Standover Height

We bought my wife a road bike last weekend (49cm Fuji Newest ) as she is going to be participating
in a 3 day charity ride later this summer. The guy at the LBS seemed to think that the bike fit when
we were there….. After getting the bike home, it's apparent that the frame is lacking in stand over
height. She can stand over the frame with her heals on the ground ( w/ biking shoes), with the frame
just touching. She's about 5'4" with shorter legs and a longer torso. Also, the seat post when at
the optimal height for her is about 2.5 fingers high. Given her torso length, the distance from seat
to bars look ok for her. We wanted to avoid going with the women's specific model based on feedback
from a few LBS's that the smaller wheels were less than ideal.

I have the following questions. Keep in mind that I'm a MTB guy :

Is the stand over height a big deal given that the rest of the bike looks to fit her pretty well?
Perhaps she will have problems finding a sufficiently long frame ( non-custom ) with enough stand
over given her dimensions. Also, keep mind that I will be teaching her to use clipless pedals for
the first time on this bike. (I don't think she'll have a problem.)

Does anyone have an opinion on the women's specific Fuji Newest w/ the smaller wheels ( pros/cons )?
This looks like it may be the only other option in our budget at this LBS other than perhaps a K2
Mach 2 in Xtra Small. It looks like the K2 would give her only a tiny bit more stand over.

I've done a good deal of reading on this stuff to try to get up to speed, but when it comes to stand
over, fitting, etc the opinions seem to be a bit varied.

Thanks in advance for your comments..!

ken@rm-r.net (skvarken) wrote in news:1999547b.0305130537.db784b3 @posting.google.com:
> We bought my wife a road bike last weekend (49cm Fuji Newest ) as she is going to be participating
> in a 3 day charity ride later this summer. The guy at the LBS seemed to think that the bike fit
> when we were there….. After getting the bike home, it's apparent that the frame is lacking in
> stand over height. She can stand over the frame with her heals on the ground ( w/ biking shoes),
> with the frame just touching. She's about 5'4" with shorter legs and a longer torso.

What does "just touching" mean? If she had to jump off the bike quickly and land on both feet with
the bike vertical, would "just touching" cause any discomfort? Is she comfortable getting off the
bike at stop lights and starting again in traffic? Another half inch of clearance would be better,
but "just touching" might not be too bad. You don't want a frame so big that she has to lean it to
the side to get on and off.

I agree with your shop that a "women's" bike is not good for people with longer torsos. Women's
bikes have very short top tubes, which are very uncomfortable for riders with longer torsos.

>Is the stand over height a big deal given that the rest of the bike looks to fit her pretty well?

The issue is whether she is comfortable riding the bike as it is. In my experience standover is not
a big issue, because I never straddle the top tube with both feet on the ground. One foot is always
on a pedal.

Is she comfortable mounting and dismounting?

Jon Isaacs

ken@rm-r.net (skvarken) wrote in message news:<1999547b.0305130537.db784b3@posting.google.com>...
> We bought my wife a road bike last weekend (49cm Fuji Newest ) as she is going to be participating
> in a 3 day charity ride later this summer. The guy at the LBS seemed to think that the bike fit
> when we were there?.. After getting the bike home, it's apparent that the frame is lacking in
> stand over height. She can stand over the frame with her heals on the ground ( w/ biking shoes),
> with the frame just touching. She's about 5'4" with shorter legs and a longer torso. Also, the
> seat post when at the optimal height for her is about 2.5 fingers high. Given her torso length,
> the distance from seat to bars look ok for her. We wanted to avoid going with the women's specific
> model based on feedback from a few LBS's that the smaller wheels were less than ideal.
>
> I have the following questions. Keep in mind that I'm a MTB guy :
>
> Is the stand over height a big deal given that the rest of the bike looks to fit her pretty well?
> Perhaps she will have problems finding a sufficiently long frame ( non-custom ) with enough stand
> over given her dimensions. Also, keep mind that I will be teaching her to use clipless pedals for
> the first time on this bike. (I don't think she'll have a problem.)
>
> Does anyone have an opinion on the women's specific Fuji Newest w/ the smaller wheels ( pros/cons
> )? This looks like it may be the only other option in our budget at this LBS other than perhaps a
> K2 Mach 2 in Xtra Small. It looks like the K2 would give her only a tiny bit more stand over.
>
> I've done a good deal of reading on this stuff to try to get up to speed, but when it comes to
> stand over, fitting, etc the opinions seem to be a bit varied.
>
> Thanks in advance for your comments..!

Be assured the standove height is fine. Sensible people don't buy the smallest frame they can get
away with. Larger is better for most purposes.

Standover height is probably the least-important issue on a road bike, even though it's the first
thing most people have you do ("Stand over the top tube so we can see if it fits"). Particularly
with recessed-cleat shoes on a road bike, where you can be reasonably-sure of your footing,
standover clearance tends to be an imaginary problem.

The most important issues for sizing deal with the relationship of three things- the cranks, seat
and handlebars. The only reason standover height has any meaning is in roughly determining if the
height differential between the seat and bars will be reasonable. A frame with tons of standover
clearance may imply a very low handlebar height compared to the saddle, although this is true only
with frames of relatively conventional design (level top tubes).

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com

"skvarken" <ken@rm-r.net> wrote in message news:1999547b.0305130537.db784b3@posting.google.com...
> We bought my wife a road bike last weekend (49cm Fuji Newest ) as she is going to be participating
> in a 3 day charity ride later this summer. The guy at the LBS seemed to think that the bike fit
> when we were there... After getting the bike home, it's apparent that the frame is lacking in
> stand over height. She can stand over the frame with her heals on the ground ( w/ biking shoes),
> with the frame just touching. She's about 5'4" with shorter legs and a longer torso. Also, the
> seat post when at the optimal height for her is about 2.5 fingers high. Given her torso length,
> the distance from seat to bars look ok for her. We wanted to avoid going with the women's specific
> model based on feedback from a few LBS's that the smaller wheels were less than ideal.
>
> I have the following questions. Keep in mind that I'm a MTB guy :
>
> Is the stand over height a big deal given that the rest of the bike looks to fit her pretty well?
> Perhaps she will have problems finding a sufficiently long frame ( non-custom ) with enough stand
> over given her dimensions. Also, keep mind that I will be teaching her to use clipless pedals for
> the first time on this bike. (I don't think she'll have a problem.)
>
> Does anyone have an opinion on the women's specific Fuji Newest w/ the smaller wheels ( pros/cons
> )? This looks like it may be the only other option in our budget at this LBS other than perhaps a
> K2 Mach 2 in Xtra Small. It looks like the K2 would give her only a tiny bit more stand over.
>
> I've done a good deal of reading on this stuff to try to get up to speed, but when it comes to
> stand over, fitting, etc the opinions seem to be a bit varied.
>
> Thanks in advance for your comments..!

The top tube "just touches" when she's standing flatfooted in the shoes she'll wear when riding? If
"just touches" means there's no discernible pressure on the top tube in that position and she's
comfortable with the fit when she's riding then it's no big deal.

Regards, Bob Hunt