I'm 5' 9 1/2". I thought my frame size was 54-54. The cockpit is fine but — like an earlier post says — I need a Nitto Technomic stem to see the road when I'm in the drops! My saddle is hiked right up. So, I guess my legs are longer in proportion with my torso. Solution: I've got a 56-54 frame in the mail somewhere. Years ago the maker's motto was, "The bike should fit the rider." — not the other way around. Hence the two different tube lengths for riders like me! The next issue will be the stand-over height, but I'm willing to just swing over the TT if I have to.

I will be interested in seeing the result.

What you describe is much like a traditional 80's criterium frame with a long ST and shorter TT, the 1985 Team Fuji, below, 57 ST/55 TT.

Wow, you can tell they lowered the BB to get that length out of the seat tube. More pedal strike in the corners (if pedaling) probably?

It looks nice though

thenomad wrote: I don't wanna be too arch about this cuz I get your point. And your wife is lucky because there are frames that will fit her. But I had to think of my wife.

She is is Japanese and has a physique that is often seen in Asian women. On the other hand, there a lot of Japanese and other Asian women — especially the younger generation — that have legs that seem to go all the way up to their throat! But, not Mrs Wife ... who in the first two hours of our courtship confided that she was physically the 'old fashioned' type of Japanese ... as she herself put it.

Now, this is a very typical physique in Japan — short legs from the knee down. In fact, the Japanese are so self-aware of this that it is considered (with some humor I might add) a national characteristic — despite the huge variance that seems to have become almost a remake of the Japanese physique. Still, so many millions of women fit this description — Asian and other ethnic groups. BTW my beloved is a tad over 5 feet, but with another sort of leg she'd be 5' 3" . This would put her in range of some of the frames that I have seen come up for sale — like a Cellini that no one seemed to give a poo about. To date, I've not come across a mixte sports frame that fits a woman built like my wife. And there are millions of them! I've been on the lookout for some mixte frames so I can build her a bike — but be damned if I can be confident that she'd ever be confident on anything I've been able to come up with.

And BTW ... I don't mean shopping bikes with the cargo basket either! They build and sell these by the billions here. She already has a Bridgestone mama-chari ... or ubiquitous Japanse shopping bike! They are made to fit ANYBODY! They weigh as much as Vulcan's own anvil. And a sack of rice or your offspring in the child's seat makes them flex like a hinge with a rubber hose in the middle.

Recently I told her that the only way to secure a guarentee that she is gonna like and ride the bike for sport/exercise is if I get a frame made for her – custom-fitted. A local frame maker here quoted me about $850. I'm not sure that it includes paint. Maybe not.

I've been intrigued by the new Velo Orange mixte that is supposed to be coming on stream early next year. But it appears to me that none of the proposed sizes would fit my wife, or the many millions built like her — despite what crank sizes and so on that I could build with. Nope ... some women need a radically different design. Other women can ride a man's frame made with the modern sloped top tube. They can dial-in the ideal cockpit with bars, seat and post selections. I casually know one such Japanese person who rides a carbon/alumium frame and has been a successful racer. I doubt that she needs any very special frame on a modern machine — just an appropriate size. She is night and day different in build than my wife. Both Japanese, but they could be from different planets!

Is someone (manufacturers or builders) really missing out on a market here? I've almost come close to think that I should take a fist full of cash and commission this builder to put up five frames (at a discount price?) and build/finish them for sale! Ishiwata db tubing a la keirin frames. Select drop-outs. Choice of braize-fill or lugs. Any angle/geometry you want — from nervous road racer to lawn-chair. Perfect fit ... for a certain build ... say with 130 mm stays, modern cassette hub, brifters [click>click>click] ... and she/they can always get her/their feet on the ground.

Comments? Or, am I over the top?!

RFC wrote: Thanks for the comment — interesting! A couple of days ago the 56ST-54TT Simplon arrived. Same year as your Fuji. I had the forks pressed on with a new Tange Seiki headset. I should put up a pic (sans wheels etc) and see how it compares to yours — an absolutely gorgeous machine BTW! I'd love to own it!

Lenton, what about a bike with 24" wheels? Back in the mid 80's Terry made bikes with a 700c rear wheel and a 24" front wheel, to shorten the top tube. My ex-wife has one. It fits very well.

An excellent suggestion — thanks!

Also, I am thinking that the whole thing could be worked out as a whole — if you wanted a matching wheel set. But, as you indicated, the Terry build with mismatched wheel works — at least for your ex-partner. Now, taking your suggestion a tad further, a custom frame could use a 24" wheel set, while the transmission could be coordinated with a compact crank set with commensurate cranks lengths ... and a cassette range that would compatible. I suspect that the stays might have to be 135 mm to accommodate a mountain/alpine sort of cassette — but that is just off the top of my head.

Still, fudging a frame that is slightly over her (my wife) size using the smaller front wheel could be an answer — assuming that you could find a front brake with the needed reach.

It may be out of the question, but I'd really like to see a picture of your ex-wife's machine.

Cheers — Lenton/ Lorne

I found a picture of the bike she had, though this is from a different owner. https://bikehugger.com/2009/07/-you-dont-see-too.html

Scroll down a bit to see the blue bike. This one has a rear fender and a tall stem. My ex-wife doesn't have those features; this owner added them.

We bought it right after our honeymoon in 1986 for only $850. It was a steal, given the fine handmade steel frame.

And it does not have to be that custom

in the 70s and 80s a lot of companies (including Fuji and Peugeot) were producing junior sized road bikes with 24" wheels and about a 25-26 inch step over height