Originally Posted by
MegMC
Thanks for the thread recommendation! I do take your point about brands models but Craigslist results in my county of 10 million can be so overwhelming, I thought it might help to narrow things down a bit or think of certain eras or families of bikes that might serve the purposes I have outlined.
Hopefully with some of the leads I've got here and from other threads I can come back to forum with a more specific idea of what I'm looking for and continue from there.
MY SIZING:
My last modern road bike was size 51 cm and was fitted at LBS. I am 5'6" with a 31" inseam and not particularly long arms or legs.
Anything I should keep in mind looking at sizing for late 80s bikes vs my sizing for modern bike?
...there are some good online articles for sizing road bikes with level top tubes. A lot depends on your particular anatomy, and you need to strike a balance between top tube length (which is further adjustable by seat fore and aft, setback seat post or 0 setback post, and stem length by replacement), and seat tube length/top tube height so you can make the standover, and have the proper saddle height for optimal pedal stroke. It's kind of an experimental thing, and you'll know it when you figure it out. someone who has a lot of experience at doing this can be a help.
If you narrow some of your Google searches to "Columbus" , "Reynolds", "Double Butted", or even "classic road" and "vintage road", you can cut down on some of the ambient noise. Once you figure out your level top tube frame size, you can also search by that (eg 54 cm and 54cm. Oddly enough the space will sometimes give you different results.)