I am 5′ 6″ with a 28 ish” inside leg. I need standover height but can’t find it anywhere.
Wish I’d never parted with my Cannondale Gemini (small) Thought I’d get a newer design – easier to clean – with the shock just below the top tube but even the small gives me NO standover height ! Tried Specialized – same design / problem – AND STUPID LOW BB – why Speccy people ???
Any ideas out there ? Sat on a medium Giant full sus and that was no good either.

Why get hung up on standover height?

I’m 5’2″ with an inside leg of about 27″. I ride an 04 Marin Mount Vision, an 09 Marin Wolf Ridge and a Boardman Performance Hybrid.
Neither of my Marin’s have the ‘required’ standover of 3+” but fit me perfectly well in all other areas – top tube/seat tube etc. I haven’t left my bollocks on the headset yet….

Me neither . . . oh . . . 😳 . Never worried about standover clearance – never had any standover clearance. So long as the top tube length is fine, I reckon it fits.

At 5ft6 you probably need to be trying out a small in Giants sizing, not a medium. Should buy you a couple of extra inches standover too…

I’m a massive 5’6″ with short legs as well, I’m riding a Lapierre Zesty, ahem…womens bike (and it’s the small size too!!). Able to stand over but not loads of clearance but never been an issue. Try some of the womens specific frames, some of them you can’t even tell (once you ignore the flowers, basket and pink colour).

my wifes 5’7″ and rides a mens medium 2007 stumpjumper, really fits her well. They have a very low stand over for there size. We solved the low bb height causing pedal strikes by running shorter cranks which also seem to suit her better. How this compares to newer models I don’t know.

I am 5″4 and ride a small cove hustler and it’s lovely. Not really sure about stand over height, been riding it for years though…

I am 29 inside leg if that helps.

My son did have a little trouble when he rode it, and he hit his bits on the top tube, he is however only 10 and about 4″7… You should be fine.

Cheers
Simone

so….any suggestions on a full sus that gives standover height for the smaller rider ?
I got hit twice on the top tube in less than a week having to stop suddenly off road so I DO thing it’s important !
Why do we have to put up with companies ignoring all the rules us mtbers have gotten used to for years ?
Sure top tube length IS important but so is standover height.
Wanted to try a small Zesty for size but Evans wanted £50 just to put it together though it was sitting in the back. All I wanted to do was try the p!$$!*£ standover height for gods sake ! So no sell that day, thanks Evans !

…Woudn’t shorter cranks help….a little?

Nah, tried that with 165mm cranks but didn’t really like them.
Thanks for the suggestion though.
Going to look at the Cove. That sounds interesting…

I’m 5’8″ with a 28″ inside leg and ride a medium SC BLT2. Fits me perfectly, has plenty of standover clearance, and does not have a low BB. At 5’6″ you would be borderline small/medium depending on how you like your setup with stem length etc

5’6″ ride a small covert, small tr450 and a small bfe, only the bfe gives me reasonable standover, but that isn’t fs…. Small bullit was good too.

I agree with muddydwarf, don’t get hung up on standover. My tenders are intact after 20 odd years of mtb.

I got hit twice on the top tube in less than a week having to stop suddenly off road so I DO thing it’s important !
Why do we have to put up with companies ignoring all the rules us mtbers have gotten used to for years ?

Offroad motorcycles have zero standover clearance, though, granted, big padded saddles.

Learn to fall off better.

Suspension adds height to a bike meaning that shorter riders will end up sitting on their top tube, often with their bars higher than their saddle.

Keeping to shorter travel bikes, with say only 4in or 100mm will obviously give more clearance than a 140mm bike.
And be lighter too in many cases.

Not sure about that Brant, i have two bikes as stated above. The Mount Vision is 100mm and the Wolf Ridge is 140mm travel and there is literally no noticable difference (to me anyway) in the amount of clearance i have. Admittedly they are two different era framesets and built for different styles of riding etc. I agree that longer travel frames do tend to stand higher for obvious reasons though. My personal reckoning is that if you can stand flat-footed over your top tube without your testes flattening out on the top tube you’re fine.

I’ve had to put up with close interaction ‘tween testes & top tube all my life, i understand its just one of those things that comes with being small, just like having to ride a 29er clown bike is what happens when your pituitry gland goes haywire 😉

Kona do xs bikes. Very tiny. Have a look around you can often get some good deals on small frames.

Try a small or extra small. If you cannot try as often is the case with tiny bikes then go by the top tube lengths eff and actual and look of the frame dimensions. look at the bb height as well. You could proably scale a decent built up frame pic off the net with ruler to get a built up dimension feel. Ie blow image up and use a ruler to measure things at a reduced scale 😀

2009 Giant Reign in a small fits 5ft 7 bloke with short legs. Plenty of stand over height but you need a dropper seat post and the seat sube has a kink in it that only allows about 2 inches of downward adjustment. 140mm fork and 6 inches of travel on the rear. They even did an extra small.

Titus moto lite in xs was always one of the best. My wife is 5′ 1″ at best with about 28″ at best inside leg. She is actually fine on my x-carbon med even TT is fine, with shortish stem.

Not sure whether xs is currently available from Titus whilst they are in rebuild mode with OnOne.

Titus FTM carbon small would also give you some clearance as would the x-carbon small but I think FTM has slightly better stand over. Like others can’t see why you’d need 3″. I’m 5’11” but with 31″ inside leg and I don’t get that on my bike.

Other choice is to get something like a Nicolai where they will design it for you, I’ve seen extra sloping top tubes by them for shorter riders.

I’m 5ft7 but ride a bike with almost no standover (18.5 frame) but it’s the perfect size in every other respect for me. It’s never a problem and my plums are still intact.

People get too hung up worrying about standover.

I’ve got an xs motolite – I’m 5ft 1 (at a push!) with short legs and it fits perfectly. Brilliant up and down hills – can totally recommend one, if they still do them

🙂

standover isn’t essential but nice to have imo
sounds like you need something long and low.
have a look for something with a non straight top tube.