Race, endurance or gravel?
At the same size the bar sits 2.3 cm higher on an endurance bike and 3.3 cm higher on a gravel bike than on a race bike. That is why you sit more upright on them.
| Race | Endurance | Gravel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stack (height at the front) | 591 | 614 (+23) | 624 (+33) |
| Reach (length at the front) | 402 | 396 (-6) | 407 (+5) |
| Seat angle | 73.2° | 73.4° | 73.4° |
| Head angle | 73.0° | 72.2° | 71.4° |
| Wheelbase | 1008 | 1034 | 1069 |
Why it matters for your position
How you sit depends mostly on how far the bar is below the saddle. At the back the three are the same: the seat angle hardly differs, the saddle stands in the same place. At the front the longer head tube lifts the bar, by 23 mm on the endurance bike and 33 mm on the gravel bike — as much as 2 to 3 cm of spacers. That is why Endurance 58 sits at stack 614 on the frame map and Race 58 at 591.
The three kinds
Race road bike. Built for speed: low and long at the front, the back lies flat. That takes mobility in hips and back.
Endurance road bike. For long days on the road: the bar sits higher and a little closer. The longer wheelbase makes the bike calmer in a straight line.
Gravel. For gravel and farm tracks: a little higher still, longer too, with wide tyres and the slackest head angle. It steers the calmest.
Sportier or more upright works on every bike up to a point, with spacers and stem. Which size of which kind fits you, the frame map shows. To the frame map
How calm or agile the real bikes on this page are, and where yours sits: Calm or agile
What seat angle, head angle, fork offset, bottom bracket and chainstay do, you can slide yourself. To the geometry lab
What every tube and part of the bike is called, what it does and how the three types build it, to tap: The bike, part by part
Where the numbers come from
Stack and reach as on the frame map: Race 58 is the Specialized Tarmac SL8, endurance and gravel sit as much higher and longer as real bikes of the same brand in the same size do on average. Seat angle, head angle and wheelbase are the average of these bikes in size 58 or L, from the makers' geometry charts:
Race road bike
- Specialized Tarmac SL8 58: Stack 591, Reach 402, 73.5° / 73.5°, 1006 mm
- Giant TCR Advanced 2026 L: Stack 581, Reach 402, 73.0° / 73.0°, 1006 mm
- BMC Teammachine SLR 01 2026 58: Stack 584, Reach 401, 73.0° / 72.3°, 1015 mm
- Cervélo R5 2025 58: Stack 591, Reach 400, 73.0° / 73.0°, 1010 mm
- Cannondale SuperSix EVO 2026 58: Stack 585, Reach 398, 73.0° / 73.0°, 1007 mm
- Canyon Ultimate CF SLX L: Stack 580, Reach 401, 73.5° / 73.3°, 1003 mm
Endurance road bike
- Specialized Roubaix SL8 58: Stack 630, Reach 397, 73.5° / 73.0°, 1042 mm
- Giant Defy Advanced 2026 L: Stack 596, Reach 393, 73.0° / 72.5°, 1025 mm
- BMC Roadmachine 01 2025 58: Stack 620, Reach 393, 74.2° / 72.2°, 1023 mm
- Cervélo Caledonia-5 2025 58: Stack 605, Reach 396, 73.0° / 72.0°, 1031 mm
- Cannondale Synapse Carbon 2025 58: Stack 610, Reach 393, 73.0° / 71.3°, 1058 mm
- Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2026 L: Stack 608, Reach 397, 73.5° / 72.5°, 1025 mm
Gravel
- Specialized Diverge 4 58: Stack 634, Reach 412, 74.0° / 71.0°, 1081 mm
- Canyon Grizl 2026 L: Stack 619, Reach 420, 73.5° / 71.0°, 1100 mm
- Canyon Grail Gen 2 2026 L: Stack 613, Reach 427, 73.5° / 71.5°, 1080 mm
- Giant Revolt Advanced 2026 L: Stack 616, Reach 397, 73.0° / 72.0°, 1051 mm
- Trek Checkpoint Gen 3 L: Stack 620, Reach 402, 73.3° / 72.1°, 1052 mm
- Cannondale Topstone Carbon 2025 58: Stack 615, Reach 389, 73.1° / 70.7°, 1050 mm