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my wife bought me a used flat bar road bike for christmas. to her a bike is a bike, one size fits all. it was quite ovious to me that it was going to be way to large as it had a sticker on the frame with XL on it, and im 5'5"/ 5'6".

not wanting to sound ungrateful i gave it a try. lowered the seat nearly write down to get the correct reach ( leg straight with heel on the peddle at 6 o'clock. the stand over brings the cross bar tight into my crotch, but thats not a problem.

the ct of this bike is 56.5cm the advised ct for me is 51cm. 50cm/52cm could also work.

so my questons are, can i say this bike fits me. or am i riding at a disadvantage with this lare frame.

enter image description here

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    It all depends on what you're doing. If you can pedal the whole stroke without locking your knees and can get on and off safely without bashing any delicate bits or having to take a running jump, you'll probably be OK for moderate journeys. The if and probably are why this is a comment and not an answer. You may still be slower than on better fitting bike, and you may tire faster, limiting you maximum saddle time (and it may well be time rather than distance if the posture is off).
    – Chris H
    Apr 24, 2017 at 14:51
  • Tight stand over is not a problem. Not a problem until you have a problem.
    – paparazzo
    Apr 24, 2017 at 14:54
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    I probably wouldn't risk it. Or maybe this is a way of your wife saying that she doesn't want kids. Who knows.
    – Batman
    Apr 24, 2017 at 14:55
  • It is a new bike. Why did you not just exchange it?
    – paparazzo
    Apr 24, 2017 at 19:09
  • If you read my post it says "used"
    – Martin
    Apr 24, 2017 at 20:14

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If the saddle position in picture is good for you, the frame is definitely too large. It's not the top tube you should worry about, but the handlebars are too high and forward which makes the position uncomfortable.

For comparison, I'm 6" and usually the frame size that fits is M.

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  • It looks like the stem could be shorter. The height is reasonable for a comfort bike if high for road use but could be adjusted a little as well.
    – Chris H
    Apr 24, 2017 at 16:22
  • I have 3 spacers below my bars. So assume I could lower my bars.
    – Martin
    Apr 24, 2017 at 17:07
  • Yes, you can definitely flip the stem and switch to shorter one, it's just that the top of head tube should be below saddle level.
    – ojs
    Apr 24, 2017 at 17:57

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