Help with bike sizing!!!

[DaRocketeer]

Ok, Ive got a dilemma. I don't know what size bike I should be ordering. Ive tried all the bike sizing charts online and I get different answers every time.

So, I'm 6'2", 36in. inseam, 270lbs., and Ive got a size 13 foot. My problem is Ive got two bike sizes to choose between 61cm or 64cm. Every chart I use tells me either 62cm or 63cm. So is it better to go with a slightly smaller or slightly bigger bike?

Who knew this could be so difficult? Thank you in advance.

[idig]

The best advice is to ride both and pick the one that is more comfortable. I'm assuming this isn't an option. The general advice when choosing between two frame sizes is to err on the small side, as you can usually make a small frame fit by tweaking the seat post, saddle position, stem, etc.

[idig]

Also, the top tube on those frames may stretch you out more than you want. If you are 6'2" with 36" inseam, you have a shorter than average torso. Unless you have orangutan arms, you may have a reach problem.

I am 6'2", and am generally comfortable on a 58cm frame, but my inseam is only about 33.5".

[deraltekluge]

If you're in between two sizes, it's generally better to go with the smaller. You can put the seat higher, and you can get a different stem to move the bars forward and/or up, but there's nothing you can do about a standover height that's too great.

But...you really need to try the bikes and see which fits, rather than relying on formulas and charts. You can't put complete faith in the sizes the manufacturers label their bikes with. To quote Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html)...

A further complication is that nobody knows how to measure a bicycle's seat tube any more. Even leaving the inches/centimeters question out of things, there is the question of where the seat tube ends:


The old standard system was to measure from the center of the bottom bracket to the very top of the seat tube.

Some manufacturers have decided that this is too easy, so now many bikes are measured instead to the intersection of the centerline of the top tube with the centerline of the seat tube.

Some other bikes that have seat tubes that protrude farther than normal above the top tube measure as if they were measuring to the to the top of a seat tube with normal protrusion.

Some bikes are measured to the top edge of the top tube, even though the seat tube protrudes higher up.

Some bikes with slanting top tubes are measured as if there were a level top tube, they use the length that the seat tube would be if it was as high as the head tube.

Anarchy reigns; I know of one bicycle line that made a running change in the middle of the year. You could have two bikes of the same make, model, year and nominal size, but one was 2 cm larger than the other! The only way to know was to measure them.

[v1k1ng1001]

The 61. Unless it is a vintage bike, the 64 will be too big.

[dallasmike]

Also, the top tube on those frames may stretch you out more than you want. If you are 6'2" with 36" inseam, you have a shorter than average torso. Unless you have orangutan arms, you may have a reach problem.

I am 6'2", and am generally comfortable on a 58cm frame, but my inseam is only about 33.5".


+1 I am 6'2" inseam 34" decided on a trek 1000 58cm frame. any bigger and i would have had reach problems

[freeagent1970]

Im the same height with a 32 inch inseam same size shoe too. I have a 18 inch mtb and i beleive its too small. Im a torso guy not a leg guy. As others have said trying them out is the only way.