Size Comparison - Old & New
 

Great news! I spoke with a BF member about sending up a frame from the USA to here in Canada. He has agreed to box up and forward it along as a public service to another rider. A kind act, and I'd like to extend a very gracious thank you to that member. The frame has yet to be found and is a work in progress. There isn't much for choice up here in this City, despite looking - hard, routinely. The USA is a bounty for choice. If I didn't break 3 frames over the last decade I wouldn't get so antsy about not having choice. No car here.

Normally I'd ride a classic size 24" hard tail mountain bike (one with a TT parallel to the ground) and a TT length of 23". I heard it mentioned on here that anything larger than a 22" in a classic quality frame and options sharply drop-off. I could get away with riding a 22" I think and make it up with stem and post, just so long as the TT length is there. Might make for a ride with less frame sway too. Is it true about the 22" cutoff threshold for choice?

Also, a 22" in a more modern sloped TT frame is probably the equivalent of a traditional 24" frame. This is also something to consider. The TT length and toe overlap seems to be the critical metrics in frame choosing. I'd like to get this fit right because the bike will be coming from another country sight unseen and un-tried.

Its really hard to compare, because the geometry has also changed dependent on the style of mountainbike you are buying - these days, the key measurements with mountainbikes are Reach and RAD
RAD measurement:

Just build it out and ride it. If you have any issues afterward, then ask. I might just speculate you may or may not be happy either way you decide for anything you get for it.

Hi, it'd be too expensive to buy a frame stateside, ship it up and then build a bike around it to see if it'll fit. It might work by luck but I am trying to minimize the chance it won't without anything lost out of pocket beforehand. I'd like to get it right so I don't have to ask the benevolent BF member to help out repeatedly. That'd get tired fast.