robertj298 

I heard the term French fit the other day and I thought well heck I've been riding
French fit for quite a while and didn't even know it. This 65 year old body is more comfortable
riding that way. I'm 5'11" tall and my newest 62cm Sequoia rides very nice with the seat low
and parallel with the top of the bar stem.

52telecaster

my son likes french fit. Since i run my stems quite high perhaps i would too.

Wildwood 

I'm 6'1" and have had a couple of bikes that were very large for me, but the tall head tubes meant that some stems got slammed (Raleigh). Not much saddle to bar drop. Long stem on the Raleigh SuperCourse made it feel like a time trial position, nicely stretched out - possible as the top tubes stayed relatively short. Some bikes feel whippy in the largest size, as did the Trek. Both gone to a new home, not too far away.


these are in the almost-too-tall to standover category

Funny in hindsight, as presently the majority of my vintage bikes are 58ish cm.

non-fixie 

Well, it certainly sounds better than "way-too-big-a-frame fit", doesn't it?

BTW, I like it too:

noobinsf 

Also a fan, though I get what @Wildwood says about whippiness. The top one, a Campania Professional, is prone to feeling wobbly.

seedsbelize 

And another here. Short stems and low seats. I have become a 'smell the roses' type rider in my old age, so 'whippy is as whippy does'. My fave is a full SL Trek, followed by a mostly Ishiwata 022 Trek, and then a full Tange Prestige Paramount. All too big and none whippy.

Cougrrcj

These two might look different since the stem on the Fuji is definitely taller, but look at the position of the drops - both are mid-headtube. The Fuji's bars have a LOT more drop than the Miyata.







Both saddles are the same height above the toptube. It took me a bit of tweaking to get the 'fit' on both bikes the same. Oh, and Miyata saddle nose is now tipped a bit higher than when this pic was taken...

Mad Honk 

I don't really care what it is called, but my preference is for a lower seat post and a slightly longer top tube coupled with 64 drop bars. The 65's felt too low for me. I've taken a bit of hassle for that position forever but for me it is just comfortable. Smiles, MH

SurferRosa

You're talking about the bike you want to sell because you can't straddle the top tube flat footed, right?

robertj298 

I said I was considering selling or trading it That was before I actually rode it. I can straddle it flat footed but theres no room to spare.

Nemosengineer 

There's nothing like the feel of cold steel on a frosty morning.

: Mike

fender1

My French Fit candidate.

BikeWonder

Honestly this cleared up a lot of conflict.
I thought my Miyata was too big, but when I took it on tour it was very comfortable last year. I didn't know "French Fit" was a thing and now supposedly it was the fit I've been using all along (minus stem position). I will probably sleep better tonight, lol.

SurferRosa

Oh, ok. I got a different impression from your other thread (below)...

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robertj298 

Quess I changed my mind after riding it. Is that allowed?

desconhecido 

Absolutely, in my opinion.

As to being able to straddle a bike flat-footed, it's not something I ever do. I think most of my bikes are about 54 cm ctt and they're just fine even though I'm 5'6" with short legs and can't straddle them flat-footed. Any bike much smaller feels cramped to me.

Wildwood 

LOL !!!

Confucius sez: any Frenchfit-man who intentionally straddles his top tube deserves a frosty morning and cold steel feel.

SurferRosa

It's difficult to change your mind about standover height or what was said, but you can certainly change your mind about how you currently feel about what was said.

robertj298 

Of course I can change my mind about what I said. What I meant to say was I can't comfortably straddle it flat footed. I can also change my mind about trading it or selling it. I don't have it up for sale anywhere.

Pompiere

This one may have carried "French Fit" to the extreme. I'm 5'8" with a 33" inseam, so I had to be really careful with the 34" standover height on this 63.5 cm Paramount. However, once in motion, all that mattered was that I could reach the pedals and handlebars. If the frame had been one size smaller, I would have kept it, but it's been moved on to someone much taller than me. Columbus tubing made a fantastic ride.


1984 Paramount Touring

Wildwood 

We have a winner?
5'8" on a 25" Paramount

dddd

Some frames have a much shorter forward reach for a given frame size than others.

A shorter top tube and/or a slacker seat tube angle can both play a part here.

"French Fit" doesn't refer to a bike with a lower saddle, only to a bike with a higher toptube relative to the saddle.

These bike's frames are relatively large for my 5'9" body, even as I have long legs.
But their "slack" frame angles (71 and 72-degrees, respectively) pull the long toptubes rearward, sufficiently for me to find a best fit using a 115/120mm stem!

ascherer 

Clockwise from top left, my four stages of French-ness. Ironically the actual French bike is the least French-fitting.

Cougrrcj

I used to be 5'8-1/2" with only a 29-30" pants inseam, but have shrunk over the years to barely 5'7". I am long of torso and arms (34" sleeve), so I prefer a longer frame. I can barely straddle a 23" frame, flatfooted, but then who does that anyway. The bike shops tried to steer me to a 21" frame (back when Fuji only sold odd-inch-size frames) but I felt cramped front-to-back. The two Univegas are 23"-frames as well. My Miyata is a 57cm.

ThermionicScott 

If one wanted to be really strict about it, this might be the only true "French fit" bike in the thread so far. That is, in the sense of using the largest possible frame for the rider.


(Image of an Automoto advertisement -- although not in the native French -- pilfered from ebykr.com, which everyone should visit!)