Hello all,

In preparation for a trip through France next summer I've been tasked with finding dad and I suitable rides. We'll be going for it, about 80 miles a day for a week, and both of us naturally need comfortable bikes.

I'm actually happy with my ride, about which I've posted before, I think it fits me, but I want to make sure, not being hugely experienced on bike sizing.

I'm coming up on 6' 2'' with an inseam of 32'', my dad is 5' 10" with the roughly the same inseam and a shorter upper body. Basically, what bike sizes do we need? My current bike is 22.5'', and I'm rather in love with it so I want to do the trip on that really, but any problem with size will probably become more and more evident the more miles we do.

So what's our range? would a bike of 23.5'' come in to my dad's category?

Also, were the Raleigh Road Ace's good bikes, and would one of those suit the kind of trip we're planning on doing?

Many thanks,
H

Here is what little I know about Bicycle Fit. Hope it is a help...

What I have found is that the best way to pick the right size is to try several bikes and see what feels the best. With standover height, you want to make sure that you have 1/2 and inch to an inch between your crotch and the top tube. The seat tube length is what determines the size of the frame, and different bikes will fit differently even when they have the same seat tube length. the height of the bottom bracket will effect the standover height. The length of the cranks will effect how the frame fits you as well. I have a 58 cm Specialized Roubaix, a 61 cm Bianchi Strada, and a 63 cm (25 in) Schwinn Paramount, all of which fit me about the same way. I am about the 6'2" with roughly a 32" inseem as well. Your dad may want to get a bike with a longer seat tube and shorter top tube. Your lbs can fit you to a new bike and you can use those measurments when looking for a c&v. I still think what has worked for me is trying several different bikes.