledge of these things, I am not trying to make a sale, only answer the question.

thats what i thought, looking at several sizing guides suggests a 54 woiuld be fine but it doesn't look right at all based on online fitting guides suggested here. and if something doesn't look right it generally isn't
I think the reach is the issue hence asking if there are shorter stems available. spent a few hours today at several places but got no sensible answers about changing stems

perhaps putting exclamation marks after a statement wasn't the best thing. it suggests disbeleif .

 

[GetAGrip]

to be fair, I think he meant the 54 is too large for a 5'4" person, not that you're lying about the girl's height.

That is how I took it also

 

[subaqua]

That is how I took it also

the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence would show that, not where he put it. hence my subsequent post. Conveying the correct meaning is easy when you understand the rules.

eg" I like helping my uncle , jack off horses " is far different to " I like helping my uncle jack, off horses " by the correct use of punctuation in the correct place. and yes i am guilty of not using proper punctuation quite regularly.

 

[vickster]

I believe the Tribans come up small compared to other makes. Quite a few seem to have needed to go up a size compared to say a Specialized. You get short stems, adjustable stems, but these should be used for minor, not major adjustments to make up for having a wrong-sized bike as they can affect the handling of the bike.

The advantage of the Triban is that they are so inexpensive to start with and with road cycling having got so popular, if she does grow out of it, it'll be easy to shift used. Is she going to ride through the winter? If not, wait until the summer.

 

[GetAGrip]

the exclamation mark at the end of the sentence would show that, not where he put it. hence my subsequent post. Conveying the correct meaning is easy when you understand the rules.

eg" I like helping my uncle , jack off horses " is far different to " I like helping my uncle jack, off horses " by the correct use of punctuation in the correct place. and yes i am guilty of not using proper punctuation quite regularly.

Inserting 'get' between Jack & off would also minimise confusion