Bottecchia Road Bike Size Guide: Aerospace, EMME 5, 8AVIO and Leggendaria

Bottecchia sizes its road bikes in centimetres, which sounds simple until you compare two of them. The current range uses three different carbon size scales: the Aerospace runs 47 to 57, the 8AVIO runs 46 to 58 and the EMME 5 runs 44 to 57. The same rider does not take the same number on all three. The steel Leggendaria then uses classic seat tube sizing across eighteen sizes. Add the fact that Bottecchia publishes no rider height table for road at all, and the geometry chart becomes the only reliable tool. Browse all Bottecchia bikes at Bikeroom.

Please note. These sizes are indicative and a starting point, not a guarantee. Bottecchia says the same thing about its own tables, and its size guide page recommends a biomechanical assessment at a dealer. That page covers electric, mountain, trekking and junior bikes, and has no road section, so every height band below is our reading of the official stack and reach. The geometry is Bottecchia data, read from the product pages in September 2026.

Quick size finder

Find your height, cross check your inside leg, then read across. Note how far apart the three carbon columns sit: a rider around 175 cm lands on a 51 Aerospace, a 52 on the 8AVIO and a 47 on the EMME 5.

These bands are ours, taken from the official stack and reach. Bottecchia publishes no road height chart, so treat the number on your current bike as irrelevant and compare reach instead.

How to measure yourself

Height. Stand barefoot against a wall, heels together, and measure to the top of your head. Bottecchia's own instructions use the same method.

Leg length (inseam). Barefoot, feet about 15 cm apart, press a book spine up between your legs as if it were a saddle. Keep it level against the wall and measure from the floor to the top edge.

The quick formula. Multiply your inseam in centimetres by 0.66. That gives a seat tube figure, which works well on the steel Leggendaria and poorly on the carbon models, because their labels do not track seat tube length in the same way. Our guide on how to measure a bike frame explains how to pull reach off the bike you already own.

Aerospace (aero road)

The Aerospace is the aero carbon road bike: monocoque frame, aero seatpost, internal routing and a press-fit 86 mm bottom bracket. Bottecchia quotes 1,125 g raw for a size M frame and 445 g for the fork. It is the model whose reach grows fastest with size, spanning 44 mm from the 47 to the 57.

Watch the 49 to 51 step. Stack gains 2 mm while reach gains 10 mm, so the 51 is longer rather than taller. Riders with a long torso should look here first.

EMME 5 (race flagship)

The EMME 5 is the current race flagship, built with the Monolith one piece moulding process in T1000 and T1100 fibres. Bottecchia quotes 795 g raw for a size M frame, 330 g for the fork and clearance up to 32 mm tyres. Bottecchia claims a reduction in weight of 8 per cent and an aerodynamic gain of 5 per cent over the EMME 4, a figure we have not independently tested.

The EMME 5 mostly gets taller, not longer. Reach moves 23 mm across the whole range while stack moves 78 mm, so sizing up buys bar height far more than it buys length.

8AVIO (carbon all rounder)

The 8AVIO is the carbon all rounder, in its current generation with a UD monocoque frame, a UDH derailleur hanger and what Bottecchia calls HPG geometry. Claimed frame weight is 985 g raw in size M, with a 390 g fork. Its six sizes sit between the Aerospace and the EMME 5 in character.

The 49 and the 52 are 2 mm apart in reach and 11 mm apart in stack. Between those two, you are choosing how high you sit, not how far you stretch.

Leggendaria (steel)

The Leggendaria is the steel bike in the range, built from Columbus 3 Spirit tubing with a Columbus Cromor fork and a BSA threaded bottom bracket. It is offered in eighteen sizes, 47 to 64, in one centimetre steps. Bottecchia's chart lists seat tube and top tube but publishes neither stack nor reach, and it carries two unlabelled columns we are not going to guess at.

With no stack and reach, the inseam formula and the top tube are what you have. Size it as you would a classic steel frame, then set the position with stem length and spacers.

The Cronothlon sits in the same catalogue section but is a time trial and triathlon bike, so it needs its own sizing logic and is not covered here.

What riders say about Bottecchia sizing

The clearest independent evidence we found is a first impressions piece from Bike Magazine, published on 31 July 2025 by Grzegorz Radziwonowski. It is worth knowing that the piece was produced in paid collaboration with Bottecchia's Polish distributor, so we are using it only for the sizing observation.

• Two testers sized down. One who normally rides a 52 took the EMME 5 in a 47. A second rider who usually takes a 52, at most a 54, chose a 51 and found it on the large side.
• Bike Magazine states plainly that Bottecchia's sizing is skewed from most manufacturers' standards and advises trying the bike before buying.
• Toe overlap appeared on the smaller frame, which the writer puts down to the classic Italian habit of keeping the wheelbase under a metre.
• Our Bottecchia gravel size guide found the same pattern on the gravel range, where a tester of 169 cm was comfortable on a 49.

Between two sizes?

Go smaller for a lower, sharper front end, and larger for stability and a longer reach. On Bottecchia there is a second question first: which model. If you want reach, the Aerospace adds it fastest as sizes go up. If you want height without a long cockpit, the EMME 5 and the 8AVIO climb in stack while reach barely moves. Because all three carbon models use integrated cockpits, the bar and stem length is fixed at purchase, so settle the frame size before the colour. If you are shopping second hand and comparing a Bottecchia against another Italian frame, our guide on how to buy a pre-owned WorldTour bike covers the checks that matter.

Shop Bottecchia at Bikeroom

• All Bottecchia bikes for the full range, road and gravel
• Bottecchia Aerospace for the aero road model
• Road bikes to compare against other race frames
• Pre-owned road bikes for checked frames at a lower price

Because the three carbon scales do not line up, the safest move is to send us the reach of the bike you ride now along with your height and inside leg. If you are torn between an Aerospace 51 and an EMME 5 47, talk to our concierge and we will compare the two against your current position.

Disclaimer: the size suggestions here are indicative only and offered in good faith as general guidance. They do not guarantee a correct fit. Stack, reach, seat tube and top tube are official Bottecchia figures read from bottecchia.com in September 2026 and can change between model years. Rider height and inseam bands are ours, because Bottecchia publishes no road height chart. Always confirm against the specific bike you are buying and, where possible, with a professional fit.

Sources: Bottecchia road range, read 24 September 2026; Bottecchia size guide page; Bike Magazine, first impressions of the Emme 5, 31 July 2025.