So I love my 83' Voyageur- it rides great, it feels great, it looks great- but it's a bit too big. Mostly just in terms of stand-over- I'm about a half-inch too short to be able to stand flat footed over the bar. I'm 5'10", and the bike is a 61cm, for reference.

Riding is fine- I've got it well adjusted, and it feels good riding. But for around the city and commuting, I'd feel a lot more comfortable with something more my size.

Finding another similar vintage Voyageur is a pretty hard deal, however.

Then I came across a pair of 83' Schwinn High Sierra's on craigslist- same color, very similar builds. Complete and in working order. $200 might be a little steep, but it's very reasonable from my view, and finding what I'm looking for exactly seems quite hit-or-miss.

The issue is that they have an 18" and a 21". And I'm not sure which will be the best fit. Ideally, I'd test ride them, but that's not an option- they're in NC and I'm in New Orleans. I've got a friend in the area who can pick the bike up, and I'm heading up that way in a month or so and can get it from him, but that doesn't help with the test-riding.

For a traditional MTB, I think an 18-19" frame would fit about right. But for touring, I know you usually want a slightly larger frame for a less-upright riding style. And the 21" is definitely smaller than my ~24" Voyageur.

So, which of the two sizes do you guys think would be the better fit? Alternatively, I think they'd sell me both as a package for $350, but then I'd end up with a spare that I don't exactly need.

Get the 21". I'm 5'10" and I ride a 56 cm MB-2 on the street.

Although the High Sierras are finely made mtbs, I think the early 80s models will have extended chainstays and a long wheelbase. Also very relaxed angles. It may make for a very lazy riding tourer.

The later ones will have more sporting geometry and shorter wheelbases. The top tubes though, will become longer.

As for size, if you can straddle a 61cm road bike at 5'10", your inseam must be 34"? I think a 21" mtb frame will fit you nicer. I'm 5'10" with a 30/31" inseam, and the 18" mtb frame is my minimum size for comfort.

BTW, the asking price does seem a bit on the high side.

Yeah, I know the asking price is on the high side- I might see about offering something a bit lower. In my area of the country, however, vintage bikes are insanely priced and don't come along all that often. Hence why I'm looking at Craigslist in places I'll be traveling sometime in the relatively near future. They do seem very well maintained, having been continuously ridden by the owner since the original purchase, with maintenance at the same shop.

I can't quite comfortably straddle the 61 cm- to be flat, it needs to be offset, or I'm on my toes if it's straight. Not a problem once I'm riding, but I'd like something a bit smaller.

I'm 5'10" with a 30/31" inseam as well.

So it seems like the 18" would be on the small side of comfort, and the 21" possibly on the long side, but a good bit smaller than what I have now.

From what I can tell comparing the geometry to my Voyageur, they look quite similar- but I know a few degrees here or there can make quite a difference.

I'd go for the 21" as well. And learn to pick a side when you have to come to a sudden stop.

Haha, with the current one, I'm quite good at picking a side.

Anyone have a suggestion for what might be a fair-er price if I was going to make an offer? I know there's a 21" 1984 High Sierra frame at $150 asking price in the C&V Sales forums.

Are you sure it's an 83? Mombat doesn't show the High Sierra starting until 1984. You can compare the specs/paint colors here:

https://mombat.org/Schwinn_Specs.htm

Looks like the 84 has a 5 speed rear hub, which may use a different spacing than 6/7 speed (which I think were the same for mtbs?). Just something to keep in mind in case you want to upgrade. The wheelsets on a lot of these early mtbs (even higher end ones) were nutted instead of quick release, so you may want to swap those out if you're actually doing touring with it.

Well, technically it straddles the '83/'84 divide. It was manufactured in 83, by Giant (G0783 puts it at Fall of 83), but it's the 84 model, I think. I know the owners bought it in late 84/early 85 from a dealer. But it matches the specs for the '84 Smokey Pearl High Sierra- DiaCompe Canti's and Suntour Derailleurs. It's also got the Bull Moose handlebar/stem combo that was only on the '84, and went away with the '85.

I don't mind the 5 speed rear hub, it's the same as what I have on my Voyageur currently. Since it's a steel frame (4130), I can always cold-set it if I decide I want to space it up much more.

I also have a Campanalgo wheel set that's 26x0.75 with a 6-speed freehub, that should fit fine in the frame, and has quick-release skewers. Otherwise, I have nutted wheels on an '85 Fuji Sundance that don't bother me much to take on and off, just keep a 14/15 mm socket and short handled wrench in one of my pannier pockets.

I love old MTB's as tourers. The High Sierra is a great bike.

If that's pants inseam I'd probably lean towards the 21". If that's cycling inseam I'd go 18" for sure. I have a 32.5" cycling inseam and olde horizontal top tube 21" MTBs are generally pretty tall for me in the standover department with stock tires.

