Originally Posted by
partyanimal
Posted this in C&V because it's an older bike but it's a general question so maybe it goes better here. (admins, feel free to delete either of these if they're in the wrong place)
Browsing Marketplace I see this old Bridgestone BB-1for a decent price. Says it's 17" frame. Seems they use inches for MTB sizing and it always confuses me. This bike looks fairly small right? Looking to build out something new for the wife who's about 5'3" with shorter legs. It has 26" wheels. Getting confusing info on 17" sized bikes. Any thoughts?
Don’t. Just don’t. As the husband of a petite woman who has fought the size wars for 40 years, I can tell you that your wife would suffer if you stuck her on that frame. It is built for someone who is 5’8” to around 5’10” tall. In other words the frame is at least one size too big and more likely 2 sizes. Ask yourself if you are willing to ride a bike that is 2 sizes too large?
Sizing for mountain bikes is 3” to 4” smaller than a road bike. The use of inches for the frame size is a hold over from the 80s when most bikes in the US (road and mountain) were sized in inches. Road converted to centimeters but mountain bikes didn’t follow. You have to do the conversion but we all carry phones that are fully capable of doing that.
For your wife’s size, a 43cm road bike (17”) would probably be the best fit. She might be able to ride a 49cm (19”) but I would suspect that is too large. Thus you should look for a 13” mountain bike if you want to convert mountain to road use. A 15”
might work but I doubt it.