The geometry of small frames is just plain wrong but they've been doing it for long enough now that "wrong" has become "right".

If you take a close hard look at the geometry of smaller frames and ask yourself WHY then the answer that I have come to is that they made one of two critically wrong decisions in the first place to suit the requirements of manufacturing economics and then many other wrong decisions have followed on from there. The two initial wrong decisions are to use the same crank sizes and the same wheel sizes as used for larger bikes. This saves them money in not having to order and stock a myriad of different sized parts but it doesn't help the bike to fit the customer correctly. Then what happens is that they NEED to have steep seat tube angles on the small frames to fudge the fact that everything else is wrong.

Now I USED to thing I was alone on this and that I had come up with something new but then on several occasions when searching junk yards for beater bikes to fix up I noticed a trend where vintage small bikes ALL had, small wheels, short cranks, relaxed seat tube angles (about 70º) and short top tubes EVEN with very relaxed seat tube angles.

WOW, they looked JUST like my custom designed and built road bike.



This is where I had a eureka moment and realized that I wasn't really a freak and that manufacturers don't make bikes any more that fit ANY small rider. It was no longer just about me.

Here's a typical vintage small bike from many years ago,



Its hard to make everything out from this picture but key features are 24" wheels, 140mm cranks, RELAXED seat tube angle and short top tube.

If you want a bike that fits then you are going to have to go down the road of customizing. As I said in a previous thread if you fit shorter cranks (160 or 165mm) and then move the saddle back (your will likely need a rear set seat post) and up then the bike you have may just about come together for you.

All the conventional advise in the world is going to do nothing for you. A key fact I realized is that there is not ONE soul alive that "fits" precisely on one of the current small bikes. They would have to be a FREAK to fit. No, the bike manufacturers have moved on from this notion that their bikes need to fit a real person. What the have now is bikes that fit EVERYONE. They don't fit everyone perfectly but just enough that people of many different sizes will all hop on it and think its OK when riding short distance but by the time they realize is less than perfect the sale is long over and the funny thing is, they don't blame the manufacturer for the problem and if anything they are likely to go out and buy another bike that doesn't fit either.

Enough of my ranting. Bike manufacturers just don't cater properly for anyone outside the average and if you want good fit you are going to have to be unconventional.

Anthony