Standover - How much is enough?

[Zeena]

How much standover do you really need? I've always heard 2-3". I've been looking at full suspension bikes and the standover listed in the spec's for the small frames is almost always 28" or more. Since I have a 29" inseam, this leaves me 1" or less of clearance. Is 1" enough? What happens if you don't have enough standover? I've fallen off the back of my bike a couple of times, and gone over the bars a million times, but I've never landed on the top tube...

[Z]

I would say YES you need lots of standover height. And I wouldn't necessarily go by the specs - I'd recommend going out there and ride the bikes. Off road, if at all possible.

How tall are you? A 29" inseam doesn't seem THAT short. I can't believe that you can't find a bike that would fit you... then again, I am not that short either, and I continually come across designs in everyday life that were designed by, and presumably for, 6-foot tall men. Argh.

Good luck!

[johnbryanpeters]

Well, the goal, really, is not to whallop your crotch on the bar if you slip off a pedal - one inch sounds thin by a factor of about three.

J

[knucklebuste]

Or you could get a wacked out bike like me and not worry about the standover.

[Zeena]

I'm 5'2", which is not freakishly short for a chic. I'm totally frustrated with the (lack of) choice of fullys I have. The seat and top tubes on the XSs are too short and the standover on the Smalls is not enough. And while I'm at it, the "women's specific" production bikes are silly - obviously targeted at beginners - big, wide seats, slack head angles, and high-rise bars. And the parts are crappy and they're not available as frames only. I, for one, don't want to be sitting bolt upright and a big wide seat just makes it hard to get my big wide nonbeginner ass off the back.

The SC Julianna is a serious bike for serious riders, and it would probably fit me, but I was hoping for something w/ more travel. My '02 loco moto was nice, but it cracked mortally after less than a year, and the '03 replacement was too small! Oh well, I still love my IF, and there's always the Julianna if nothing else fits, or I could build me up a nice freeride hardtail - long-travel fork, big fat tires... hmm

Reenie



How tall are you? A 29" inseam doesn't seem THAT short. I can't believe that you can't find a bike that would fit you... then again, I am not that short either, and I continually come across designs in everyday life that were designed by, and presumably for, 6-foot tall men. Argh.

Good luck!

[MMcG]

I recommend contacting Ventana USA.....I think they can make a 13" Ventana Pantera that would work well for you. Maybe even a production 15" frame would do the trick for you.

The Pantera offers 4" of rear travel but with a Romic shock I've read that it feels like more. Or perhaps you could look into the El Chamuco which is the same frame style, but with 6" of travel I believe.

http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/P1010513.jpg

http://www.ventanausa.com

From the looks of the frame and the comments on Mountain bike review the Pantera is a bombproof frame.

Plus the Ventana way of doing business is cool as hell. In house production, great customer service, owner loyalty trade in program, they also had a rent a bike for a week program where for a $100 deposit you can ride the bike to see if it's right for you....if so, that $100 gets credited towards your purchase.

The guys up at Hilltop Ski and Bike in Maine recently established a dealer relationship with Ventana. Give em a call or send em an email to see what they might be able to do for you. http://www.hilltopskibike.net/index.htm

Ask for Brian or Don if you call.

Good luck!

MMcG

[AA]

Zeena,

My wife is 5' and she is riding a 13" Jamis Dakar Expert, Fits her very well. Jenson USA usually has them so I checked the site and all they have is 15" 2001 models

http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product.asp?number=18860

My guess is that they will probably start getting the 2002 models and sell them pretty cheap

Good luck

[MMcG]

AA's suggestion is another good one.

You may be able to find a 13" Jamis in a Local Bike shop......perhaps getting a great deal on an '02.

Jenson seems to buy the bikes from Jamis and then break them down in order to sell the frames as stand alone items and then the parts on the cheap (but probably at a good profit for them).

I've done a lot of looking and test riding of Jamis bikes and they are nice. And just by looking at the JensonUSA site I can tell that is what they do when they get the last year's Jamis stuff in stock. Their site is full of wheelsets, forks, seats, stems, bars etc. off of Jamis bikes.

Again, good luck!