Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - top tube measurement: ACTUAL v. VIRTUAL?

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raygunner
11-22-05, 07:48 PM
Can someone provide a bit of clarity to this subject. Is there any difference?

dolface
11-22-05, 07:50 PM
yeah. iirc virtual is used for compact frames (the ones w/ the sloping toptubes) to give what the tootube length would be if the frame was standard geometry.
steaktaco
11-22-05, 07:59 PM
don't listen to dolface — he doesn't know what he's talking about.

actual = measured in person
virtual = measurements taken from online source

raygunner
11-22-05, 08:03 PM
Ah, it's much like record grading. "Mint" means ran over by a few cars, eh?
queerpunk
11-23-05, 06:13 AM
only virtual bikes have virtual top tube lengths.

but i hear they're virtually impossible to ride.
Devolution
11-23-05, 06:48 AM
Just to clarify, what dolface said.

Comes from mountain bike sizing, where radically sloping top tubes and raised seat masts made conventional sizing standards questionable to follow. The virtual top tube measurment is the length of the imaginary line between the center of the headtube and the center of the seattube, level with the ground, and about 2-3cm down from the top of the headtube, where a flat top tube would attach. Other virtual measuremtns follow, like those for elevated chainstay bikes etc...

What dolface said.

-brad