Sizing a Litespeed Siena

Question: I am looking to buy my husband a Siena Litespeed for his birthday but I am nervous about such a big purchase if it is not quite right. He is 6'2" and about 225lbs. He has a pretty long reach. Looking at the Siena it is a beautiful bike but I am not sure the compact frame is going to be comfortable for him. Right now I think the bike he has is conventional with a straight top tube sz 60. The bike shop I am working with suggests a Siena sz L which is 57.
Any thoughts? Am I making a bad decision?

Hi Jill,

Will you marry me? I wish someone would buy me Litespeed Siena for my birthday!

You say his present bike has a 60 cm top tube and the bike shop are suggesting that you buy the L size which has a 57 cm top tube, this is quite a lot shorter, why have they not suggested the XL which they also refer to as the 60 size? This has a 59 cm top tube which is still shorter, but a 1 cm difference can be taken care of with the use of a slightly longer stem (1 cm longer) which is not a problem, where as 3 cm is a lot to add on to the stem length.

If the top tube on his old bike is 60 cm, with a horizontal top tube design, then the seat tube would not be much shorter. The seat tube on the XL (60) is 55.5 cm, the 60 is its "virtual" length, also the stand over height is 81.2 cm, so you could measure this to make sure that it will not be too high, this is unlikely due to the slopping top tube. So there should be no problem for your lucky husband, you will also have to buy him a long seat pin, but this is part of the beauty of a compact frame design.

If you are very worried it maybe a god idea to tell your husband what you plan to do, you don't have to tell him which frame you are thinking of but you could ask some leading questions on frame design!