boze

+)

the pix aren't that great actually. but i just had my first 24miler on my new Viner Competition from GVHbikes.com and i wanted to show some love. Gary at GVH was just as great as everybody here said he'd be and i'm another satisfied customer.

i got a classy looking lugged italian steel frame with full Ultegra, Ritchie wheels and a low-end Viner carbon fork. (the carbonesque decals on the seat stays are kinda corny but whatever..)

the shipped price was $1410. $1295 plus $25 for the triple and $50 for the fork upgrade and $40 shipping to the east coast.

i bought this bike because i wanted a steel frame and i'm 6'4.5" so there were limited options in my size and price range. this is a 64cm c-c, with a 61.5cm top tube.

the stem is a 14cm - i maybe would fit better on a 13 but i'm gonna try this for now and see how it goes - gary at gvhbikes will exchange stems for free btw.

the ride is both smooth and lively as far as i can tell - but i have very little to compare it to since i'm coming from a seven year old cheap alum GT. maybe the lively part just comes from the fact that the bike weighs 21.5 lbs (on my bathroom scale) - my old alum bike is actually several lbs heavier! i'm very happy with how light the bike feels considering it's steel and a huge frame.

and a big thanks to everybody here for the patient advice when i was one of those "Help me choose a new bike" threads.

J-McKech

that is the longest stem I have ever seen. But that bike is AWESOME! looking

Fugazi Dave

I think your bike is taller than I am. Very nice.

don d.

Nice balanced looking rig. You did good.

sorebutt

Man, the bike is so big (look at the size of the head tube!!) that the wheels look like they are 650s

forum*rider

nice!

boze

thx folks -
yeah the bike is quite a bit bigger than my old bike, but it fits me that much better too so the fact that it's a bit freakish is kinda endearing if that makes any sense.

Trsnrtr

My first real racing bike was an '83 Viner. BTW, if I remember correctly, Viner is from the builder's name, VIviano NERozzi. (excuse any misspelling)

boze

just did my first 50miler today on the Viner Comp and boy does that steel frame feel dreamy compared to my crap old 7005 series alum GT. no more neck pain for me, baby!

charlesw

Boze, I rode a tiny "pacifica" mtb to work everyday for a month.
When I slid unto my bike, a 58cm Univega I was so excited. I feel your joy (and past pain). I'm 6'2" and I raised the stem a ton 4"? on my Univega. Wonderful for cruising.

Anyway, congrats. I'm interested if us taller riders get more leverage or something with our added heighth.. I'll do some research and if I can't find anything, I'll post.

Congrats!

53-11 alltheway

It looks nice.....I like the Italian ferrari red. Do those Viner's use italian BB, btw?

galen_52657

Nice bike!

But I am curious, what is your inseam and sleeve length? I can't believe you are only 1/2 taller than I am and ride a bike 5 cm larger with 3 cm longer top tube, show about as much seat post as my bike and ride the same length stem. Are you all legs and arms?

boze

hi galen -
three things to say about the size thing.

1) the 64cm c-c Viner may in fact be a bit large for me. Since I bought it online I couldn't really check out the 63 vs. the 64 (which had a full inch difference in top tube length).

2) i've since exchanged the stem for a 120mm (which still seems longer - that one in the pic was a 135 but it seemed longer too) so that reduces the overall reach a bit.

3) i do yoga and i'm pretty flexible in my lower back so i don't have as much of that rounded back curve as some people and I think i reach out farther as a result.

the bike fits me pretty well now i think - when i get my Brooks Team Competition saddle for xmas I'll be just about set. I'll bet I would have fit fine on the 63 or even a shorter stem on this frame, but i'm very comfortable none-the-less and at the time all I knew was that I wanted a bigger steel frame than any of the shops had in DC.

my inseam is 36" but i'm not sure what my sleeve lenth is. i have long limbs but a long torso as well - me liking the fit of this bike is probably a combination of the yoga flexibility thing combined with being stuck on an alum frame that was too small for me for so many years. almost nobody makes a steel frame with a longer TT than like 59.5 and Lemond didn't seem like a good option because their new bikes only go up to like 62cm c-t i think. plus it's irrelevant really because i couldn't afford a good Lemond or a custom Gunnar - it was pretty much the bike I got or maybe a 63cm Bianchi Imola (and i don't like semi-compact geometry) or maybe something off eBay.

