Frame size advice

[Nebulous]

I find there's an OK supply of 54cm frames on eBay. Get hold of one and build it up? (Without succumbing to full-on restoritis - which can be difficult!)

Ok - very rarely was a bit of an exaggeration, but in old style racers with traditional geometry there doesn't appear to be as many 21" frames as bigger ones. I think I can avoid full period restoritis, but slippng another bike into the shed without being noticed could be difficult.

 

[EYE-TYE-MAD]

Your help please, I am browsing e bay with the intention of bidding for a 70/80 road bike, problem is i dont know if they will be the right size.

I am a shorty 5-7 and 30 inch inside leg. please advise frame size in imperial and metric.

Thank you.

To determine frame size today has become a nightmare. Many moons ago when all frames had a straight top tube which ran parallel to the ground it was a simple process to determine the correct size. Then along came the moutain bike with it's sloping geometry & all hell was let loose & things would never be the same again. Most manufacturers now size their frames virtually, like moutain bike frames, that is, as if the frame still had an imaginary straight top tube. But oh! if things where that simple, for instance, take Bianchi & Colnago, buy a frame of the same given size from both & there will be a minimum 2.5cm difference in the actual size. Why? Well it's simple, because each of them uses a different system of measurement & that's become the problem right across the cycle industry, manufacturers are not singing from the same hymn sheet. A simple rule of thumb when sizing a straight top tube road bike, there should be about 1-2cm crotch clearence when standing over the bike with both feet flat on the floor, which equates to something like 5-7cm clearence if the frame has a sloping top tube, but even that depends upon the geometry of the frame concerned. I don't suppose any of this helps at all, but good luck!

 

[biggs682]

21 or 22" at a stretch