Road bike frame size

[Ming the Merciless]

It makes me laugh when people go on about how tall they are in feet and inches (quite right too since this is the UK!), but then start measuring their bike frames in centimetres.
Make your minds up, either you want metric or you don't!

Not necessarily I often mix metric and imperial depending what I’m doing. For instance height in feet and distance in km presents no problem for me.

 

[DCLane]

It'll depend on leg length and reach. I'm pretty close to your height and tend to ride a 53-54cm frame, although can fit a 51-52 but struggle with a 55+ cm one. I'm 5'8/9" with a 31" inside leg.

 

[tdcadillac]

I would suggest to rent a bike 54 one week end and 56 on the other. quick road test on both will not give you an accurate estimate. you have to spend over 30 minutes and see how you are comfortable on either one of them.

 

[Gunk]

I’m 5’8’’ and I have a 53cm frame which feels and looks about right ... but with a different frame manufacturer it may be a different story - I would think 56cm is too big regardless.

I’m the same height (30” inside leg) and ride between 51 and 53 cms.

 

[Leemi1982]

I was just looking at the boadman website and it advices a 51 inch frame for my height and leg length. Halfords had a display model left in stock reduced at that size however they told me It was to small..

 

[vickster]

I was just looking at the boadman website and it advices a 51 inch frame for my height and leg length. Halfords had a display model left in stock reduced at that size however they told me It was to small..

I thought you were looking at a Carrera not a Boardman? But same still stands, see screen shot

Go sit on it, I reckon you’ll know if it’s definitely too small. If in between on sizes, go smaller not bigger, you can make a smaller bike bigger with stems etc, you can’t make a too big frame smaller (and super short stems can affect the bike handling). The small comes with just an 80mm stem, easily swapped out. The bars are quite narrow too at 40mm for a man, again easily replaced

 

[Cycleops]

I would say a 51 would definitely be too small. There’s nothing worse than being cramped up on a bike.

 

[vickster]

How so? The 51 is the seat tube, the M has a 56cm TT. That’s big for someone under 5’9 unless very short legged and long torso’d
See geo for the specific Carrera bike mentioned. The S has a 54.5cm TT (48cm ST)

oh and @Leemi1982 the 51 is cm not inches!

 

[Leemi1982]

Yeah looking at carrera but still debating if I should spend a little more on a boadman

 

[Venod]

This site is more user friendly than the one I posted previously.

https://bikeinsights.com/categories

 

[Cycleops]

Nobody ever regretted spending a bit more to get a better bike

 

[vickster]

Yeah looking at carrera but still debating if I should spend a little more on a boadman

Or a bike not from Halfords? You’ll get better value used, even if prices are a little higher than in the past

 

[Venod]

Nobody ever regretted spending a bit more to get a better bike

SkipdriverJohn might be an exception.

 

[Cycleops]

SkipdriverJohn might be an exception.

Ah but in his case it might be paying a tenner rather than a fiver

 

[cyberknight]

Boardman are a better bike although you pay more so a sliding scale 🤔the Boardman has the same tip tube in a small tbh I reckon you would be ok with it