Modern Bike Sizes

It could indeed!!!!! That seat would suit my build though!!! LMAO

mattr":4iksotqk said:

Could be worse i suppose.......

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What in the name of the baby jesus is that meant to be for??

It is known as an orangutang bike - designed of those with rather long arms and much shorter legs - with displaced knees. I fall into one category but not the other.

Tazio":2b4mjk2k said:

What in the name of the baby jesus is that meant to be for??

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It was a special prototype used by Steve Bauer for the Paris-Roubaix. Idea being stability and comfort.
Reality being it was an utter dog and the idea died on its ar5e.
Much like suspension forks for road bikes.

Dont really subscribe to new bike sizes protocol.

Now when bikes had proper horizontal crossbars it was easy, esp when its in inches...

mattr":1uvj8z9d said:

Tazio":1uvj8z9d said:

What in the name of the baby jesus is that meant to be for??

Click to expand...

It was a special prototype used by Steve Bauer for the Paris-Roubaix. Idea being stability and comfort.
Reality being it was an utter dog and the idea died on its ar5e.
Much like suspension forks for road bikes.

Click to expand...

I'm sure I put a copy of an article about it in the archive somewhere. It was called a 'stealth' bike and he had to train on it for months before the P-R race to get used to the pedalling action and position.

At the time, the next great thing in bike racing - NOT!

And old school frames over about 56-58 cm look bloody horrible. Might as well just get a 5 bar gate and put some wheels on it.[/quote]

Really? Type R Honda or Facel Vega?

These look mighty fine to me.
http://vintagekogamiyata.com/tag/63cm/

I agree with the 5 bar gate theory too..........

I thought that mountain bikes had laid all this to rest.My road bikes range from lo pro and compact up to the full height traditional frames. They all look o.k. to me and I think that the reason for that is that they share the shed with a mountain bike with a long seat post. Once you accept the mtb the rest look normal. I cant say I like square frames though. One of them looks square and its not quite right. A bike should look like it is designed to go forward not upward. Having said that once I am riding it its not something that bothers me.One thing compacts have done is make life a lot better for people with long bodies and short legs.I see it as simply another alternative to allow people a better fit and that has got to be a good thing.Perhaps we should do less looking and more riding.
Regards
Peter

I think that the driving force behind it is ease of manufacturing and therefore cost. I usually take a 54cm traditional steel. When I was on holiday last year I hired a bike rather than lug mine. The shop was a Cannondale dealer so the sizes were 52cm or 54cm. Neither fitted the way I'd have liked - a 53 would have been spot on so this year I took mine back out with me. The fad for longer headtubes has really only created more confusion fit wise as well as making some all time highs in the grotesque looks competition.