hey ya'll im 6 foot tall and kinda hefty and i was wondering about yalls opinion. the bike i have right now i like the geometry but it was my first real bike and i got the wrong size. it has a stand over height of 33 inches.
i love the frame so really i just want the right size. the next to sizes is a 53cm which has a stand over of 31.5 which if i hadnt had any sex in a while would almost touch the boys, or a 50cm which would be 30.38 inches. now why i'm asking is because like i said i'm 6foot tall and rather hefty. i don't want to look like krusty the clown ya know, or like i stole some little kids bike.

six foot is too big for a 53CM frame. You need a 56 or larger.

yeah thats what i so i got a 57 but the bike is measured center to center not center to top so the stand over height was 33 which meant my boys were seperated meaning i couldnt enjoy my rides just second guessing myself for fear of a quick stop, ya know

In the old days of cycling most riders were on larger frames for increased comfort. Your seatpost will clear the private parts. If that 57CM frame has a 56CM or bigger top tube you should be fine.

If his privates are touching the seat post, he is mounting his bike incorrectly. I'm pretty sure you mean the top tube.

Anyway, agreed: on a bike with a fairly horizontal top tube, the top of your crotch should have a few centimeters clearance. If it's a lot more, you'd have to get the seat way up to get your legs almost straight (as they should be) and then the handlebars are likely to be too low.

your boys can touch its just that you have the clearance to your pelvic bone or w/e.

standover height is just a benchmarker for if you can literally fit on the bike or not


figure out how outstretched you need to be based on reach, and then pick a frame that fits you in that respect

6' tall myself and I ride a 55cm kilo which has a 56 top tube and my road bike is a 54cm with a 55cm top tube. Fit has nothing to do with how much clearance you have over the top tube, sure I have more room on the 54 but both bikes fit the same after I fit them to my dimensions. The only time I would worry about more top tube clearance would be on any off road bike, on a track bike on the street it's not really a big concern.

btw my 55cm kilo measures out like a 58cm frame so telling someone who is a certain size not to ride a bike that is X size is ridiculous without knowing that frame's dimensions in the first place. No rule of thumb to fit just some guidelines to follow but comfort is key, don't believe me? Look at professional riders and how their bikes differ from one to the next and one can assume that that group of people are in about the same fitness level as opposed to us all annonymous internet people who could range from super fit to jabba the hut types!

standover is pretty much completely irrelevant when determining bike fit.

thanx you guys i always wondered cuz i always see these short dudes with these huge ass vintage frames, and think wow they must use a step ladder lol

Or you'll see these huge guys with these tiny frames, smallest bike I rode was a 54cm Surly Steamroller and the saddle to drop looked huge. but what most people don't take into consideration is if that huge person needs a really long seatpost to accommodate leg length then chances are they also have long arms and they may be riding more upright than it seems.