Bike sizes.

[Chris Woodhead]

Sorry, it's me again.

16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the height
to saddle.

I can sense you all looking skyward at this question, but it would be a big
help if anyone could explain.

Thanks in advance.

[Tony Raven]

Chris Woodhead wrote:
> Sorry, it's me again.
>
> 16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the height
> to saddle.
>
> I can sense you all looking skyward at this question, but it would be a big
> help if anyone could explain.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>

Wheel size

(Looks skywards <grin>)

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

[Mick]

Tony Raven wrote:
> Chris Woodhead wrote:
>> Sorry, it's me again.
>>
>> 16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or
>> the height to saddle.
>>
>> I can sense you all looking skyward at this question, but it would
>> be a big help if anyone could explain.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>>
>
> Wheel size
>
> (Looks skywards <grin>)

Ahhh I don't think so...

http://www.trifuel.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-647.html

"Measure from the center of the bottom bracket (where the crank axle is) up
the seat tube (the part the seat is attached to) to the point where the
center of the top tube (the tube connecting the seat tube to the hadlebars)
intersects the center of the seat tube. That is the "frame size c-c"
measurement."

Or did I just completely miss the sarcasm in the above answer??? <grin>

Mick

[Zog The Undeniable]

Chris Woodhead wrote:

> Sorry, it's me again.
>
> 16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the height
> to saddle.
>
> I can sense you all looking skyward at this question, but it would be a big
> help if anyone could explain.

It's the length of the seat tube from the centre of the bottom bracket
to *either* the top of the top tube or the centre of the top tube (where
it meets the seat tube). Often indicated "centre to centre" or "centre
to top" to avoid confusion.

One BIG caveat. Some frames - and nearly all modern mountain bikes -
have sloping top tubes. This makes the seat tube unusually small, so a
16" frame may actually be for a very large rider. Sometimes a "virtual"
seat tube measurement is given, which is what the length of the seat
tube would be if the top tube were in fact horizontal.

Anyway, top tube length is more important with modern frames, which tend
to have relatively longer top tubes than in the past. A rider who used
a 23" frame from the 1980s might not feel cramped on a 21" frame these days.

[Tony Raven]

Mick wrote:

>
> Or did I just completely miss the sarcasm in the above answer??? <grin>
>

Damn, rumbled!

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

[Pete Biggs]

Mick wrote:
> Tony Raven wrote:

>> Wheel size

> Or did I just completely miss the sarcasm in the above answer???
> <grin>

Are there not 16", 18" and 20" wheels? Frame sizes seem to more often
come in odd numbers (when in inches).

Could be either, I s'pose.

~PB

[Naqerj]

Chris Woodhead wrote:
> Sorry, it's me again.
>
> 16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the height
> to saddle.
>

*Traditionally*, it's the size of the frame measured from the bottom
bracket up to the top of the seat tube... but... there is an increasing
tendency to quote wheel sizes instead, particularly with children's
bikes. If those particular sizes you quoted are from children's bikes
then they're wheel diameters, if they're adult bikes they're frame sizes
(probably of MTB-style frames)...

although...

they could possibly be wheel sizes of folders.

--
Andrew

[Simon Brooke]

in message >, Chris
Woodhead ') wrote:

> Sorry, it's me again.
>
> 16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the
> height to saddle.

Inch sizes of bicycles _used_ _to_ refer to the distance from the centre
of the bottom bracket axle to the centre or top of the top tube,
measured along the line of the seat tube. However this measurement is
now usually given in centimetres and in any case in these days of
'compact' frame designs is much less useful than it used to be.
Nowadays, inch sizes, particularly in kids bikes, often do mean the
wheel size.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; 99% of browsers can't run ActiveX controls. Unfortunately
;; 99% of users are using the 1% of browsers that can...
[seen on /. 08:04:02]

[Alan Braggins]

Chris Woodhead wrote:
>Sorry, it's me again.
>
>16", 18" and 20" bikes refer to what? is it the wheel diameter or the height
>to saddle.

Depends on context. Childrens' bikes are sometimes sold with wheel size being
the only size listed, or at least the most prominent size. Otherwise frame
size is as described by other posters.

[Peter B]

"Simon Brooke" > wrote in message
...
>However this measurement is
> now usually given in centimetres and in any case in these days of
> 'compact' frame designs is much less useful than it used to be.

Beg to differ, pukka road bikes tend to be measured in centimetres while
mtbs and pseudo mtbs are in inches.
Pseudo mtbs are often only available in larger inch sizes as they are
marketed by the clueless to the clueless and will probably never be ridden
in an environment or in such a manner where the rider is painfully made
aware of the benefits of a low standover height.
Mind you, the foregoing is probably moot as psuedo mtbs usually come with Y
frames so the back end can he hinged to incororate an unregulated energy
storage device to add to the riding experience.

Pete