The seattube/top tube length proportions of the BK are not much different from many modern road frames. Naturally, the standover is a little higher, due to the raised BB, but this is minor. Sounds like you would have been better going with a different frame. There are lots of frames out there (IROs, Kilo TT, many others) that tend to have longer top tubes for a given seat tube and head tube length.

you've completely neglected BB height in your analysis.
BB height part of the reason why the "size your track bike 1-2cm smaller than your road bike" rule of thumb exists.

how often do you stand over your top tube with both feet flat on the ground. standover don't mean much. i'm worried about the toptube length first then the seattube length.

What the hell does that mean? Again...stop worrying about a single number and look at the whole frame geometry. When sizing a frame, consider the geometry of frames you have ridden that fit you, or didn't fit you.
Regardless of BB height, you should still have plenty of clearance if, as I stated before, your bodily proportions are within a normal range, and your frame fits properly. If your pubic bones clear a properly fitting road frame by even a inch (typically its more than that), you'll be able to straddle the same "size" track frame without issue.


The bottom line is....never judge the fit of a frame by standover. However, if your can't straddle your frame, its a good sign that the frame is probably not for you.

every day. every time i get on or off my bike probably, any time i'm talking to one and we're not riding, anytime i stop to look at something.

people do more than just race in the drops then leap from their bikes.

Um, what? So it matters, but it doesn't matter? :p

3 pages. did the op get a bareknuckle or NOT?

Sizing by seattube (conventional size labeling) IS an issue for people who are buying frames over the internet and cannot test-ride them. A high BB can make a company's declared 57cm bike fit like a 59 or 60cm square bike.

mihlbach knows this. All he is saying is that sizing conventions vary widely across companies, and at best, they should be treated as rough guidelines only. Ditto with top-tube to ground measurements (standover height). Consumers should never trust these numbers, but instead look at the actual stated geometry and length of the tubes--particularly the TT length, I'd say--when deciding which given size of bike to buy.

seatube/standover sizing and BB height is also an issue and a source of confusion in cyclocross bikes. Standover actually does matter "more" in the case of 'cross, given its off-road nature. But mihlbach is correct that in road applications, you can have very snug standover heights without it being that much of an issue. I remember reading an 80s bike book that said if you could straddle the top tube while leaning the bike over, you were fine, although I think that's pushing it a bit.

I tend to not size by seat tube but size by top tube. I like a 53 top tube so I buy bikes with that. The Bareknuckle I have happens to be 50x53. I've also recently had a 52x53 road bike, and my previous track bike was a 53x53 which felt fine too. What didn't feel ok was when I bought a 54x54 roadie, forget that Rivendellesque sizing, I did not feel ok on that bike! ;)

And FWIW, my Cannondale CAAD9 had a BB height just as high as my Bareknuckle...

a high bb does not make the bike fit like a larger bike. it just makes the head tube longer and the top tube higher...so the standover is a little higher, and not like it's multiple inches either.

size your bike by the top tube and unless you have some crazy body proportions, everything should fall into place. getting a track bike that is 2cm smaller than the appropriate sized road bike will just give you a bike with too much saddle to bar drop...that's kinda ok though, because when you further exaggerate that problem by using that jaguar stem that is too short and too deep and then putting your b123's on it, atleast some of us can make fun of you when you post pics of your bike.

What I mean is that once you are in the range of a good fit, standover shouldn't be an issue. You should fine tune the fit of a frame by considering the geometry of the whole frame.

However, if you can't straddle your frame, you are way off.

FYI..if anyone didn't know, Bareknuckle geometry can be found here.

http://www.businesscycles.com/nessuno.htm

I don't think its posted anywhere else.

...and now the REAL point comes out. If you cannot stand over your bike, you have problems, but think about the difference of a few cm's, it's like MAYBE the width of your thumb. Doesnt make a huge difference if you are +/- one frame size in sizing. Once you get that close, find a top tube that fits etc.

if a company sizes by seattube length, a higher BB can shorten the seattube for a given length of TT (thus a size mismatch, if you consider TT length to be crucial). This is definitely the case in some cross bikes.

dick length X 8.8. +/-1cm for girth.... use search.

I disagree kbjack, as a professional bike fitter the formula I use is 98% of hang-line to floor distance -cleat thickness.

i think op is a girl...in that case, should she substitute vibrator voltage amount/2 for dick length?

Hmm...I don't know, it worked for my girlfriend. We got her sized up just right...wait a minute *thinks* *keeps thinking*

Well goddamn, that's peculiar *keeps thinking*

Huh, well this wasn't a track bike so there wasn't BB height to consider...still the whole dick thing. I don't know, I don't have an answer for ya fella.

wat

huh?

I thouht these frames coming with cable hangers? For some reason I saw those at the beginning of the year

Cable hangers? I can't see anyone running centerpulls or cantis on those things.

Heh, there was some sort of small run of them that came with cable stops on the top tube for some reason. Guess the guy in Italy got confused and thought these were supposed to be single speeds. ;)

i absolutely read this as "i think op is a dick girl"

I don't even want to know what that means, do I?

i do not think the deda 12.5 is "basic cro-mo" based on what i've read. not the top of the line deda stuff, but definitely more tech than 4130 steel tubing.

Here's my BK I love it, I ended up spending around 2K too.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y13...doomknucks.jpg

subtle matching is just so much nicer