Originally Posted by
Myosmith
I was always taught to measure a bike from the center of the BB to the center of the top tube at the angle of the seat tube. But now few bikes have horizontal top tubes and I've seen a number of different ways to denote frame size. Is there one universally accepted method of measuring a frame so you can compare apples to apples?
+1 Never was one, and there isn't one now. On the vintage bikes, several mfrs were center to center, others were center to top. Doesn't really matter anyway. Just target your size, and measure the bike that way. I always measure center to center, so I don't care that Schwinn measured C to T, etc.
And with the sloping top tubes, some mfrs have just gone to S, M, L designations.
On my vintage bikes, I tend to ride anything in the 55 to 57 cm range, and go with longer or shorter stems to compensate for reach.
Other than my MTB, I never have a lot of seat post showing. I do see people on road bikes with an insane amount of post showing.