Used road bikes 5'4 30-31" ish inseam

Drew Eckhardt

My girlfriend (5'4" and my 30" inseam jeans don't drag on the ground
when she wears them) would like to buy a bicycle with gears for
transportation arround town.

I'm a roadie and she'd like to have the same efficiency I do if/when we start
doing longer rides together - hence the desire for a road bike instead of a
hybrid. She doesn't know if she'll get that far and doesn't want to worry
about the bike so we want a used one. Presta valves and 700c wheels would be
good.

The questions are 1) What sort of top tube + stem length are we looking
for (I'm 6" taller with the same inseam, so I'm thinking the dimension
up top is going to matter a lot more than seat tube length) and 2) what price
range are we looking at (brifter or downtube shifter).

--
<a href="http://www.poohsticks.org/drew/">Home Page</a>
Life is a terminal sexually transmitted disease.

Ryan Cousineau

In article <ku9p6c.ok62.ln@revolt.poohsticks.org>,
drew@revolt.poohsticks.org (Drew Eckhardt) wrote:

> My girlfriend (5'4" and my 30" inseam jeans don't drag on the ground
> when she wears them) would like to buy a bicycle

> I'm a roadie and she'd like to have the same efficiency I do

> The questions are 1) What sort of top tube + stem length are we looking
> for (I'm 6" taller with the same inseam, so I'm thinking the dimension
> up top is going to matter a lot more than seat tube length) and 2) what price
> range are we looking at (brifter or downtube shifter).

1) um, about a 48 cm frame, give or take a couple of cm?

2) $0-3000 for a decent bike with 700c (road) wheels and a nice frame.

I know that second answer sounds like I'm joking, but I took home a
thrown-away bike that was an early-80s Nishiki with downtube
(non-indexed) shifters, good aluminum wheels, and it was even about the
right size for your wife. At the upper end, well, you could buy a new
machine with Dura-Ace or Record and spend at least $3000.

Used index-shifting road bikes (typically early Shimano 6-speed; my
friend Dave points out these frequently have shifters on the verge of
failure when they get dumped) seem to go for $100-300. You can upgrade a
nice old bike for several hundred in parts and a bit of elbow grease to
new dt/barcon 9-speed; the difficulty is dependent on whether you have
to swap freehubs or get a freehub-hub or wheel. Other parts necessary
are shifters, derailleurs, and a new cassette.

--
Ryan Cousineau, rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Paul Kopit

On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:24:07 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <rcousine@sfu.ca>
wrote:

>1) um, about a 48 cm frame, give or take a couple of cm?

I think that the 48 cm frame willl be too small. The 30" pants inseam
is equivalent to ~33" inseam to floor. That would be a 54-56 cm
bicycle.

Ryan Cousineau

In article <8t5290d69hs8c21s9s3lh2n3lekmigtkcc@4ax.com>,
Paul Kopit <p.kopit@SPAMverizon.net> wrote:

> On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:24:07 -0700, Ryan Cousineau <rcousine@sfu.ca>
> wrote:
>
> >1) um, about a 48 cm frame, give or take a couple of cm?
>
> I think that the 48 cm frame willl be too small. The 30" pants inseam
> is equivalent to ~33" inseam to floor. That would be a 54-56 cm
> bicycle.

Are you sure? The proof is in the fitting, but I have a 30" pants
inseam, and I tend to ride 52-54 cm frames.

One bit of confusion might be that there are two ways of measuring
frames (centre-of-BB to centre-of-top-tube, or centre-of-BB to top-of
seat-tube; these are abbreviated C-C and C-T, and generally come out a
few cm different). Another bit of confusion is that this bike would be
for a woman, and in general (though not in all cases) women run to
shorter torsos (and longer legs) than men of the same height.

Thus, in a conventionally sized frame, a woman might expect to need to
get a bit smaller size (to get a shorter top tube) and more exposed
seatpost (see, compact design benefits most women . You can also
change to a shorter stem, but it's usually easier to raise a seat than
to shorten a stem.

Finally, small bikes tend towards women-specific geometry anyway, so it
may be moot in the end. Frames in this size range tend to look a lot
like compact-geometry frames, so nowadays you could probably get a 48 cm
frame to fit anybody between 5'2" and 5'8".

