What size frame for 5'4" and 5'6" riders mtb

[LikeClockwork]

Re:

5'6", 29" inside leg...struggling with the Zaskar for stand over and that's a 16" centre to centre (so 18" to the top) but I am a guuurrrlll and I can't remember if we have longer reach/shorter legs than men or if it's the other way around.... :facepalm:

Agree with the 16" Kona theory though, for some reason they do seem to suit a wider range of heights than most for the size....

 

[The History Man]

Thanks for all the replies. Very useful. They will be for road, towpath and light trails so sounds like 17 max will be favourite.

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

Are you looking for a ready built bike or one to build ?

 

[LikeClockwork]

Re:

Should add, I was once tasked with this sort of thing, and found that an earlier Halfrauds Apollo was actually pretty good value for money....and surprisingly easy to set up nicely. Just a thought.

 

[The History Man]

Full bikes X 2. Cheap as possible.

 

[Raging_Bulls]

Re:

I'm 5'8 with a 30.5" inseam, and this is what a 16.5" C-C frame (even though it's officially a 16") looks like when set up for me :



Personally I think I'd go no bigger than a 17" for him, and 16-ish for her.

 

[weeman_mtb]

I'm 5' 6" ish and tend to ride 16". Although I think it's fair to say that I have 'Black Country' legs (weemanmtb and co will know what I mean!) so someone else 5' 6" might need a taller frame than me! One other possible approach (while not wanting to undermine what's been said further up the thread) could be to ask your colleagues to sit on a couple of bikes down at Halfords or something to see what size they feel comfortable with, and then look for those.

I've been standing in the mirror trying to decide if I've got "Black Country legs" or whether I'm just generally a short arse.

Anyway, I'm about 5'4" and ride bikes between 16" and 18", got a couple of 19" too but they're a bit big for any serious offroad. Just been around with the tape measure and the bikes that fit me best all have a top tube of around 21" c-c.

 

[petitpal]

I've been standing in the mirror trying to decide if I've got "Black Country legs" or whether I'm just generally a short arse.

I only meant to imply that you understand the term...

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

A 90s kona in a size 16" is the ideal size with suitable 80/100mm stem with suspension at around the second half of the 90s.
Possibly dropping to 170mm crank
At 5'6" and 29" inseam (real I hope and not trouser, otherwise add an inch or two. If that is trouser than a 18" would be ideal with a cm or so longer stem and standard length arms.


But for budget el BSOs then just go try some out, not quite designed in the same way as MTBs as they cater for drop the bike on a wall and push it up a slight incline to work people.

5'4" is more on the border of both so ride which ever seems nicer or more you can get hold of.

Konas size charts are pretty good to go by and quite detailed.


How cheap is cheap as there are some nice modern 29er in Go outdoors called whistler you can get pretty cheap and a mate wife loves it.

 

[The History Man]

Re:

Going to get two full bikes for £150 so very much in bso territory. Doable though with Raleigh etc.