Jaydub

Is a 19" frame to big for someone who is 5'9/5'10?

campayne

might be a stretch but it could work

FF 6800

i'm 5'10" and ride a 19" frame. thats just because i'm lanky and still growing but yeah, most people would reccomend riding a 17" frame. try both if you can and see which one feels best.
good luck

gwhunt23

It really has to do more with your inseam, especially if your inseam is out of proportion to your height. For example, I have a 36" inseam wich is way big for my height.

trevor

depends on what kind of riding your going to be doing as well.

LowCel 

It depends more on the frame manufacturer than anything. All (or most anyway) companies measure their frames differently. Personally I always go by the top tube length, I don't even pay attention to what the "claimed" size is.

With that said I'm 5' 10.5" and I ride an 18" frame.

Jaydub

Ok, thanks. I think I'll check out some 17" frames

brad06ag

The way you ride and the way you like a bike to fit mean much more than an advertised side. For example, I am 6'4" and i ride a 19" frame. I don't like big frames, i like to be able to drop my seat when i want and have a bike that i can really move around on rough terrain.

blue_neon

No they dont. All frame sizes are mesured from the central bottem bracket, through the seat tube to the top of the seat tube. Thats where they get the 17" 19" 21" etc.

If anything, you should buy the bike on the HEIGHT of the bike (hence the frame size). Length that be easily adjusted, (longer/shorter stem, flat bars vs riser bars, dropping the stem a few spacers down on the steerer tube, sliding the seat back, buying one of thos FSA seat posts that are titled back alot more).

You CAN'T change the heigh of a bike. Sure you can change seat height to fit your pedaling style, but that dosn't change the bike height.

So you should be buying the bike on clearence from the top tube. If you dont have enough clearence then you should buy the smaller size. Of course it depends on what riding you are doing as to how much clearence you feel you need, but it comes down to personal preference.

blue_neon

Tell us your INSEAM measurement, heigh has nothing do to with bike sizing.

gcc0

I'd say try a 19", and if it doesn't fit right, then go for a smaller frame.

I'm 5'10" with an inseam of 32", tried a 17" frame and it felt too small, so I chose a 19" instead and it fits like a glove (I prefer the fit).

LowCel 

Well, that would be nice. However some companies go from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the actual top tube. Some companies go from center of the bottom bracket to the center of the actual top tube. Some companies go from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the virtual top tube. Some companies go from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the virtual top tube. Some companies go from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. In other words, there are no standards.

As for it being easier to change the cockpit length than the height that makes no sense to me. I can raise my saddle half an inch in about 15 seconds. It takes me much longer and more money to change out a stem. Plus, if you end up with too long of a stem you end up putting too much weight in front of your wheel increasing the chances of going over the bars.

I'll stick with what is important to me. Top tube length, head tube angles, seat tube angles, and chain stay length. I could care less about what the seat tube length is.

However, a simple test ride is more important than any of these measurements.

ghettocruiser

Bear in mind for diciplines other than *standard* XC riding all bets are off.

For dirtjumping and freeride a lot of 6'+ guys ride around on 12" and 13" hardtails. With full-suspension bikes the picture becomes even more muddy. Big-travel bikes tend to have high bottom brackets to start with, and when you sit on the bike the effective size of the frame and height of the seat drops by two or three inches. My FR bike was supposed to be on the small size for my height, but when I put the seat up high enough to get XC-style leg extension, I feel like I then need a stepladder to get on the thing. Once I get on it it sinks down in the travel.

To help answer the original question I'm about 5'10-5'11 and I ride a 19" frame, but it's a Rocky, and looks and feels like everyone else's 17". I have no idea where they get the measurements from.

Demo all potential sizes before you buy.

ghettocruiser

True, but recall if you will that before the freeride-and-riser bar days, EVERYONE used to ride around with gigantically long stems. My old Syncros in the mid-90s was a 150mm, and it was a lot shorter than everybody else... I think Control Tech used to make a 200mm back in the day, zero-rise.

We flipped the bikes over forward more often those days, but we could power up the climbs like roadies. Now that every trail seems to have a drop or a stunt somewhere in it, most of us have sacrificed some power and aerodynamics for safety sake.

LowCel 

In my opinion I think we have Gary Fisher to thank for the shorter stems for cross country use as much as anyone else. He came out with the genesis geometry which had a longer top tube and a shorter stem. Going this way you still have the same cockpit length just less weight in front of the wheel.

*note* I'm not argueing at all, just saying where I believe the shorter stems came from. I agree that putting the weight over the front a little more would help on the smoother climbs, but for the more technical climbs I prefer about a 110 mm stem.

I remember those long stems, my late 80's model Raleigh Pointe had a pretty long one as well as my early 90's model Diamond Back Ascent EX.

blue_neon

I've run 80mm, 100mm, 110mm and atm running 120mm :O! I think that is way to long, i'm looking at getting a seat post that comes back a bit as that would be a tad more comfortable then slapping on a 100mm or 110mm. I find i lose a bit of control downhill with the 120mm, only because i'm more over the bike i think. Infact i asked for a 110mm to be put on the bike, and they put 120mm! (Lucky its an EA50 though, could get a bit of cash for that on eBay is i was to swap!) With this one, turning uphill is fantastic aswell as climbing...i never feel like i'm going to go over the handlebars though!