Originally Posted by Road Fan

Jim, your standover height is probably just fine as it is.

I'd like to still suggest you measure your inseam, but we haven't told you how to do it. Generally the method is as follows:

1. Collect the stuff you will need: an assistant, a tape measure or yardstick that reads in millimeters or in sixteenths of an inch (yes, it needs to be precise!), and a large book 1" thick or a small stack of vinyl record albums.

2. stand barefoot on a hard floor with your back against a wall.
3. take a large book about 1" thick and pull it up into your crotch as hard as you can. It needs to stay square against the wall.
4. While you are pulling the book up hard, have your assistant measure the vertical distance from the top of the book to the floor.
5. Read the ruler carefully and write down the number.
6. Repeat two more times. The correct number is the largest of the three.

This is your cycling inseam, or pubic bone height. It's the actual length of your leg from where your pelvis puts weight on the saddle to the bottom of your heel bone. You can see this number is different from trouser inseam and from the hip bone height. You can use this to find a starting point for saddle height. We've been talking a lot about frame sizing, but this is the start of bicycle fitting.

Multiply your cycling inseam by 0.883 to "Greg LeMond" height. Write it down. That number should be the distance from the center of the bottom bracket, or crank spindle, to the top of the saddle measuring along the seat tube. For a lot of people this is the correct saddle height, and it's a good starting point for just about anyone, since it's reproducible. There's a minor variation due to crank length, but let's just handle that later.

This saddle setting should be safe for your knees, give you decent power and spin capability, and let you start fine-tunign your lean from a solid basis. The saddle height is the most important thing, since it affects your knee health.