i should have a friend take a pic of me on the bike to see if folks here think i fit it okay from just looking at me on it....

have a good weekend and thanks for checking in.

can you believe how long-winded my posts are?? +)

NealH

I believe you are on the right size bike. Far too often today people are put on bikes much too small. Just because the 25 year old cat racers run smallish frames doesn't mean they are best for people like you and me.

I am 6'2" with a 35.5" inseam and ride either 62 c-c or 63 c-t, if I want to ride comfortably. A few years back some dealer put me on a 61cm c-t and it was the most uncomfortable ride I ever had. When I finally did the stem/quill and seat post adjusted half way properly for me then they were much too far out of proportion. The bike was still too quick and nervous due to it's unusual set-up to wheelbase. The biggest mistake dealers make today is putting people on bikes too small. The age old French frame sizing forumla of roughly inseam (in cm) - 25 or 26 for large riders is as true today as yesterday.

boze

thx for the affirmation, hood.the bike sure is comfy, i know that much - i'm a total steel frame evangelist now when i'm helping friends shop.

halfspeed

I'm 6' 0" and have a 35" inseam. I ride a 61cm (although my SS is a 63cm!). The "size" is only part of the equation along with the angles, top and head tube length, trail and wheelbase. The advantage of a big frame is that the handle bars get closer to the saddle. This leads to a more upright position when riding on the tops or the hoods. When I rode a smaller bike, I rarely ever used the drops. On a big frame I'm in the drops 30-40% of the time. More on windy days.

Riding big bikes creates some performance trade-offs and whether they should be made depends upon your goals. Since you're riding steel, you're probably not trying to be the fastest guy in your club and you're probably more interested in a comfortable ride rather than the ultimate in performance.

boze

yeah, that bike is definitely on the heavy side but the thing is i've only really had two seasons of regular riding and the bike i had forever before (back to when i used to bike commute 5 or more years ago) is a heavy old alum frame so i had the unique experience of moving to a lugged steel frame from a 7005 alum frame and _saving weight overall. likely had a lot to do with the components and other stuff but still.

i'm gonna make it heavier still by putting a brooks saddle on it for xmas. this will be based on the same sort of bikeforums feedback that led me to buy a steel frame and i'm sure i'll be just as pleased with the result.

galen_52657

At 6'4", my inseam is only 1/2" more than yours, so I am long torso/arms short legs. I ride a 59 c-c (61 c-t) frame and always have. I always ram the seat back as far as it will go and use the long stem. The Look I am riding now is short in the top tub so I run a 140 mm stem with a lot of drop betweent the saddle and bars. But, the bike handles fine and I can get plenty low and flat on it. My old steel Bianchi had about 1 cm longer top tube. I do find that for rolling a big gear on the flats or a headwind situation, I ride with hands on the hoods more and use the drops for possition change. But I think that is more of a factor of being able to open up my breathing better on the hoods than anything else.

531Aussie

Ah, WHAAAAAT!! I can't pronounce "Cervelo", "Orbea", "Cinelli" or "Giant", and
now you're telling me I can't pronounce "Viner".....JEEEEZ

Chorus_Girl

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered this thread was about a bike!

Hipcycler

I like my VEE-nur with mustard thank you.

halfspeed

Well, I'm measuring my frames c-t so we have the same seat tube length. If I were to hazard a guess, you're riding with a longer top tube. You're also going with a longer stem. I'm all arms and legs and you've got a really long torso. I use randonneuring bars to get a wider spacing in the drops to improving breathing. I have about an inch drop from saddle to bars although the touring bike I'm building up will be dead level.

Based on some of your other posts, a more aggressive posture probably suits you much better than me and you're also probably a lot faster.

HigherGround

If it makes you feel better, imagine the thread title as part of a conversation between Hans and Frans!

HigherGround

Gorgeous paint job, by the way!