pepperbelly

Thanks.
I am just having to learn new stuff like stack and reach etc. used to all we did was make sure we didn’t get racked by the top bar.

pgjackson

As long as you aren't racking yourself the rest can be adjusted. If you find a bike you love and you can comfortably stand over it, that's probably close enough. Stems are cheap and easy to replace.

downhillmaster

This.
Obsessing over stack, reach, and stem angle are for weenies and wannabe fit gurus

Phil_gretz

^ this, and the prior discussion of stack and reach. Your torso length in proportion to your riding inseam matters a lot. I'm the opposite of @Maelochs, as I have a longer torso for my height. I have to size up to get the extension that feels right for my riding style. I tend to prefer the low and stretched out position, elbows bent and weight balanced (like a jockey).

cyccommute 

The rest of us have figured out how to make bikes fit without consulting a data base. In 44 years of bicycling and having owned 40 bikes, I have only had 2 that didn’t fit properly. I’ve never checked either stack or reach…they weren’t in existence for much of that 44 years…on any bike but, somehow, have 38 bikes that have fit me perfectly. I do check the frame “size” because even if the seat tube isn’t the same length as the “size”, the bikes are all proportional to the size of the bike. You won’t find too much variance in the ratio between the top tube and the seat tube for a give size, even if the top tube isn’t horizontal.

9 of the 10 bikes I currently own have come to me as frames. Several of them don’t even have geometry tables I could consult. I purchased them strictly by frame size, i.e. seat tube length. I’ve purchased others that I don’t currently own (or are in pieces right now) using the same gauche technique. Only one frames didn’t fit and that was because I made the mistake of thinking a frame size smaller than I normally use would fit.

I can even glance at a bike and tell if it is about right based only on the top tube/seat tube measurement. I can’t even think of how I could measure the reach and stack, much less estimate them. Additionally, based on the seat tube/top tube and stand over as well as the person’s height and/or inseam, I can get a pretty close fit to someone else.

And that’s all without even looking at the frame specs other than “size” and certainly without having to build a data base.

cyccommute 

If you have to err, do it to the smaller size. Unless you are prepubescent, you are unlikely to grow longer legs. If the frame is too small, you can add a longer stem and seatpost.

But, honestly, this is also one of those questions where if you have to ask, you probably shouldn’t be buying used. If you can find someone with experience in riding bikes and buying to go with you, you’ll have a better outcome.

That’s still a good starting point. Every bike shop I’ve ever walked into starts there. In nearly 45 years of hanging out in bike shops, I’ve never heard any sales persons ask “what top tube length do you need?” Similarly, I’ve never heard “stack and reach” come up at all. My wife (who is very small) does use a “cubit” measurement to see if the handle bars are too far away. If the handlebar doesn’t touch her middle finger with her elbow at the end of the saddle, she looks at a different bike. But she is out on the edges of fit and, unlike me, we have made many missteps on getting the size right. Most often that is due to the fact that there simply haven’t been sizes for her.

Flip Flop Rider

5'10 = 56 or 19/20 inch seat post to bb

blacknbluebikes 

Couple ideas that don't need much math, just to get some useful guidelines to take along shopping - which, as others said, is really what you need to do.
1. an experienced bike shop employee is just going to look at you and probably know. "You're probably a 56." "You are a 54 or a 56, try standing over this one first..."
2. any bike that comes pretty-damned-close can be a good start. but when it's close to fitting, you should not be at an extreme on any adjustable point - seat tube, bar height, etc. Capacity to fine-tune later.
3. you will likely make adjustments later, little bit here, little bit there. we all dial-it-in over the short run.
4. the holy grail is really getting yourself, over time, to the point where you know what a good fit feels like This is where some get "stuck for life" in that they ride a poor fit for years, not knowing that this-or-that little annoyance is because of the fit being off. Hey, you happy me happy, but... I sit on one of my bikes and say, "this feels like some engineer made this awesome exercise tool just for me." That's why you see folks raving about a professional fitting session (not cheap). Don't expect perfection, but your bike can fit you and feel like your favorite pair of shoes. And then you stop thinking about it for, like, for good.

philbob57

I agree with blacknbluebikes.

*****

56 cm is 22". How do you get 56 & 19/20"?

*****

The problem with a bike on the small size is that the seat to handlebar drop is likely to be greater than ideal. A new or returned rider who's not young (except to people my age) is unlikely to have the flexibility needed to ride comfortably. Smaller may be a good idea for a racer, but it's probably a bad idea for virtually everybody else.

I've used the Competitive Cyclist calculator. It's good, but it gives me a seat tube range that varies by 3.4 CM. That's not insignificant on its face - but it also says that all one needs to do to have a good ride is to get a bike that's in the right ball park. But one still needs to try it out.

The fact that the OP says he prefers a more upright position ... I'm not all that sure he's right. If the OP hasn't ridden the bike much, I think it's very possible that he really doesn't know what he'll prefer after a couple of hundred miles. Before I used a trainer, I had to reacclimate myself to my bike every year. Every year, I had to stretch uncomfortably to reach my brake levers at first. By mid-Summer, though, they fell under my hands naturally.

Pepperbelly, You've got a bike. My reco is to ride it more. Get used to it. Monitor yourself to figure out what works and what doesn't work. The Technium has a lot of fans and a lot of detractors; maybe yours id a good example, maybe not. Maybe you'll get comfortable, maybe not. There are rules of thumb for bike fitting, but not every ROT works for every person.

Until you ride a lot, you won't know what will work best for you. If you buy a new bike, you're putting yourself under the authority of people who don't know you. IOW, if you just give up your Raleigh, you will have to take the new bike essentially on faith and hope for the best.

If you ride the Raleigh - assuming 1) it fits within the parameters given by the bike fit calculators and 2) it's reasonably sound mechanically - you'll have an opportunity to find out what doesn't work for you, and your next bike will fit better.

Unless you want a new bike. If you're looking for an excuse to buy a new bike, the Raleigh could cost hundreds of dollars for maintenance, and a new bike is likely to be a lot safer. Downtube shifters are a big advance over the previous mechanisms, but you DO have to remove your hands from the bars to use them....

*****

I'm ride a bike based on my 1973 MKM frame, 21" ST, 22" TT. I might be happier with a new bike, but I just can't afford something that's equivalent to my current bike - 531 throughout, Campy Record hubs, TA Cyclotouriste crank. Besides the bike I can ride are square, and I feel like I'm hanging out over the front wheel. I could get used to that, but since I don't have to....