Tavelo Arow - Almost Ready to Pull Trigger

[Zhu Tou]

I have no geometry issues with my Canyon Endurace, and have completed multiple 50+ km not-so-comfortable-but-manageable rides on a friend's Canyon Ultimate (both bikes are Canyon's size S). I figure my erratic and infrequent interaction with the Ultimate is a notable factor in my body not fully adapting to a more aggresive position. Maybe that will change when I ride my potentially new Tavelo Arow more frequently.

I've watched all the YouTube videos and read many reviews on the Arow, and I'm almost ready to order one, but I need more feedback: your feedback. I'm 173 cm tall with an 81 cm inseam. I'm struggling with the following factors that are preventing my from clicking that Buy Now button.

• Size 480 or 510 - Compared to the Ultimate, 510 has +1 mm reach and +6 mm stack, vs. the 480's -7 mm reach and -10 mm stack. Maybe 480 is too aggressive/small? With how many spacers does the Arow arrive?
• QC Issues - What common gripes during buildup and/or ownership have your experienced?
• Customer Service - What's your experience with Tavelo's CS? Is it better to order from and deal with Panda Podium?

Finally - is the Arow more of an "all-round" race bike, or an aero (yes, I know, it's called an Arow) bike? While I've not ridden an aero bike before, what I've read about their relatively non-nimble-not-for-the-hills nature makes me shy away from aero bikes in general.

[patliean1]

The search feature kind sir...


https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,4844.0.html

[Zhu Tou]

Thank you sir. I'm all for the search function but after getting halfway through that 19-page thread without finding what I wanted, I posted the above. I'll continue that thread and should I find the answers, I'll delete this thread.

* UPDATE * Whew! Just finished reading that beast, which seemed to primarily discuss the Chinese bike industry in general; not what I was looking for.

[Serge_K]

Lol. The level of entitlement... "It's a forum, but I don't want to read the forum. There's a thread on the bike I want to buy, but I ain't reading it".
Great.

[Da11as]

Although you should ask the question in the specific thread, I will reply anyway. If you have measured your inseam correctly, you have long legs. For long-legged guys having shorter bike with higher stack will result in a faster and more comfortable position.

How long (reach) should you go depends on the length of your arms and torso - if arms are long, you can accommodate better with longer stem, if not you are risking to screw you balance over BB and you should look for a longer frame to get nice pelvic tilt. How high (stack) depends heavily on your hip mobility and pelvis anatomy.

All that being said, Arow geometry is not for long-legged guys, you may try to get into perfomance-oriented position, but it wont be efficient and you will be twisted and in pain. If you don't care and still want the frame, get 510. You have to keep a lot of spacers beneath the stem or ride almost exclusively in relaxed-on-hoods position.

[Zhu Tou]

Thanks! Interesting points you raised about limb lengths; I may just forego this frameset based on that.

[J.J.]

On leg length, inseam/inside leg measurement can be confusing.

I had a bike fit about 6 months ago and when the fitter measured my inside leg, he pushed his measuring tool very firmly up into my groin, very different from the way that I can remember a tailor rather more delicately and diplomatically taking my trouser inside leg measurement!

The result was that my inside leg according to the bike fit was around 5cm (2 inches) more than the tailor's measurement. I hadn't realised before the bike fit that these 2 measurements could be so different so I'm just sharing this in case others aren't aware of it.

For reference, my inside leg for trousers is 31 inches (79cm), the bike fit inside leg measurement was 84cm. My height, also measured in the bike fit, is 175.5cm.

[Zhu Tou]

Without turning this thread into a conversation about pushing things into groins - I did the same thing as your fitter to get my inseam measurement.