Giant bikes for tall people

Finding affordable road bikes for tall people is difficult. I want to share the information I've learned about finding road bicycles for those people taller than 6'4”.

Bicycle sizing

Bicycle shops often size taller people by getting the biggest size bike manufacturers make, then increasing the saddle height, along with rising and lengthening the stem. This works – to an extent.

The higher saddle height provides the right amount of leg extension but increases the height from the saddle to the handlebars, which is called the drop. The higher the drop, the more racier the position. Excessively high drop is usually the default position for tall people because the high saddle height needed for proper leg extension extends far above the bar height.

Shops try to combat the problem by using a riser stem or putting the stem higher up on the steerer tube, but that only works so much. Why? The standard steerer tube height is 300 millimeters, which isn't high enough to compensate for the high saddle height.

Granted, manufacturers who design and produce production bikes need a standard that fits within the bell curve of size. Money, of course, is another issue: Why spend the extra cents to make the tube longer when 90 percent of the time it will be cut off? However, a couple companies make off-the-shelf-bike frames designed for taller people.

Bicycle shill

The last few years TREK has been offering three to four road bikes in a 64cm size that contain higher-than-average head tubes, with 310 mm steerer tubes. The higher tubes and a riser stem help to get a rider a little less drop. But keep in mind that these are bikes with a race-orientated geometry, and you'll need to expect a little drop.

Soma Fabrications makes a 66cm Smoothie ES. This frame is less race-orientated than the TREK and is more for recreational riding.

Soma offers a steel fork for this frame that has a 350 mm steerer tube. If carbon fiber is more to your liking, Alpha-Q has the Z-Pro fork, which has a 450 mm steerer tube. One issue with the carbon fork's steerer tube is the full 450mm can't be used.

“Spacer stack height limit on the Z-pro is 130mm from frame to top of stem,” according to Bert Hull, product manager at Alpha-Q Components who responded to a question in Leonard Zinn's Technical FAQ: Big bikes for big people. “With standard stems and headsets, that works out to about 90mm of spacers, which is quite a lot.”

However you stack it, either fork option with the Smoothie ES will provide a saddle-to-bar drop that is comfortable. The downside is the bike would need to be built piece-meal at a bike shop.

Surly Bikes offer the Long Haul Trucker, which is a long-distance touring bike. The bike comes complete or as a frame, but the key is it comes in a 64cm with a fork steerer tube that's 320mm in the 700c frame. Again, that extra height will lessen the excessive drop that comes with taller frames.

In the '80s and '90s, Schwinn made bikes that came in a 68.5 cm size. Because these bikes fit differently than the ones I've listed above, the saddle-to-handlebar ratio contains little drop.

The Schwinns are not as plentiful as a production bike, but I've found they often show up on craigslist and can be purchased for a song and dance. The problem: They will probably require wrenching and/or parts to get back into shape.

If money is no object, consider a custom-made road bike – one that is designed specifically to fit your body. Working with a designer, you will get exactly what you want – down to the paint scheme.

My lens, remember

I've listed affordable options I have experience using, and this is by no means an exhaustive list of affordable production bikes that fit tall people.

The key point to remember if you're tall is that the discrepancy between the saddle and the handlebars will most likely default to an excessive drop. Making sure you get a frame and fork with a long enough steerer and head tube will create a better fit if you're taller than 6'4".