"novice" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>Is this small? The adult bikes seem to big for me. i gues if i put 24
>in wheels on instead of 26 inch wheels that would help.
It depends somewhat on how you're measuring that inseam.
If it's your pants inseam, your "cycling inseam" is probably at least
an inch taller.
Cycling inseam is measured by standing barefoot with your feet 8"
apart. Press a 1" thick book firmly, but not painfully into your
crotch, and measure from the floor to the book.
The most important "fit issue" on any bike isn't the height, but the
"cockpit length" (essentially the distance from the saddle to the
bars). If this isn't right, nothing else matters.
With a 28" inseam, you should try to find a bike with as low a
standover height as possible - there's really no down side to having
more standover clearance, so don't worry too much about getting a bike
that's too short, providing it gives you the proper cockpit length.
Be warned - some manufacturers/builders measure standover height at
the top of the top tube where it joins the seat tube (a place you
can't "stand over" anyway), which effectively understates the
standover height of the bike by half the slope of the top tube. In
general, if two bikes have similar bottom bracket heights, and similar
seat tube lengths, chances are they're going to have pretty similar
standover height (the exception being those that have unusually long
or short forks).
Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame