Based on the success of the tall bike thread, I wanted to start a small bike thread for bikes that are 50cm and under.


Here is my 50cm Raleigh at the bike shop before I brought it home.




The original Raleigh branded wheels went on my friend's Atala.



A 50cm singlespeed that I built when I was 15. The frame soon got thrown out after I realized that it had expanded from the inside as the previous owner left it outside for long periods of time, which is a shame.






I built this a couple months ago out of a Ross Paragon frame that I got for $7 as it was poorly spray painted. I am 5 foot 10, so none of these bikes fit me. I am planning on giving this frame away to one of my friends.

I will have to get to the bike room at work - I have two, wait, three wee ones. How soon we forget.
Masi GC, Colnago Super, Gios Torino.

one family member has grown out of one.
Another is about to.
the third, wants an ebike.
tough crowd.

They have a couple vintage bikes at the shop, one is a vintage Colnago, the other is a more obscure, but still very high end Italian bike. Both frames are around 50cm.

I got a bunch of 50cm bikes at home. Too small for me, but perfect for my wife. I find ‘em all over the place and if the price is right I can’t resist. She gets less happy each time I tell her I got a great deal on a bike for her, though.
I think I need to stop bringing them home...

If I remember correctly this was a 50CM 1987 Circuit I found locally. Fixed it up for my son but he decided he wanted to stick to mountain bikes. So I moved it on to someone else to appreciate.

My daughter's bike, bought new from a local shop 3 years ago, no upcharge for age, same 136.00 it was back then based on the original sale's tag. Although the tires were still good, I didn't like the chrome steel rims it came with so I found some nos sun rims and a pair of nos performance 6sp hubs. Built with new pink spokes and converted to 540iso from 547. Shifters are old 6sp thumbs since she wanted a flat bar. Still have the original bars with foam grips in the parts closet.

I built this 1984 Bianchi when I worked in a bike shop, Long Island NY. Basically original. The main thing I changed was from 32 hole tubulars to 28 hole Mavics with the ceramic braking surface.

Not mine. Just a bike that I repaired for someone.

One of my female frame building class students made this last year. She is shorter than 5'. She cut the lug sleeves to a design she created and also chose the color combination. I think this is a picture of when we partly built it up to work on making a rear rack work.

The Mrs' one.

A 24 inch Nishiki that I spotted for sale at the bike shop.

My contributions to keep this thread going. Two vintage and 1 somewhat vintage. Also have a couple of more Dales & a GT, all old and 50cm and smaller.


1986-SR800 Re-built w/more modern parts

1990-SM700 Rebuilt w/late '90s parts

2003 w/some personal touches

My wife had a teensy Black Lightning and an equally small Trek 520 but she gave them up when physical difficulties got her out of cycling. I'll come back if I find pix of them.

A new pic of my old ride. What does 17.5" translate to? (JK, I don't care.)



A Princess on the Mad River

Following with great interest since at 5'3" I'm someone that size would be appropriate for, but it doesn't seem to come around so often.

Most of these seem to be fitted with 700C wheels which some say are hard to accommodate for in a small frame without compromising other characteristic in geometry. So how about 650A, -B or -C?

Has anyone had experiences with bad geometry on a smaller frame, and how have you attempted to fix it? I'm hearing wheel flop could be an issue, and thus steering towards the idea of a 650B conversion regarding a prospective build...

I know that the Fuji SJ-10 came with 26 inch wheels.

Not vintage, but here is a 48cm frame with 650b wheels.

50cm Snel Expedition:



50cm Koga-Miyata RoadWinner:



50cm Bontekoe:

That's why I'm sticking to 26" wheels, which pretty much means vintage steel mountain bikes. Oh, how I suffer.

As for bad geometry, the first "real" bike I bought myself was a Liv hybrid, size small, with 700c wheels. I tried really hard to like it, for over a year, and we did have some adventures, until I met the Princess; it was love at first sight. After a few months of riding a properly proportioned bike, I got on the hybrid and I got a strong sensation of climbing into a hammock, with a very long reach despite the Jones loop bar. Haven't ridden it since. And that's how I deal with bad geometry; I don't ride it.

47cm Fuji SJ-10 with 26 inch wheels that I fixed for the co op to sell.

XO-2 I got my grand daughter when she graduated from U of Oregon. Think it's a 48cm, but for sure 50cm or under, she is very petite.

1993 XO-2

I replaced the original (nice looking, but old) tires with Gravel Grinders. Bike was pristine, with no signs of use, except saddle shows leg wear on the sides. As if put on another bike for a few years. Don

"What does 17.5" translate to?" 44.45 cm