I mainly pay attention to top tube length when bike shopping personally. I've had a 15" 80s MTB with a TT just under 50cm and I've a 15" 90s MTB with a 56cm TT. Huge difference there.

I like the fit of a 60-62cm VLW, so possibly similar fit preferences. My main bike is a 21" Bstone MB5. Technomic stem gets the drops up even with the saddle. Absolutely my favorite build ever. It was originally supposed to be just a grocery getter/trailer hauling bike, but I use it for most of my 30m commutes because it's so comfortable and surprisingly quick.

Here's a shot of it hauing a parts bike home from work last month.

i'm 5'11 and would definitely go with the 21"

And yeah, that's a pants inseam, sorry. My cycling inseam is probably closer to 32/33. And I prefer a frame on the larger end of my range.

The top tube on the 21" is 21 7/8" according to the owner, which fits since the geometry is pretty square.

I'm leaning towards seeing if she'll take $300 for the pair- I'm sure I can find someone around here who would be interested in the frame I don't want.

Oh, wow, just a 55.56cm TT. I'd even go with the 21" @ my 5'6" height, 32.5" inseam, long monkey arms.

I like about 58-59cm for flat bars, 54cm for newer dropbar controls, 56cm for olde brake lever hoods on drops.

Tip, don't just check destinations you may be traveling to, check "on the way/near your route" as well. Its a strategy I have used successfully many times in the past. Don't overlook garage sales either. I was heading to Chicago on one trip, and quickly checked garage sales in Indianapolis. WTF? A titanium Litespeed at a garage sale? Well, I had to hit that one. The Lightspeed was a deal, but I passed on it. But I asked the question: "Do you have any other bike stuff?" Out came the large crate of all 9 speed Dura Ace, two complete bikes worth, plus a lot of other stuff. Score.

On my last trip to Illinois a month ago, I was checking the next day's garage sales in Illinois (I was at a hotel in southern Indiana at the time). Holy cow, a Panasonic racing bike? Damn, I wouldn't be through that town til about noon the next day. But I took a side trip (maybe 10 miles out of the way max). It was still there! With a really low price tag. And the garage sale down the street had a nice Schwinn LeTour Luxe, at an equally low price. And the one in the town five miles away had the vintage MASI and a nice bike work stand...... Car was full before I arrived at my destination.

Pretty much every road trip I go on, includes picking up bike stuff. Its everywhere.

To below, although I mentioned the score in INDY above, a lot of my scores are in the smaller towns, far enough away from Chicago/Memphis/Nashville/etc. Larger cities tend to be full of scoopers. But 50 to 75 miles out, the scoopers are gone, and sometimes you will find some real deals.

Haha, yeah.

I'm checking Memphis, Nashville, etc. on the way up. I'm not sure why Louisiana and the surrounding Gulf Coast is so expensive and stingy with vintage bikes- they seem about 2x as high here as just a little bit north.

Why don't you just ask the seller to measure the distance from the top tube to the floor, and then measure you're inseam?

+1 a hundred times +1 !! I ride a 25.5 road bike and built up a 23" MTB frame as a tourer. What a huge reach to the bars!! Stem length and saddle position can only do so much.

An 18" mid 80's MTB will make you look and feel like a monkey humping a coconut. At least that's how I felt. If you need any realistic or "built" measurements of any vintage MTB's, let me know. I purposefully scour the land for them. I am also the guy with the High Sierra in the classifieds section. Here's another I just picked up.

Mid 80's Kuwahara. Did a little mock-up tonight actually.



To me, the most important thing when choosing a vintage MTB is top tube length and head tube angle. I have had vintage MTB's with 22" seat tubes and 57cm top tubes. I've had vintage MTB's with 20" seat tubes and 57cm top tubes. Then there are the ones with 21" seat tubes and 59cm top tubes like the High Sierra I have. I thought it would work but I just decided the top tube length wasn't for me. Especially when I had so many other frames at my disposal.

Here's another that will be built when I have time to strip the raddy paint and clean up the rust.

MTB's from the early-mid 1980's are going to have short effective top tube lengths.

They typically also have relaxed angles, which won't handle well if you end up needing to use a longer stem, so I would definitely err on buying the larger frame size in this case.
I'm your height and prefer 21" frames from that era.

I would buy an 18" framed modern mtb, but that size from back then would have my knees hitting the handlebar.

i'm 6' and i got the biggest stumpjumper i could find (56cm) fit just right for a rugged touring bike. i'd size up a little larger than you typically would for a MTB if you're going to use it for longer distances on and off road.

i'm 5'11 and my Diamondback is 20" (c-c) or 21" (c-t) with a top tube which is 22" c-c. it fits me very well, though i could probably even go a size higher if i swapped out the stem

i definitely wouldn't go any lower