Help me come up with a ballpark idea of roadbike frame size for me

[ilima]

Ballpark = 50cm

Bear in mind that bikes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and what is comfortable varies from person to person.

My road and 'cross bikes are both 49cm. I'm 5'4.5" with a 31" inseam and longish arms.

[LoriO]

Thanks everyone! I know the size will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but at least I have a general idea of what sizes to look at and try. I would hate to respond to an ad and then find out the bike will be way to big and waste the sellers time.

I thought about going to a LBS but I really feel weird about wasting their time especially knowing I am not going to be buying anything from them!

[pinkbikes]

I thought about going to a LBS but I really feel weird about wasting their time especially knowing I am not going to be buying anything from them!

Ok - so that is the nice and altruistic but very short term way of looking at it!

But there is also the longer term view. You are going to need to get your bike serviced somewhere. You will, from time to time need to buy bits and pieces for your bike, like new tyres, tubes, maybe some lube, and possibly some tools. You may also need to buy yourself the odd bit of paraphernalia for you that need to try one, like maybe a new helmet...

You need to look around and decide at which LBS you are going to spend your money when you need these things. And part of that is seeing how they treat you when you go looking for something.

I'm sure that when people go looking for bikes (I know I do this) they look at several bike shops if they can and see what is out there and why it might suit them and what sort of service they will get if they buy their bike there. Not everybody a particular store helps look will ultimately buy their bike there. Possibly they are more suited to a bike somewhere else. But if they got good service at the first shop they may well gravitate back there for the rest of their business.

So if you get good help from a LBS when you are kicking tyres like now, you may well go back there for everything else, become a very loyal LBS customer, and ultimately buy a new bike from them in the future. Good customer service is rarely a complete waste!