bike size

[Owlie]

It's like trying to buy jeans.

My bike is a 50 cm and I'm about your height (5'6.5-7", 32-3" inseam)

[nscrbug]

I'm 5'6" and I ride a 51cm. When I bought my first road bike, I was put on a 54cm Trek WSD...which turned out to be too big for me. I'm pretty sure they were just trying to dump the bike, since it was last year's model...so they "made" it fit me, which didn't work out too well.

[trista]

I am between 5'6" and 7 and ride a 54 cm Trek.

[VeloVT]

I'm 5'6". A 52 is a good place to start for me. I can do smaller with a setback seatpost and longer stem - and depending on the exact sizing/geometry of the bike, sometimes a hair bigger with some adjustments.

I have two bikes right now. One is a 52 with a small amount of setback and a 100mm stem. The other is a 49 with a lot of setback and a 120mm stem. They both fit, although I'm looking for a 73 deg stem (no rise) for the smaller bike to stretch out just a hair more.

Your body proportions, flexibility and to some extent, fitness level will dictate what feels best for you - it's a good idea to try different bikes and to talk to the peeps at the bike shop about what you're feeling.

[jessmarimba]

I'm 5'7" and have a 53 cm that feels scary and too big and I won't ride it. But I'm not all that used to skinny tires or drop bars, either

[tiffj]

I'm 5'4 and my CAAD 9 is a 52cm. Fits like a glove.

[HillSlugger]

I'm about 5' 5.5" and ride a 51 or 52

[VeloVT]

I'm 5'7'' and use anywhere from a 54 to a 56. If my legs were shorter in proportion to my height, I'd need a smaller bike, if they were longer, I'd need a taller bike.

I think it's the opposite for most people. For a given height, shorter legs = longer torso = bigger bike, longer legs = shorter torso = smaller bike.

Although the given sizes are based on seat tube length, top tubes are longer on bigger bikes. If you have longer legs for your height, you have a shorter torso, so sizing up for leg height will likely stretch you out too much. Of course you can adjust by swapping out stems and such, but if the top tube is way off and requires an extremely short/long stem, you may end up compromising the handling.

Standover height is not all that important (and if you're 5'6", it's unlikely that any bike that fits you otherwise will be a problem from that perspective anyway, especially since most frames I'm seeing lately use compact geometry). Top tube length is a more important measurement for fit.