Originally Posted by
Krov9
My issue is closely related so I figured I'd post it here - I don't mean to hijack this thread but add to the conversation
Anyways, I'm 160 cm / 5'3" -ish in height with a <70 cm / 27 & 9/16" inseam (from ground, no shoes). Now to the important stuff that's body proportions: according to my signifigant other, I've got a "confusingly long" torso, and I think my arms are a bit long too in relation to my legs and my height.
Bikes I've ridden (extensively/recently):
Kona Bike -10, 15,5": frame felt too long and too low.
Late 80's Schwinn Impact, seat tube something like 48 cm / 19", standover (have to check) could not be any higher or I'd risk crushing my groin.
Mercier mixte (late 70's): something like 52 cm seat tube, 53 cm effective top tube, about an inch of saddle post showing. It's a step-through so things are a bit different.
Bike size calculators give me wildly varying estimates ranging from 46cm to 51 cm so go figure.
...
Anyway,if you bothered reading this far, it would be interesting to hear what some of you have to say about these hesitant considerations
Not a pro fitter, not even close, but I've built a few bikes in my life...for others, and for me. 3 of those on the left, that I currently ride, were purchased as frames and then built up. What I personally discovered many moons ago was that finding the right frame size from my inseam was the best starting point. The stem gets a little trickier because on a "modern" threadless headset, you have to account for stem height (with spacers or not), stem angle (achieved by how it is installed), and of course stem length. These 3 in combination place the bar tops (and drops) at a certain position in relationship the seat both in terms of height and distance and changing any one of those doesn't necessarily translate to a linear change of the bar position.
I will assume that you already have a decent working knowledge of bikes and a decent sense of "right" when it comes to the fit you like, based on your descriptions above. Perhaps going to Geometry Geeks and plugging in one or more of the bikes you listed, and then comparing them to the bile you want to build will help guide you to a good starting point. The site has an extensive database of bikes, and if the bike you want to compare isn't there, but you can get the geometry for it, you can add it.