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Yes, yes, go to LBS, get advice, try sizes...
I could tell you in an instant what most mtb frames would feel like for me.
18-19" - too small, would need long stem and a lot of seat pin showing
19-20" - Good for an agile, chuckable fun frame... not ideal for long rides / lots of climbing, unless v long top tube
20-21 - scary on some descents / worrysome regarding nadger clearance, but overall swift, easy climbing and good all day ride.
BUT, road bike - all at sea. Partly due to metric sizing, partly due to not paying too much attention to frame size in the past (I have a road bike - it's a bit smaller than my original roadie, possibly a tad too small, but no idea what size it actually is... 😳 )
So 6'3", what should I be looking to ask for if I vist my LBS???
get advice, try sizes...
^This.
I like to be a little informed before subjecting myself to the BS that some LBS' (in my area) dish out...
ETA - I realise that sounds a little harsh, probably being defensive as I haven't bothered keeping up with roadie stuff over the last 20 yrs, and might feel "on the back foot" ...
Something in the region of 60cm+ if it's a non compact frame.
...Because you might be 6'3" but it might all be legs with little Tyrannosaurus Rex arms, or you might be 6'3" with stumpy little Lofty from It Aint Alf Hot Mum legs, or you might be normal proprotioned but not very bendy.
Go and have a look and ask the folk to help.
Possibly 58cm/60cm? Maybe more depending on the make/geometry.
I used this calculator to get a feel for sizing
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO
Then I went to two shops, played dumb and asked for advice. Both sized me right about what the calculator said.
Ended up with a bike, set it up for comfort and after a few rides, compared it to the calculator and what I had done matched pretty closely.
Disclaimer - I'm not expert, don't get hung up on numbers, set up for comfort.
I'm 6'4" and have a 61cm Specialized S-Works Tarmac, but it's the Team Geometry, My cyclocross was a 58cm , which was great for chucking about in the woods, and my Roubaix was also a 61cm, which was a fantastic all day bike....
But seriously, go and see someone who knows about sizing, sit on a few different ones...!!
But seriously, go and see someone who knows about sizing, sit on a few different ones...!!
Yep, I accept this 😉
Just wanted to get my eye in first.
Back of my mind was saying that previous road bikes were either a 60 then 58, or 58 then 56, (with the latter one feeling a tad too small)
Will have to get the measuring tape out!!
What gravity-slave said.
You'll be sitting in one place morevon a road bike than MTB so fit needs to be right fot comfort
My road bikes have ranged from 52cm to 56cm. Much depends on the geometry and there can be a lot of variation, even from the same manufacturer. It would help if you had some idea of the bike you were interested in and then asked back here.
56cm, no shadow of a doubt.
Well, the tape measure says that my "new" (16yo), slightly small feeling, road bike is 58cm c-c. TT length is also about 58 c-c
So the previous one must have been a 60...
All old style "gate frame" geometry, rather than compact, of course...
The problem you'll probably have is the one I've had: I'm 6'5" and nowhere stocks bikes in my size, so trying before you buy is pretty much a no-go. Even traipsing round London all I could find was the occasional Trek or Specialized. Plus of course the only stores that can afford to stock the extreme sizes are the big chains, where the staff often aren't clued-up enough to deal with weird-sized people.
You seem to be focusing on seat tube length, though, which is totally irrelevant in today's world of less-standardised frame geometry and less-standardised stems and seatposts. (eg as far as MTBs go I've got 18" frames which are longer than 20" frames.)
You need to look at seat angle and effective top tube and that's pretty much that - it'd be unusual if you couldn't trim the bar position to suit, as steerers tend to come with room to spare and there is a wide variety of different length/angle stems available these days. Same for seatposts: getting a longer one is easy.
I'd start from the top tube length, and then remember each degree of seat angle is going to lose you half an inch (10-12mm) from that. And remember that most bikes have quite steep seat angles these days - I ended up with a 72deg seat, a post with about as much layback as I could find, and the saddle all the way back on the rails. YMMV, natch.
I'm about the same size, and have got bikes with toptubes of 57 to 58.5. all with long stems, cause i got long arms
be careful with the sizes manufactuers list as they all use different measures, ie my Voodoo is a 63cm, with a 58tt. and i'm not even gonns try to explain compact sizing
trying before you buy is pretty much a no-go
Yep, pretty much found this with mtbs...
i'm not even gonns try to explain compact sizing
I'd come to this conclusion...
Been looking at a Cube compact frame road bike... 58cm, but seat tube is given as 54cm and TT as 54.5cm, both of which seem incredibly short 😯
I suppose I'm quite fortunate that in the sizing department I am distinctly average. Went to the local LBS that I ended up buying the bike from and did the whole "sizing session" thing. Result is that I have a bike that feels just right so I felt it was worth it. With the sizing session it was a case of now knowing the sort of dimensions that would suit me it became a bit easier to scan through the bikes that were most likely to fit best and work from that list. It's probable that being of average dimensions I could have felt quite at home on almost any bike but I'll happily delude myself that the sizing exercise worked and produced the perfect match. 8)