It's all a blast until someone gets hurt...

So which cycling supporters are you going to trash next? A Pegoretti 62 is easily big enough for your height,especially since aheadset bikes set the bars way higher than quill bikes, and thus are always smaller. Regardless, 62 cm c to c wouldn't even have that much seatpost exposed. 59.5 top tube does seem a wee bit short for such a big bike, but the seat angle combined with the post exposure puts the seat way back there anyway. Certainly worth $5 chance. And I'll make sure we take you off the free Shift list...

have i been trashing cycling supporters?

Oh... shift...

its a JOKE... I think there is a reason no one has marketed a drink called shift... till now...

Yes, the 59.5 probably would be workable... but... if you've been paying attention to the industry sizing... the big bikes have been getting smaller and smaller...

not just shorter as in sloping top tube... but shorter...

and yeah, threadless steertubes can give you rise and height but it is hard to find a stem in the 140 range and one that long changes the handling a bit...

Yes i should have poney'd up a Lincoln for the cause... but i didn't...

If you want a good write up to read about the trend click here

I figured i was way too far south even to merit being on a free shift list... different team... different state... excessive coffee drinker... If SFarm starts sending hotties around to races like the RedBull girls... then you'll get my attention...

I think the cyclingnews response missed the point a bit. Quill bikes all had stems with "drop" approx complimentary to the steering head angle, and thus ended up level. Of course, you could adjust them up and down. For some reason, ahead stems all have only 12% drop, as in 5% rise from vertical. Combine this with the spacers usually left in place and the bars end up higher, but of course they are making all the frames smaller (sloping usually). The aesthetics are messed up if you have a level top tube, IMHO. Level top tube should have a level stem. Of course, some of this could be fixed by cutting the head tube.

All of this is really an attempt to make fewer frame sizes. The S-M-L approach with an MTB length seatpost and a stem to match, maybe with a bunch of spacers. That is crap, I'll agree. Pegoretti does have a full run of sizes though. It also looks like you can get custom for an extra $300.

Top tube length is still the most critical. You see this problem all the time with the new cross bikes. Everyone is complaining that they can't get the bars low enough. You need to buy a big size to get a long enough top tube, but then when you put a cross for under there, the head tube ends up too high and the bars are level with the seat. They need to go back to the old MTB design paradigm of top tubes several cm longer than the nominal seat tube height.

5% rise from horizontal. 5% rise from vertical would be a cute trick...