@
reluctantsuburb,
With your stated 89cm PBH, which is very similar to my own, all of those bikes except perhaps the big yellow Peugeot, would probably end up too small. You said that 60cm seemed like a good size, and depending on bottom bracket height, you very likely could go bigger. My black Miyata 912 in Post #16 is a 25”/62.5cm frame that still fits well after more than 40 years (with appropriate cockpit adjustments as I’ve changed). FWIW, I spent about 38,000 very happy miles on a 60cm Klein in my 40’s and early 50’s (now 72YO), but it became increasingly difficult to get the bars high enough as I lost torso length and flexibility over the years, which is one of the problems with trying to make a too-small frame work.
Remember that frame size in the US is usually specified from the center of the bottom bracket (BB) to the top of the Top Tube (TT), often abbreviated as ctt. If a frame has a higher BB, then the standover height will be greater
for the same frame size. That’s not important to everyone, but its worth noting. And that could be important to you as you get used to a different style of riding. I recently worked hard to make a very nice 25.5” Fuji S12-S Ltd meet my needs, but because Fuji uses a significantly higher BB, it ultimately seemed a bit too big even though the frame size was very similar to my Miyata and other 63cm bike with BB’s about 1cm lower. But that could mean that a 24” Fuji might work very well for you! Fujis and Miyatas of the 80’s are really well-built, nicely finished, intelligently equipped, and lend themselves to upgrading with newer components.
Are you aware of this sticky?
https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...t-w-links.html
Being able to peruse the catalogs of bikes that looks interesting can be very helpful.
And that Saint Tropez? Besides looking distinctly small, the “turkey” brake levers, chain ring protector and big chrome spoke protector are all signs of a lower end frame, rarely one made with better tubing and construction.
That big yellow Peugeot shares some of those lower end indicators. But its worth noting that lower end “Pugs” get rave reviews for great ride quality. One of my best friends has a newer but similar lower quality Pug that he absolutely loves.