Whyte Stirling v3 (or Pimlico v3) ... Great bike for money or just OK?

[Sloth]

Vicky’s ok, I understand her irritation to a point. I’m irritating myself!
I am fully aware that I am being indecisive, but not being able to see or try most bikes (without excessive and unreasonable travelling) is making it far worse than it would otherwise have been.
I’d not buy a pair of shoes for £50 without trying them on, so over £1,000 for a bike I’ve never even seen in the ‘metal’ let alone sat on or ridden, is an even bigger and unacceptable gamble.
I think my caution is not unreasonable, even if irritating to some.
I’ll get there in the end….I hope

 

[vickster]

Who’s Vicky?!

 

[Sloth]

Don't know, never heard of er'......

 

[vickster]

Don't know, never heard of er'......

Me neither

 

[Sloth]

Given Vicky's ferocity in this thread I'd say that's not a cut-and-dried assumption


To further fuel the fire both "medium" bikes seem to have a fair amount of reach for that stated size - my M Croix de Fer has (burnt into my consciousness after a similarly OCD-led escapade to yourself some years ago) 386mm reach, and at 5' 9.5" I've still had to shorten the stem to make myself comfortable.. although I have fairly long legs / short torso.

Of course the frame reach / stack values don't tell the whole story thanks to the influence of stem and bars. Do you have an existing bike you find comfortable that you can pull reach and stack values from as a reference?

You sound like a man who'd appreciate a good spreadsheet!

I briefly sat on a Merida Speeder 400 (S/M) and it felt good, if not for the complete lack of any standover height I'd have probably bought it.

 

[Jenkins]

One other thing to consider is that the medium Stirling has a head tube height 15mm lower than the large Pimlico with all other measurements being within a few mm of each other - this indicates a slightly more aggresive riding position on the Stirling over a more upright position on the Pimlico.

 

[Sloth]

One other thing to consider is that the medium Stirling has a head tube height 15mm lower than the large Pimlico with all other measurements being within a few mm of each other - this indicates a slightly more aggresive riding position on the Stirling over a more upright position on the Pimlico.

Good point.
Would a similar scenario apply to the medium Pimlico?
I’m confused over which Pimlico would be best for me, the M or L? The L is pushing it with standover height though

 

[Jenkins]

The medium Pimlico has a head tube that's another 5mm lower than the medium Stirling (20mm lower than the large Pimlico) so seems to be designed for the smaller rider. This is why you must try them out for size and not rely on figures.

If you were looking at the Stirling, the medium would be the suggested option IF the head tube height turned out not to give too aggressive a riding position.

 

[Sloth]

I think that based on a few recent calls, and with a bit of travelling I can get to try both a M and a L Pimlico, just about 40-50 miles or so apart! Be a long day but very doable.

 

[Sloth]

The Whyte 'Carnaby' and 'Victoria' are also the exact same frame and geometry specs. If I can find them in the M & L then it may increase my chances?

 

[vickster]

Surely a small WSD model (ie the Victoria) would be too small if you’re 5’8

 

[Sloth]

Sorry, my bad. I meant to put M & L
Now amended.

 

[Sloth]

Also, according to Whyte themselves (on the phone yesterday), the Pimlico/Carnaby/Victoria are not WSD bikes, just a unisex, compact frame.
Not that it really matters I suppose. First world problem

 

[Sloth]

Sorted, I have found somewhere with a Stirling (M) and a Carnaby (different componants but exactly the same frame/geometry as Pimlico) in both M & L.
I'll be trying them all on Friday hopefully.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Finally we can storm Normandy.

As you know Operation Overlord was approved in May 1943 and launched 13 months later in June 1944. It involved 1,200 planes, 5,000 vessels for the amphibious assault and 160,000 troops from numerous allied nations. 2 month later 2 million allied troops were in France.

The wisest decision for Operation Overlord was not to emulate the Japanese invasion of Malaysia on bicycles. Somehow the British hid the unpleasant fact about our great difficulty in choosing bikes from Eisenhower.