Vintage/70s/80s Road Bike Frame Size

[RJP]

Hi,

I've got hold of what I think is a late 70s or early 80s Raleigh road bike. It's been repainted at some point so there are no stickers to identify what it is, beyond that the drop bars have Raleigh stamped on them. It's a traditional setup with downtube shifters.

One of my ideas is to turn it into a bike to use around town and a bit beyond. The problem is I am reluctant to spend much money if the frame is too small.

Frame measured from centre of bottom bracket to top of seat post comes out at 21". The top tube spanning to the headset is also 21". While the current quill stem is 60mm, with what I have been told are quite deep drop bars.

My height is 5'10", inside leg 32". Is the consensus that this bike will be too small? When I have tried it, it does feel a bit small but I have not ridden a bike for a few months, with the last one being another vintage road bike where the top tube was very close (almost pushing against) my privates vs this one that brushes the gap in my trousers/shorts?

Thanks!

 

[Tanis8472]

The sandover hight could give a good indication.
1-3" from top tube to crotch is supposed to be normal

 

[screenman]

I would say a tad small, I was measured and came out with that size, I am 5ft7 with a 29 inside.

 

[RJP]

So, much like the research I've done on the web, two conflicting views as I have been reading elsewhere.

 

[Tanis8472]

Great isn't it

 

[biggs682]

i ride steel bikes and i am also 5ft 10" and inside leg of 31" .

i try and set saddle height at 38" and handlebars at 36" and a gap of 21" between nose of saddle and centre of bar/stem joint , on any of my bikes i ride .

i also find a huge difference between 700c and 27" wheeled bikes , current steed is a 21.5" on 700c's set to above settings .

all this has been done by trial and error no fancy bike set ups

 

[RJP]

Cheers for the replies so far by the way.

Biggs682, your setup is very similar to mine after having checked mine with a tape measure. The biggest difference is that I have nowhere near 21" between the saddle nose and the centre of the stem. Are you sure that's right? Or do you mean 21" between the centre of the drop bar and saddle? In which case do you have a 110mm stem fitted?