--
Ryan Cousineau, rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Robert Brown

Drew Eckhardt wrote:

> My girlfriend (5'4" and my 30" inseam jeans don't drag on the ground
> when she wears them) would like to buy a bicycle with gears for
> transportation arround town.
>
> I'm a roadie and she'd like to have the same efficiency I do if/when we start
> doing longer rides together - hence the desire for a road bike instead of a
> hybrid. She doesn't know if she'll get that far and doesn't want to worry
> about the bike so we want a used one. Presta valves and 700c wheels would be
> good.
>
> The questions are 1) What sort of top tube + stem length are we looking
> for (I'm 6" taller with the same inseam, so I'm thinking the dimension
> up top is going to matter a lot more than seat tube length) and 2) what price
> range are we looking at (brifter or downtube shifter).

I won't take up the challenge of suggesting a frame size without seeing the
person to be fitted. Then one will find that the ideal frame size may vary
depending on the manufacturer, for the same person. Even period of manufacture
will affect things. Appears that top tubes have gotten longer these past years.

My inseam (crotch bone to floor) is 85 cm (about 33 1/2 in) and I am 178 cm (5
foot 10). The perfect frame for me, years ago, was 56 cm, if it was an Alan. But
I found myself choosing a Colnago of size 54 cm (in fact 52,5 cm from centre bb
to top of top tube) a while back. Seat post sticks a long way out. Not at all the
same size as the Alan, but this frame suits me much better, due to the correct
length of top tube and where I can put the stem (quite low).

Best advice is to get to a proper cycle shop whose personnel are well-qualified
to see what your girlfriend needs and can recognise good fit vs. bad fit when she
sits on a candidate bike.

/Robert

rocketman58

.... I think that the 48 cm frame willl be too small. The 30" pants
inseam
> is equivalent to ~33" inseam to floor. That would be a 54-56 cm
> bicycle...

54-56cm is way too big for a 30" inseam. How do you get an additional
3" to the floor?

I have a 29.5" inseam and I am 5'5". I have never been able to ride a
frame larger than a 50cm (and even that was too large). My last road
frame was a 46cm. It was the best fitting frame I ever had. I
finally had an inch or so of clearance between the top tube and my
crotch.

Women often ride a smaller frame than a guy, since they often need a
shorter top tube (as found on smaller frames).

I know you are looking for a complete bike, but I have my Reynods 631
frame with carbon fork for sale cheap. It has less than 30 miles on it
(it's so nice, I could sell it as new - I also have a set of brakes
and other misc parts.) Even though it is the nicest riding road frame
I have owned, I find I can no longer ride a standard bike. I am
switching back to a recumbent. Let me know if you are interested.

artisticwill@worldnet.att.net

Justin Seiferth

drew@revolt.poohsticks.org (Drew Eckhardt) wrote in message news:<ku9p6c.ok62.ln@revolt.poohsticks.org>...
> My girlfriend (5'4" and my 30" inseam jeans don't drag on the ground
> when she wears them) would like to buy a bicycle with gears for
> transportation arround town.
>
> The questions are 1) What sort of top tube + stem length are we looking
> for (I'm 6" taller with the same inseam, so I'm thinking the dimension
> up top is going to matter a lot more than seat tube length) and 2) what price
> range are we looking at (brifter or downtube shifter).

I would agree with the other poster who recommended a 48/49cm frame
size. I have 31" legs and find my 49cm Bianchi Axis very comfortable.
On the other hand my road bike is 54cm Habanero. The Axis is a much
better around town bike because I don't have issues at stop lights- it
takes much less coordination to get going and if I have to put down a
leg in a hurry it's just less intimidating. She's going to have a
fairly short torso so the smaller frame will mean less stretching
which new cyclists always seem to find very uncomfortable.

Along those same lines I'd recommend looking at some of the
Specialized Sirrus and Seqouia models. They have flat bar and road bar
models all of which have rack and fender mounts, 700c tires, good
brakes and road tires. They are also reasonably priced. My only
objection to them is the lack of choice in groups (Shimano only).