how small is ”to small” for a frame?

[Soren]

Hello!

My heigt is 181cm (5`9``) and I find online a 16 size Diamondback Axis (top-tube is 21.7 inch).

I know is small, but it wil be ridicoulous small? It will be impossible to ride?

Thanks!



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[merckx]

yeah i would say you are better suited to a 18 inch frame.

a bike that is too small is very unpleasant to ride, both in top tube and seat tube dimension.

 

[Andy R]

I'm about the same height as you and, looking at that Diamond back, I think I'd happily ride it. Effective top tube (measured horizontally) is probably 22" so it's not that small.
In other words, it's about the same size as the '88 Kona Explosif that I used to race on back in the late eighties/early nineties and I did reasonably well on that, so.......
Of course, back then we used to use 130mm stems and stupidly narrow bars whereas now I wouldn't use a stem over 100mm (that's what I have on my old Kona now) nor do I use bars under 660mm wide.
I find that the wider bars seem to compensate for the shorter stem as far as fit and handling goes.

It all depends what sort of riding you want to do and whether you want to keep it period correct (stupidly long stem and narrow bars then) or not.

Take a look at that Carver 96er of mine in the post 1998 bikes section - that, on the face of it, looks too small but, after a couple of rides, I'm finding it to be a really playful little thing......

 

[Reluctant]

Welcome to RB, Boris!
Some of this will depend on your body dimensions. I think you will get the saddle height you need, but might find it a bit on the short side to the handlebars. I'm 5'9" as well and tend to ride 17 or 18 in most brands, but if the Diamond Back is measured centre to centre, it may well be ok for you. It looks good, and if it's a good price, I'd risk it!

 

[Soren]

Thank you all!

Now I have a 20` Trek950 which I find too large for me:






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Strange is that the 20`Trek has 22,6 Top-Tube and the 16`DB has 21,7, acoording to the brochures. Also, the 20`Trek has 30.7 in heigt and the 16`DB has 29.2!!
Very confusing!

 

[kingoffootball]

181cm is about 5'11", so it depends whether you're 5'9" or 5'11"

 

[Agency_Scum]

Me on every bike, recently.

 

[sylus]

Just for me..being 6ft 3 and 17-18 stones depending on how much chocolate I can find ..it works like this

back in the day when I did seriuosly have a off road habit...I would use a 17 inch bike purely because I hardly sat in the saddle and the smaller lighter bike paid dividends

now not so grrrr..I tend to use 18-19's for off road and 19-20 for on road/light off road when using a mtb or 22 when on a road bike.

My biggest worry on using a very small frame is that given the weight and height I would be constantly worried the small frame long seat post would make me look like I stole a kids bike and also, that the post will break causing me to fall and look even more stupid than I usually am

 

[kingoffootball]

I'm a little over 6'3" and I find any bike below 20" I need a longer-than-commonly-available seatpost if I want to ride it regularly.

So my rule to myself is not to consider anything below 20", which helps resist tempting bikes!

 

[Soren]

Hm... so, the main drawback will be the fragility of a seatpost??