Standover Height

Bill-<< With the 51cm, she will have 1" of standover clearance, with the 48cm, she will have 2". Of
course, the top tube length will be the deciding factor. What frame would have the best likelyhood
of fitting? >><BR><BR>

Which top tube length and seat tube angle best fits her? Determined by a bike fit? Does this bike
shop do these??

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

If she is 5'5" an only has 1" of clearance on a 51, it sounds like she is rather short legged.
Perhaps a "womens" frame isn't even what she needs? If I was to 'guess', the 51 sounds like the
right size for a 5'5" woman. I wouldn't recommend buying a bike you can't ride if you don't have a
clear idea of how it will fit. Did she try a "mens" bike in the same sizes?

"Bill" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:xzm4b.313627$o%2.142112@sccrnsc02...
> My wife is going to order a women's specific Specialized bicycle from our local bike shop. There
> was some debate on whether to order the 51cm or the 48cm frame (it is a COMPACT type frame). She
> is 5' 51/2". The bike shop will reorder the other size if it does not fit well, but it would be
> nice to avoid delay and get the right size in the first place. With the 51cm, she will have 1" of
> standover clearance, with the 48cm, she will have 2". Of course, the top tube length will be the
> deciding factor. What frame would have the best likelyhood of fitting?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bill

Peter,

We don't know which would fit her best. We were going to order the size which we thought would most
likely fit her and then see if it did. If not, we were going to order the other size. We wanted to
avoid delay and order the best size first. We chose this bike shop because they were a Specialized
dealer and Specialized makes a women's specific bike and the price was right on a 2003 closeout. The
other shops did not have any bikes as nice for the price. The shop with the Specialized is not what
I consider a first rate shop for racing style road bikes. They had no sophisticated way of measuring
my wife to determine the size she needs. From looking at the general charts that show height vs
frame size, it does appear that my wife has slightly shorter legs than normal. With a bike that has
a 30" standover height, she has about 1/4" of clearance, and she is 5' 5 1/2".

After seeing the responses to my original post, I think we need to look at more bike shops and
determine for sure what frame size is best for her and if she is better off with a men's or women's
specific bike. I do have some concerns about smaller frame bike. I read that frames under 51cm that
use 700C wheels have poor geometry. It looks like she would need about a 49cm frame.

Please take the 7 out of my e-mail addresss if replying directly.

Thanks!!!

Bill

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

> Bill-<< With the 51cm, she will have 1" of standover clearance, with the 48cm, she will have 2".
> Of course, the top tube length will be the deciding factor. What frame would have the best
> likelyhood of fitting? >><BR><BR>
>
> Which top tube length and seat tube angle best fits her? Determined by a bike fit? Does this bike
> shop do these??
>
> Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
> (303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Trek makes a women's road bike too. Sounds like she'll be able to ride a Men's bike. All the WSD
stuff I've seen has been super small frames with 650c wheels. Look at the Terry bikes too, that's
where they got started.

Bill wrote:

> Peter,
>
> We don't know which would fit her best. We were going to order the size which we thought would
> most likely fit her and then see if it did. If not, we were going to order the other size. We
> wanted to avoid delay and order the best size first. We chose this bike shop because they were a
> Specialized dealer and Specialized makes a women's specific bike and the price was right on a 2003
> closeout. The other shops did not have any bikes as nice for the price. The shop with the
> Specialized is not what I consider a first rate shop for racing style road bikes. They had no
> sophisticated way of measuring my wife to determine the size she needs. From looking at the
> general charts that show height vs frame size, it does appear that my wife has slightly shorter
> legs than normal. With a bike that has a 30" standover height, she has about 1/4" of clearance,
> and she is 5' 5 1/2".
>
> After seeing the responses to my original post, I think we need to look at more bike shops and
> determine for sure what frame size is best for her and if she is better off with a men's or
> women's specific bike. I do have some concerns about smaller frame bike. I read that frames under
> 51cm that use 700C wheels have poor geometry. It looks like she would need about a 49cm frame.
>
> Please take the 7 out of my e-mail addresss if replying directly.
>
> Thanks!!!
>
> Bill
>
> Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
>
>> Bill-<< With the 51cm, she will have 1" of standover clearance, with the
48cm,
>> she will have 2". Of course, the top tube length will be the deciding factor. What frame would
>> have the best likelyhood of fitting? >><BR><BR>
>>
>> Which top tube length and seat tube angle best fits her? Determined by a bike fit? Does this bike
>> shop do these??
>>
>> Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
>> (303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

--
Mark Wolfe http://www.wolfenet.org gpg fingerprint = 42B6 EFEB 5414 AA18 01B7 64AC EF46 F7E6 82F6
8C71 A Law of Computer Programming: Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you
will find that programmers cannot write in English.