At least don t be surprised if you do so and then it doesn t feel right.
Mountain bike standover height vs inseam.
Gather a large hardcover book or notebook tape measure and pencil.
The stand over height of a bike frame or the distance from the center of the top tube to the ground should be 2 5 inches less than your inseam.
Don t know your inseam.
Mountain bike size chart.
I m 5 9 5 with an inseam of 31.
I m exactly 5 7 1 2 tall and i fall in between small and medium for a 29er frame.
For example if you have a 30 inseam you ll want a road bike with a 29 standover height to measure your inseam.
The difference between your inseam and the standover height should fall within the target ranges.
Mountain bike sizing can be affected by suspension and your tire choices.
It just takes a few seconds.
Should i get the small or medium.
The small frame has 28 inches stand over height 15 inches seat tube length and the medium has 30 3 stand over height and 16 5 seat tube length.
That said if your inside leg measurement is shorter than the standover height you had better learn to stop with your bike canted over or you might squash the crown jewels when trying to reach the floor.
If the bike for has a standover height of 28 inches and your inseam measurement is 30 inches then you can easily balance on the bike and the crossbar will not injure you in case of a sudden stop.
As i ve said i have a 30 5 inches inseam.
Inseam length is usually the most important measurement in finding your bike size because it determines your stand over height.
For example if you have a 30 inseam you ll want a mountain bike with about a 28 standover height to measure your inseam.
It isn t relevent when riding your bike.
Don t plan to buy a bike off of the internet because it has the right stand over.
The difference between your inseam and the standover height should fall within the target ranges.
So make sure you look at a tire size chart and try a full suspension mountain bike for size before buying.
Depending on the bike you will also want to consider handle bar width crank arm length etc.
Different manufacturers build different bikes with different ratios of top tube to stand over.
For standard hardtails our mountain bike size chart should be a god send.
I m looking at a bike seller right now that recommends giving yourself an inch of space between inseam and standover height however the bike then that would work for me would be their extra small frame 43cm and recommended for riders 4 9 to 5 1 with a standover height of 30 5.
So if you have an inseam of 30 inches you ll want a road bike with a standover height of 31 inches and a mountain bike with a standover height of either 32 or 33 inches.
Gather a large hardcover book or notebook tape measure and pencil.