Originally Posted by
Longfemur
It's really hard for me to believe that you would fit over a 49cm frame but not a 50. I think that ideally, you want standover, but, it doesn't have to be an exact thing, just enough that you can straddle it with your feet on the ground. You straddle a frame with your pubic bone, not your boys.
Also, when I hear 49 cm, I immediately think of a European frame measured centre to centre. That's actually about the same or a little taller than a 50 cm frame measured centre to top.
Agree here, with the added caveat of bottom bracket height. If you are worried about standover, you aren't really getting it when you talk about size. A lower bottom bracket lowers the top tube relative to the ground. So does a laid-back seat tube. Both contribute to deternining the standover height.