Frame Sizing Woes

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Question
Reagan Jones
My Vitus Sentier large hardtail is back in Britain for a warranty issue, so I had a chance to grab a 2020 Ibis Ripley for a couple of days from Velarangutan here in Austin. The Ibis Ripley is a much sought after bike, but even in the large frame it feels small to me. The Vitus is tall and you sit way up on top it, as opposed to "in it", so to speak, and I love that. Maybe I prefer a taller bike from previous years in motocross, I don't know, but my question is, how much variation is there between bikes in the same size category? I would expect them to all be fairly consistent in this regard, but it seems there's a pretty wide spectrum within each size category. Trying to figure out how to navigate this during COVID, when online, sight-unseen buying is about the only option.

Reagan

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scootch
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9/7/2016
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Dallas, TX US
scootch 9/16/2020 6:46am
9/16/2020 6:46am
Dive into the geometry numbers and find out what you like. Once you know what you like, you can search for bikes with these numbers in mind and have a pretty good idea of how the new bike going to fit and feel sight unseen. Buying bikes sight unseen is definitely not the ideal option, but this should help you out. Bike manufactures offer a ton of geometry measurements which can be overwhelming. For me, my eyes go directly toward head angle, effective top tube, reach, and BB height. Wheelbase, chain stay length, and seat angle are where my eyes go next, assuming I haven't seen any show stoppers on the first measurements I listed.

When looking at the two bikes you mentioned, the vitus definitely has more classic mtb geometry that puts you "on top" of the bike. The ripley is bit more modern with a more reach and a steeper seat angle. Notice the effective top tube (your cockpit) is larger on the vitus, when the ripley has 25mm more of reach.

https://geometrygeeks.bike/compare/vitus-sentier-2019-l,ibis-ripley-202…

Hope this helps,
Cheers
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