Originally Posted by
cyccommute
For example, the Trek Top Fuel small (15.5”) has a stand over that is only 5mm smaller than the standover of a medium (17.5”) and only about 10mm smaller than the standover of a medium large (18.5”).
You just gave a perfect example of why stand-over is a bad way to size a bike.
Also, since you brought this up as an example of the high standover of 29ers, it is worth noting that the Top Fuel actually provides a counterexample. The standover height listed for the small Top Fuel is pretty in line with what you would have expected for small 26" bikes with the same travel. What is different is that the standover hieght for the medium, med/large, and up is LOWER than than on most 26ers of the same travel.