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Every bike I’m looking at currently has me right on the border of the medium / large sizing. I’m 178cm (5ft 10’ ) average build with 31 inch inside leg. Bike will be a trail / xc hardtail with geo similar to Whyte 905..
I’m 50and my riding is pretty conservative, tyres will rarely leave the ground, so chuckablity not a priority.
I sat on medium and large whytes and both seemed ok (although there was virtually no stem) ..if a medium felt cramped I guess I could fit a longer stem.
I've always found it much easier to adjust to a slightly too small bike than a slightly too large bike.
I'm 5'11 and could ride large .. Ridden medium all my biking days never an issue 🙂
Odd isn't it. You'd think manufacturers would put the middle of the sizing bell curve in the middle of their model range.
Exactly...given that many people have to buy without trying it would be helpful!
I’ve always found it much easier to adjust to a slightly too small bike than a slightly too large bike
Same!
It really depends on body type (general proportions rather than overall height), rider fitness / flexibility, and personal preference.
The general consensus is that when you are right on the cusp between sizes you can get away with either with a few tweaks to cockpit, saddle position etc.
The problem nowadays is that a lot of bikes seem to be designed with a particular length stem in mind (i.e. as short as possible). A 6fter might be able to fit a medium frame with an 80 or 90mm stem but a bike with a 65 degree head angle is going to feel awful to ride with a stem of that length. There's a lot of snake oil standards kicking around the industry at the moment, but the long top tube / wide bars short stem geometry has even filtered down into most XC race bike manufacturer's designs so is generally accepted as a better way to build an mtb.
If you are between sizes, the only real way to size up a bike is to sit on one unfortunately.