What matters is riding position - distance seat to hand position, seat to pedals and pedals to hands. How you get this right is purely personal preference.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
How important is frame size.
Re: How important is frame size.
What matters is riding position - distance seat to hand position, seat to pedals and pedals to hands. How you get this right is purely personal preference.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
Re: How important is frame size.
What matters is riding position - distance seat to hand position, seat to pedals and pedals to hands. How you get this right is purely personal preference.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
Re: How important is frame size.
What matters is riding position - distance seat to hand position, seat to pedals and pedals to hands. How you get this right is purely personal preference.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
I am a little over 6 feet tall. I ended up with a 24" Hobbs of Barbican frame (second hand - its older than me) because it was the right size for me. I hardly ride it as I prefer my other 2 bikes - especially the one I got on my 11th birthday - a 19.5" frame. I've changed everything on it over the years. It has a 4" handlebar stem and the longest seat post I could find and it just fits. It is comfy. It works and that is all that matters.
Re: How important is frame size.
So good, you had to post it 5 times over
There are positives and negatives to every sizing choice. In the balance, for non-competitive riding, I think frames on the larger end of a persons ridable spectrum provide more benefits than negatives for most people. My criteria for a frame will not be the same as the next persons though and people should make their choices according to what is important to them. If you don't have large feet or use toe clips, there is less necessity for a long front centre, for instance.
I have to say, it does seem a little odd to me that the most important component with respect to ride quality and stability is given such short shrift when it comes to cyclists. They can talk about the minute differences between certain derailleurs and wheels all day long, but the most important thing of all, the frame and its geometry, barely gets a mention.
Not really, things are not black and white, but shades of grey. By your argument you could ride an extensively modified BMX frame (sorry 531colin!) with the same contact points and there would be no disadvantage to doing so. It is not personal preference that such a bike would handle worse than a larger one with a longer wheelbase.TimP wrote:It works and that is all that matters.
There are positives and negatives to every sizing choice. In the balance, for non-competitive riding, I think frames on the larger end of a persons ridable spectrum provide more benefits than negatives for most people. My criteria for a frame will not be the same as the next persons though and people should make their choices according to what is important to them. If you don't have large feet or use toe clips, there is less necessity for a long front centre, for instance.
I have to say, it does seem a little odd to me that the most important component with respect to ride quality and stability is given such short shrift when it comes to cyclists. They can talk about the minute differences between certain derailleurs and wheels all day long, but the most important thing of all, the frame and its geometry, barely gets a mention.