Quote Originally Posted by Owlie View Post
Coworker is about your height (though I don't know inseams), and she doesn't have a lot of clearance. I'd have to go look, but their bikes seem oddly tall. I've tried out their true road bike in a small, and it's a traditional diamond frame. I can't tell if it's the bike or the fact I'm used to a sloped top tube, but getting on the bike was an interesting experience!
Cross bikes measure out differently..... the bottom bracket on a CX bike is higher - for clearance over rocks, roots, barriers, etc. That means the seat tube measures out shorter on what is technically a larger bike (and seat tube length is what is used as "size"). A 48cm cross bike is going to fit more like a 50/52cm road bike - not to mention that they rarely have compact geometry so the stand over is going to be higher too. Expect that you will need to have at least one size down from your road bike size on a cross bike.