Originally Posted by
miamijim
53-56cm.
I'm 5'8" w/ 29" blue jean inseam. Ideally you want to buy based on top tube size. I fit well on bikes w/ 54cm TT's. I own a variety of bikes with a variety of seat tube lengths but they all have 1 thing in common, they're all have 54cm TT's +/-.
Originally Posted by
noglider
One inch is a decent rule of thumb, useful for many people on road frames, though it doesn't have to be a hard and fast rule.
Again, thanks again-
There's a couple of things that I'm sort of viewing as "extenuating circumstances." First- I look at myself as having stubby legs and a relatively long torso- miamijim- I don't know if you find yourself with having issues with that as your legs are possibly a little shorter than mine. I feel pretty much comfortable from front to back on the bike- it's just that whole question of stopping- I'm cool if there's a curb there, but stopping without leaning means a steel wedgie. Related to that is that the seat post is very low. And that's OK, because it must've gotten stuck at some previous time, and it's all scratched up, so those scratches aren't showing.
Another consideration regarding this "comfort" thing... I'm not exactly experienced with drop bars. And certainly not with drop bars without "safety" brake levers. This whole drop bar thing is a new learning experience for me. I'm not uncomfortable on them, I don't know how to get more comfortable- I've actually raised the cant of the bars so the "ramp" to the brake levers is actually slightly inclined. It seems to suit my wrists. My palms are kind of sore- I don't have gloves yet, but I took some bar padding from another bike and tucked it under the brake hoods and ran it across the bars. Right now, it looks pretty doofy, but it's all right on my palms.