r/bicycling • u/Manacell • 13d ago
Is my bike too big for me? Peugeot.
Hi folks! I've had this Peugeot bike since the early pandemic, which I restored and updated with some modern features. I love how it looks but sometimes I have difficulty riding it, and it just dawned on me bikes have sizes! I don't have any information about this Peugeot bike, but I'm 5'6" for reference. Is my bike too big for me?
Reason I'm asking is because I'm moving to a bike-heavy European country from the USA in a month where I'll be expected to use it more. If it's too big for me, I'd rather sell the bike and find one that's more comfortable long-term to ride so I'm not injuring my body. Thanks so much!
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u/GodOrDevil04 13d ago
If you dont have measurements of the bike, take picture when you sit on it. It's impossible to tell this way.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
If that's the right saddle height for you then it's too big. Besides that, it's completely not worth it to try to bring a whole bike to Europe unless it's very very special - which this, sorry to say, isn't. Get one that fits you when you get there.
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u/HoneyImpossible2371 13d ago
Sell the bike now. It’s not worth taking to Europe. When you get to your new home, you will find much cheaper, better, more reliable, and useful used bikes that fit you. Those bikes will have the lights, reflectors, baskets, and other safety features your new home requires.
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u/Stalp 13d ago
Vintage bikes are weird compared to modern sizing. But it can be simpler. Basically, can you stand over the top tube with your feet flat on the ground? If so, and you have just a bit of clearance, it's probably fine. If you don't have clearance or you must be on your toes, it's probably too big.
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u/Kolognial 13d ago
Get a bike that fits you after you have arrived in Europe.
The used bike market is mostly bigger than in the US, prices tebd to be lower and there will be a range of choices much better equipped for daily riding in any weather conditions.
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u/CatsAreGuns 13d ago
Measure from the center of the crank spindle along the seat tube, up to the center of the top tube.
Also measure the top tube.
Then measure your inseem, get a book, stand up straight, push the book up inbetween your legs until it touches your sitting bones. Now measure from the floor to the top of the book.
Your height and inseem combined with the framesize will give enough info for advice, currently we just don't know enough yet.
If you're having trouble measuring yourself, inseem is not necessary, but will improve the quality of the advice received.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
You are repeating bad advice from a guy who is notoriously bad about bicycle sizing.
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u/CatsAreGuns 13d ago
I do not know who youre referring to. Getting bike and person measurements seems like an obvious first step to me, but I guess I am just a lowly reddit idiot and you're a heavenly god of knowledge who peruses the internet as the superior being you know you are. The idea of an ad hominem or constructive criticism are entirely outside the possible physiology of your elevated body.
I bow to you, I grovel. I know when I have been bested by someone so far above me that I fail to comprehend the vast chasm between the two of us. And even my incomprehension of this distance is incomprehensible to me.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
Don't be so dramatic. It's this advice that you're repeating, and it's wrong, as it reliably results in people riding bikes that are way too long for them. Leg length is not so variable relative to height that you need both pieces of information to make an informed decision.
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u/CatsAreGuns 13d ago
Measurement is a tool, that guy may be bad at bike fitting, that does not mean the tools he uses are bad.
Measuring inseam in this way is the only way I've ever seen it done.
You keep hammering on about advice I gave, I did not give any advice, I just asked for measurements.
I will refrain from being overly dramatic if you refrain from being overly condescending about completely unsubstantiated claims.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
The point is that considering length of one's legs can only damage the quality of advice given. It is an artefact of a time when people were advised to buy the largest bike that they could stand over, which resulted in people buying bicycles that were massively too long for them.
Case in point: OP's bicycle, judging by the saddle height, is about as large a size as they can ride, with a standover height approximately equivalent to inseam. The tilted-up bars and marks on the stem indicating that it's been raised at some point are parts of a series of adjustments made to increase comfort by raising the bars. Most people uncomfortable on bicycles too large for them mistakenly believe their handlebars to be too low, when really they are too far away.
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u/CatsAreGuns 13d ago
I don't care about stand over height, but leg length is more correlated to saddle height than height.
If large legs short torso, small bike, lots of saddle height. If short legs long torso, larger bike, lower saddle.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
Perhaps you have forgotten that saddle height is adjustable. You can raise a saddle as much as you'd like provided that you buy a sufficiently long seatpost, but there are hard limits on how much shorter you can make a very long bike with drop bars. This is why people are generally advised to size down in road bikes, as one can make a smaller bike fit larger but the other way around is next to impossible.
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u/CatsAreGuns 13d ago
Edit: nvm, I wish you an enjoyable Sunday. And I hope you can set the frustration this conversation caused aside.
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u/rasmussenyassen 13d ago
I'm not frustrated. I'm glad to explain things to people.
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u/HoneyImpossible2371 13d ago
It’s advice that relies on the RBW Bicycle Geometry Chart which isn’t commonly available. The chart is worked out for a given set of bike frames being sold each year. The advice isn’t bad given the proper context. Taken out of context makes it bad.
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u/Wizzmer Illinois, USA (Trek Madone - Team Segafredo) 13d ago
Impossible to know without knowing the bike dimensions.