TwistyMcFisty

What's up guys...
Been thinking about putting together a fixed gear for a while, and just acquired this old Lambert frame.
The crank turns smooth, frame and "death fork" seem good and straight as well.
Not sure of the size but through research of limited info on these bikes I think it's around 57cm or so??
Wondering if this would be too small for my 6'4" ass...?? (never had a road bike before)
Was hoping I could just throw some wheels and a chain on it and ride.
The frame is ridiculously light...seems like a good donor
What'cha think??

TwistyMcFisty

cDiff Notorious

It doesn't look like a 57cm it looks more like a 50cm or smaller.

Justsomedude

It looks small.
You could do the math and prop up the frame to the height it would be with wheels on it and check the standover height.
Or just get to a shop and see if they can put wheels on it to see.
This is a 26" Schwinn which would likely be perfect for your height

seau grateau

Definitely not looking like 57 territory. If you're standing 6'4" I would say expect it to be too small.

europa

Masterful understatement.
Pity, it looks like a nice frame but if it doesn't fit, it doesn't fit and you won't enjoy riding it.

Steev

Why are you guessing the size of the frame you have in your possession? Measure it.

Surly2698

Be careful if it has the original death fork
Do some research and get a new old fork for it
Good luck

JohnDThompson 

The frame looks to be ~52cm center to center; likely far too small for a 6' 4" rider. Too bad, because the frame is the best thing about those bikes. It's astonishingly light weight, seamless chrome-moly tubing. The components tend to be odd: the crank extractor threads may be non-standard (later production used standard 22mm thread; the first runs used proprietary 7/8" x 24tpi thread). Chainrings use the formerly quite popular 50.4mm bolt circle to mount the outer ring. Early production also used an untapered spindle, which meant the arms didn't stay tight without frequent re-torquing. The pedals were innovative, with a one-piece cast body and roller bearings rather than balls for better load handling. But they had an unfortunate tendency to lose their dustcaps, and subsequently the retaining bolt, thereby spilling the needle bearings on the road. Lambert derailleurs are best unmentioned, but you don't seem to have them anyway. Thee hubs were one of the first sealed bearing hubs on the market and seem to hold up rather well. The bottom bracket also has sealed bearings, with the cartridges pressed directly into an unthreaded shell. These were held by circclips on the axle, the retaining grooves for which acted as stress risers leading to axle failure. The shell can be reamed and tapped for Italian thread, if needed.

The fork is definitely the so-called "death fork." There were several iterations of this design, and although some are thought to be more reliable than others, all were subject to recall:



It's an interesting bike, and they ride well but if it doesn't fit you that's a fundamental problem. Be prepared to have to work around the issues of the proprietary components, which can get expensive if/when they fail.

79pmooney

Is the underside of that fork a smooth casting or can you see the threaded plug for the steerer (fig 3 in JohnD's post). If it is smooth, DON'T RIDE IT! Those forks have a stress riser at the bottom of the press-fit steerer. Between the headset cone and the steerer, there is no way short of X-ray to see if a crack has started across the bottom of that plug. When mine failed, you could see that the crack was about 1/3 of the way into it long enough for the aluminum to darken before the rest failed. (And when it failed, it went with no warning on an easy bunny hop of a pavement break I jumped every ride).

Except the paint and headtube decal, your bike looks exactly like mine. Same bars, stem and headset. I most certainly did not get the high end model with its fancier paint and decals. Way too cheap. But all the rest? Looks like the same bike. I loved the ride. I loved the fork. But I paid a high price I would wish on no one.

Ben

300# Gorilla

Justsomedude is right. It has more to do with how long your legs are for the stand over, and the length of your upper body for the reach to the bars. But, generally if you are 6'4" you are looking at a 23" to 26" frame (measured from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube). Weight is another consideration, if you are over 200lbs a skinny tired road bike is not going to be a comfortable ride, wider tires (35mm to 40mm) will be much more comfortable.
Your best bet is to find a large framed hybrid (Trek 700 of the top of my head, there are many other) to try and see how it works for you.
Good luck!