You guys are cracking me up, now I can't get that song out of my head...'some are held for charity and some for fancy dress, but when they're held for pleasure they're the ones that I like best'. Anyway, I really don't understand that whole sloping top tube, bear riding a bicycle look so common today. With average BB height (whatever that might be) 22 inches is probably perfect for me with a 30-in inseam (not the fancy PBH measurement Rivendell talks about - that would probably be an inch or two more) but as someone pointed out many bikes came in 21, 23, and 25 inch size. I could ride a 25 with the saddle jammed all the way down but it would look kind of silly and I could ride a 21 with a really long seat post - probably longer than what was available in the C&V period. But 22-23 is perfect and leaves about 4-5 inches of seatpost showing. I can stand over a 22 inch with just a bit of clearance or a 23 inch just touches in bike shoes. My speed modulators probably don't generate enough force to cause me to slide off the saddle anyway and if I'm hitting something or otherwise in a position to be flying off the saddle and landing on the top tube I seriously doubt that extra inch is going to help. IIRC, the only time I had any such incident, it was a crushed helmet, broken collar bone, and the dualie rear wheels of that damned tow truck coming at me that I was concerned about. The boys did just fine.