A lot of it was style and what as accepted during the time that one was riding. I'm a prime example of that: My first Schwinn Super Sport was a 24" frame, followed by a 25-1/2" Sprite 10, and a 24-1/2" Gitane Super Corsa. Most of my three-speed commuters then were 23-1/2" frames.

About 1972 (four years into cycling), I got a 22-1/2" Falcon, basically at the browbeating of the dealer. What an amazing change! OK, the bike wasn't quite as comfortable on the long haul, but then I didn't use the Falcon for long hauls, that was my 23-1/2" World Voyageur. At that point, I stopped riding.

Getting back into it, I'm preferably running a 56cm frame, which I believe is roughly 22-1/2". My Raleigh and Gitane are 23-1/2's, and are the largest bikes I'll consider riding. I love the Raleigh that way, it's a wonderful long haul tourer. The Gitane is OK, the responsiveness of the frame makes me wonder what it's be like to find a frame an inch shorter (I'm kinda looking in the back of my mind, but no big rush). Meanwhile the Rossin and Fuji's at 56cm are an absolute hoot . . . . . . . but there's no way I want to do 100 mile days on either of them.

There's definitely a move towards race rep bicycles (boy, talk about a parallel with motorcycles!), which are wonderful for short runs, sprinting, and general goofing off - but really rather lousy for actually going somewhere a distance away.

Watching both markets in parallel nowdays, I'm both amazed and amused at the way bicycles and motorcycles are trying to do the same thing. Makes me wonder if they both haven't figured out how to milk the poseur market.

Syke
Deranged Few M/C