Rivendell Sizing...

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Carrie Anne,

First of all- forget about other brand bike sizes, Riv sizing is totally DIFFERENT from other bikes. Others will say both a 54 and a 52 are too big for your height. NOT true with Rivendell frames.
That said....
Rivendell Rambouillets can come in 52c, 54, and 56cm sizes.

When I used the Rivendell sizing chart for myself, it indicated I generally needed a 55cm Rivendell size bike. Thus, I fell right in between their 54 and their 56 size rambouillet sizes. On their site, they say when you fall between 2 sizes, they recommend to get the larger one. Glad I didn't, here's why:

I am 5'5" tall, 140 pounds, and my inseam was exactly 30" wedged up right against my pubic bone, barefoot, feet 10" apart as they recommend.
I got the 54cm rambouillet, and it fits me perfectly, with about 1 1/4 inch clearance as I stand over the top tube with my feet on the ground (not sitting inthe saddle of course). Mind you, my "girly bits" do TOUCH the top tube, but there is still 1 1/4 inch clearance between the tube and my pubic bone.
If I had gotten the 56, my girl parts would have rested more on the top tube. I **could** have ridden the 56, though, just with less comfort to spare. Note however, that I am using larger/fatter 700c X 37c tires. If I put 700 x 28 tires on my bike, I would probably have another 1/4" clearance in addition to what I have now.

Now the issue is a bit complicated by TWO things here:
1) Rivendell is going to stop making Rambs in less than 54cm sizes. Here is what they say about the frames they still have left in the sizes they are going to discontinue:
<<When we sell through our current inventory, we will not be reordering
Rambouillets in the follow sizes- 50, 52, 64, 66, or 68.
Current inventory is-
50- 8
52- 11
64- 11
66- 8
68- 0
Like the man says on late night TV, &#179;When they&#185;re gone, they&#185;re gone.&#178;>>

and
2) Rambouillets in sizes 54 and larger come with size 700c wheels (regular road bike wheels) In sizes 52 and smaller, they come strictly with 650B sized wheels (this helps prevent toe clip overlap on the smaller frames) Now mind you, 650B wheels are great, I almost got them myself. And they look nicely balanced on a smaller frame. 650B's are getting more popular and are no longer hard to get anymore. They were very popular for touring in Europe for generations. They just fit the smaller Rivendell bike frame dimensions better than 700c wheels.

My first thought is that you probably would be ok on a 54, especially if you put less fat tires than I put on! Remember, 2 cm difference between a 52 and a 54 is not very big a dfifference at all, and I have 1 1/4" to spare even with my fat tires. But a 56 would definitely be too tall to stand over comfortably for you.

Of course the BEST thing would be for you to test ride a 54 and a 52. Is there any Riv dealer near you at all, or somehow to test ride even just one of those 2 sizes?

Hope this is helpful, glad to help with further questions if you need.

I absolutely LOVE my Rambouillet, which is only about a month old now. What a great bike. (Go to my signature link to see pictures of it if you like.)