Buying my first gravel bike, and there’s a lovely Open Wide frame in a small available.
I currently ride a TCR Advanced SL in a medium. I’m 178cm, 32 inches inside leg roughly.
The TCR and the Open Wide (in a small) have almost identical geometries, bar the reach which is 30mm shorter on the Open.
Would this be a good buy/fit? I’ve done some fairly big (12 hours +) rides on the giant, so not worried about comfort overly. I’ve also got a collection of fairly long stmes (130mms) which I could slap on to negate some of the reach. I’m also thinking a slightly shorter reach/more upright position might suit the gravel bike better?
Usage would be 80% soft/light gravel, think towpaths and old railway lines. I’d also use it for some bikepacking, mix of offroad + longer multi day roads.
I would find it hard to think you are going to squeeze onto a Small frame with those measurements. The fact that the Open has a 30mm shorter reach only reinforces my thoughts.
I’ll just mention that I prefer a shorter reach and higher bars on my gravel bike compared to the position on my road bike, which has the tops of the bars 10cm below the top of the saddle. It helps takes some of the weight off the hands over rougher surfaces. I’m not gravel racing so aero isn’t as important.
It does look like that bike is too small for you. I am 188 cm (6’2") and I ride an XL Open WiDe. My previous gravel bike was a Giant TCX Advanced SX in Large. My XL wide has very similar geometry to my 58 Cannondale Synapse and my 58 Enve Fray.
I will say the WiDe is a great gravel bike - it was ahead of its time (as was the Open Upper) IMO. If you find one in the right size you would notice a much nicer ride on gravel compared to the TCX. The TCX is a stiff cyclocross-based bike. The WiDe is designed to be more compliant and comfortable for long rides and rough roads and it is.
In my experience, you can get away with downsizing a road frame by throwing a long stem on it, but I’m the opposite on gravel and MTB where I’ll size up if I’m close on size. Makes for a more capable/confident bike when things get chunky and steep (going up and down).
I used the downsizing approach on my first gravel bike because the headtube was so tall and I thought I wanted a low aggressive fit like a road bike. Typical roadie move… Man, that bike was scary on technical stuff, ended up selling it withing a year or so and chalked it up to experience.