Standover Height

[Michael Maddox]

Between you and me, what's the big deal about standover?

I generally know that a 58cm frame is the smallest I can ride, and the big deal for me is the top-tube length, head tube length, and seat tube angle. Having just posted this Terraplane, I've been inundated with requests for standover height. I can't recall ever asking a question about standover height; I buy what I fit and see what I can do with a seatpost from there.

Are people just trying to see if they can "get a leg over" the bike?

[thwart]

Seems that the more I learn about frame geometry (and I'm still a dunce), the less important that particular measurement is.

That said, if I usually rode a 57---but really wanted that 58-59 Kirk---I might ask you that measurement.

[capybaras]

If I can't clear the top tube by an inch it aggravates my bad back getting on the off the bike. ymmv

[dave thompson]

IMO, standover is the least important dimensions when considering a truly good bike fit. How often does one 'stand over' a bike? Maybe it's because bike shops have you stand over one of their bikes, if there's the requisite 2" of clearance then the bike "fits" and they sell it to you.

I can't recall the last time I asked any seller what the stand-over was.

[RPS]

Are people just trying to see if they can "get a leg over" the bike?I assume every rider (except maybe tandem stokers) should be able to stand comfortably over the top tube. Otherwise what would they do while standing at a light, etc.?

[JeffS]

Never asked, and never cared.

Could have something to do with being tall. I'd have to have a bike custom built if I wanted to rest my boys on the top tube. Not that I'd stand flatfooted over a bike anyway.

[JeffS]

I assume every rider (except maybe tandem stokers) should be able to stand comfortably over the top tube. Otherwise what would they do while standing at a light, etc.?

Leave one foot on the pedal and put one foot, or toe, on the ground. If they were on a really oversized frame, leaning the bike should create all the clearance they needed.

[RPS]

Leave one foot on the pedal and put one foot, or toe, on the ground. If they were on a really oversized frame, leaning the bike should create all the clearance they needed.And why would you want this if you can get the right size? :confused:

[SoCalSteve]

I've had people ask me this question on many occasions. I give them that number and then try to educate them on what geo numbers are important.

Just sayin'

Steve

PS: The ones I care about are (in order of importance): top tube length, seat tube angle, head tube length, slope, steerer length.

[palincss]

Seems that the more I learn about frame geometry (and I'm still a dunce), the less important that particular measurement is.

It is of no importance whatsoever unless you have to stand over the frame and there isn't room and you smack your gonads on the top tube. Then it can matter a lot.

YMMV, of course.

[PoppaWheelie]

Important or not, I've found the same thing and have just recently started to make sure I list that dimension when I put a frame up for sale. Including it definitely reduces the amount of time spent answering inquiries....same thing for saddle height/drop, as shown in any photos.

[Volant]

The ONLY time I'm concerned about standover height is on a mt. bike.

[moodster]

the only time I ask about standover is when I am looking for a bike for my 5' tall wife. she does not feel comfortable if she can't touch the ground at a standstill?? I can't get her to learn to do a trackstand yet!

[Sandy]

A lot of the fit gurus believe that standover height is absolutely meaningless, and some even scoff at those who mention it. Standover height is important to me. I am an older, less flexible than most, cyclist who has relatively short legs and a relatively long torso. I have a 2 degree slope on both of my bikes because I am a little uncomfortable with a level top tube. I sometimes will straddle my bike. I find it easier to get on and off the saddle without the level top tube. In addition, as I age, I get shorter. So standover is important to me. It is related to the geometry of my bike only because of comfort, as described above.


Standover Sandy

[Ozz]

A lot of the fit gurus believe that standover height is absolutely meaningless, and some even scoff at those who mention it...
I beg to differ....standover height should be meaningful to those fit gurus, as it indicates that a customer who asks about it has a lot to learn about bike fit. ;)

First task is to get a bike to fit while riding....then work on fit when standing still.

I'm a top-tube / head-tube guy myself. :beer:

[93legendti]

SO can help indicate handlebar height.

[Peter P.]

If you've ever whacked your nuts on a top tube during a hasty stop, you'll understand how important standover is. 'Nuff said.

[RPS]

I beg to differ....standover height should be meaningful to those fit gurus, as it indicates that a customer who asks about it has a lot to learn about bike fit. ;)

First task is to get a bike to fit while riding....then work on fit when standing still.

I'm a top-tube / head-tube guy myself. :beer:Not sure if you are serious, but if so…….

I couldn’t disagree with you more. Your statement would only make sense to me if the two were mutually exclusive, but they are not. Nothing keeps a rider from having a bike that both fits while riding and allows him/her to straddle comfortably (i.e. – fit while standing).

For the very few that can’t find a standard off-the-shelf frame that accomplishes both, there is always custom (or sloping top tube).

Let’s turn the question around: How many custom bikes would be designed for a rider where he/she couldn’t straddle while standing? I’d bet very few.

[PCR]

If you've ever whacked your nuts on a top tube during a hasty stop, you'll understand how important standover is. 'Nuff said.

Oh did I ever do that! :crap: Burt Gilman Trail in Seattle.

[Peter P.]

Oh did I ever do that! :crap: Burt Gilman Trail in Seattle.

PCR is a believer in standover. Wisdom through experience!

[WadePatton]

If you've ever whacked your nuts on a top tube during a hasty stop, you'll understand how important standover is. 'Nuff said.
I can't remember ever doing that--and I'm a die-hard MTB'er who started riding in the mid-80's.

SOH is irrelevant to me. As said, I don't spend a lot of time "standing over".

I also have an inner voice that reminds me to lean the bike when my foot is going too far down...

[victoryfactory]

When I got fit (fitted?) for my last Serotta I let the process come up
with the right TT DT ST CS etc and then I considered the resulting
standover, which was a little high for my taste.

At that point, all you need to do is slope the TT a bit to get your standover
while preserving the other important measurements.

People who dis sloping top tubes out of hand because it doesn't fit into
their concept of what a bike "should look like" are fortunate that they don't
have a chimp like body with short, hairy legs and long torso like me
(and possibly Sandy)

The effort of some mass market bike companies to make fewer sizes fit more
people by using sloping top tubes for economic reasons should not be confused with the extra
options that people like me can get from a custom fit. Two different uses
for sloping TT IMO.

VF, in the throws of major Jet Lag. Pass the bananas!

[soulspinner]

I've had people ask me this question on many occasions. I give them that number and then try to educate them on what geo numbers are important.

Just sayin'

Steve

PS: The ones I care about are (in order of importance): top tube length, seat tube angle, head tube length, slope, steerer length.


P.S. +1!

[djg]

Between you and me, what's the big deal about standover?

I generally know that a 58cm frame is the smallest I can ride, and the big deal for me is the top-tube length, head tube length, and seat tube angle. Having just posted this Terraplane, I've been inundated with requests for standover height. I can't recall ever asking a question about standover height; I buy what I fit and see what I can do with a seatpost from there.

Are people just trying to see if they can "get a leg over" the bike?

Who the eff knows? I think it's mostly a vestigial quick and dirty fit standard, but it's hard to figure what folks are thinking sometimes. Standover height was, once-upon-a-time, a tolerably good proxy for bike fit for many people in round about the same way seat tube length (or bike "size") was -- that is, for many people whose inseams were a decent proxy for their overall body layout (leg length, arm length, torso, height, etc.), back when many bikes were built to certain norms of geometry. Even then, standover height could be a Qrap fit guide for many folks whose gross morphology threw a wrench in the works or who had other issues. Nowadays, I'd say it's about worthless, except insofar as a whole foot suggests that you're on a too small bike or a bmx bike and a minus three inch standover suggests that you're on a bike that's way too big. With a sloping or "semi-sloping" top tube or "compact" design or what have you, what does it even mean?

[Ozz]

Not sure if you are serious, but if so……...Let’s turn the question around: How many custom bikes would be designed for a rider where he/she couldn’t straddle while standing? I’d bet very few.
No, I was not serious....just pointing out that a customer that focuses on just one measurement for determining fit doesn't know much about fit.

My understanding of fit is that you get your contact points - saddle, bars and BB/pedals in the right position and then you can connect the dots. The placement of the top tube is is just one variable.

[flickwet]

I tend to think that stand over ht, is an ancient means by which one could determine the starting size for fit in early bike shops (straddle the frame, pull up, two inches is perfect on that Schwinn Varsity young man), Unknowingly still utilized today for purposes of expediting an approximate size frame for any member of the great unwashed (Walmart,Dicks), and even some good shops where joe blow just wants sumthin that don't hurt and a big padded seat too please. The irony is that for knowledgeable people standover is sometimes but more often than not of less importance.

[RPS]

No, I was not serious....just pointing out that a customer that focuses on just one measurement for determining fit doesn't know much about fit.

My understanding of fit is that you get your contact points - saddle, bars and BB/pedals in the right position and then you can connect the dots. The placement of the top tube is is just one variable.I agree. On the other hand, in fairness to “non-experts”, if I could only ask for one single dimension on which to buy a level top tube bike, I’m not sure that standover would not tell me as much as any other single dimension I could ask for.

Due to most mass produced frames having variations in vertical height dimensions that exceed variations in horizontal reach dimensions by a significant amount, the odds would be in my favor by approximately 2 to 1. ;)


P.S. -- I have a feeling I'm going to regret introducing math into this. :rolleyes:

[Ahneida Ride]

IMO, standover is the least important dimensions when considering a truly good bike fit. How often does one 'stand over' a bike? Maybe it's because bike shops have you stand over one of their bikes, if there's the requisite 2" of clearance then the bike "fits" and they sell it to you.



Amen

[Ken Robb]

If I can't clear the top tube by an inch it aggravates my bad back getting on the off the bike. ymmv

not to be argumentative but wouldn't the height of the saddle above the ground be the limiting factor, assuming your saddle height is higher than your top tube? :)

[Sandy]

not to be argumentative but wouldn't the height of the saddle above the ground be the limiting factor, assuming your saddle height is higher than your top tube? :)

Yes, the saddle height would be the limiting factor, but the top tube comes into play too, on the way up and down.


Sandy

[Tobias]

Yes, the saddle height would be the limiting factor, but the top tube comes into play too, on the way up and down.


SandyOf course. I can adjust my saddle so that my girlfriend can ride my bike, but it'd be stupid to do so. The top tube would be about 2 inches too high and would make it unsafe for her to get on and off. Won't try that again. ;)

[KevinK]

My feeling is that stand over height is more important to riders of shorter stature like me. Conceiveably, I could be "properly" fit to a bike with a 55cm ctc seat tube, 54tt and an 11cm -17deg stem w/ no spacers. However, I am much more comfortable, and my setup looks alot better with a 50-51cm seattube, 53cm toptube and a 12cm -10deg stem +1cm spacer.

A properly fit bike should look "right", although "right" differs with purpose and evolves over time. I'll bet that some of you that poo-poo standover height are the same folks who take pleasure in criticizing a setup as having too much or too little exposed seatpost, or too many/not enough heattube spacers, or a stem with too much rise. These are all results of too much or too little standover clearance.

Kevin

[RPS]

Kevin, you make a great point -- aesthetics is a very important part of it also.

With the right seat post and stem, you can replicate just about any set of contact points on a bike, but the results wouldn’t necessarily handle right and could easily look very strange.

The difference between common 10 and 13 CM stems, if allowed to change the effective top tube length by 3 CM, could then change the standover by 5 or 6 CM or more. If “fit” criteria were limited to contact points, we could easily end up with a ridiculously proportioned bike IMHO.

[capybaras]

not to be argumentative but wouldn't the height of the saddle above the ground be the limiting factor, assuming your saddle height is higher than your top tube? :)

That sounds logical and my post does not. But when I can clear the top tube my back is better. Maybe tip toeing or tilting the frame at stop lights is the real problem. I don't know. But I heart standover height. :banana:

Of course it isn't the only measurement that matters to me. It probably isn't with the op's interested parties either. But many people who claim standover height doesn't matter at all are tall and probably don't ride bikes without any very often.

[KevinK]

For those of us who ride 50, 51 and 52cm frames (seat tube ctc), standover clearance can tell us alot. First off, at these seat tube lengths, the vast majority of top tubes fall between 52.5 and 54cm, and I seldom encounter a TT that is too long or too short. So I've learned not to be too concerned with TT measurement. However, lacking any other measurements, knowing that I can comfortably straddle the TT makes me pretty sure that the frame can be set up to fit me. The same cannot be said for a frame that is "tight" to my boys.

Finally, as a tandem captain, lots of standover clearance is extremely important. I need to have both feet firmly planted on the ground and at least shoulder width apart when my stoker mounts and dismounts the tandem, or when we are stopped for any length of time. Having no standover clearance in the captain's cockpit is dangerous for the whole team.

Kevin