So I was about ready to buy my first non-BMX bike and thought I had the sizing thing down enough to not worry too much about it, but then I actually measured myself...and it looks like I have short legs for my size. I am 5'10" but my inseam is 29.5" (measured as per the fitting instructions here). I've read a bunch of people on here saying that standover doesn't matter that much, but the assumption for that seems to be that you are spending most of your time riding. I ride mostly in the city, so there is a lot of stop and go traffic, and unfortunately I spend a good chunk of time standing over my bike.

I don't think I need to have a ton of clearance, but I'd like to have some, and that seems to put me on the smallest frame bikes that BikesDirect sells. Even the Dawes SST, with a semi-compact frame, it looks like the 49 is the only size that would give me positive standover height...and they recommend that for people between 4'11" and 5'2"!

Edit: I just measured my wife's mountain bike that I've been riding for the last few months, and coincidentally the standover is exactly 29.5". It's worked mostly fine, but it is just a tad uncomfortable if I'm stopped without leaning the bike over. Makes me think I'd probably not want to go much bigger than that.