What size do I need?

MiloRida

Hi,

Im not quite sure what size I need? I am buying a new bike and of course trying it first but I want to be prepared on what size I need. It is the specialized p all mountain. Im 166 cm tall, 50kg and im 13. Im looking to do some freeriding, dirt jumping and a bit of XC.I think I need the 17" frame but I would like someone else opinion because im still a bit new to biking.

Thanks

supersonic

No absolute way to tell - they all vary for a given size, more to consider than just seat tube, esp reach. Go and try a a few!

dave_hill

MiloRida wrote:

Hi,

Im not quite sure what size I need? I am buying a new bike and of course trying it first but I want to be prepared on what size I need. It is the specialized p all mountain. Im 166 cm tall, 50kg and im 13. Im looking to do some freeriding, dirt jumping and a bit of XC.I think I need the 17" frame but I would like someone else opinion because im still a bit new to biking.

Thanks

As a rule of thumb (and a starting point) you should take your inside leg measurement and subtract 14" - so if your inside leg is 32", and 18" frame would be a good starting point.

But as Supersonic says, there's no hard and fast method of sizing frames, and you may feel more comfortable on a larger or smaller one - the only sure way to find out is to try a few.

Something else to bear in mind is that if you are looking at the freride/hardcore XC side of things, you may find a slightly smaller frame more manageable.

Just at a guess, at 166cm tall (about 5 foot 6 in real money) I would suspect that 18" would be too big for you. But again, go and try a few out and see what suits. Bear in mind though that you won't stop growing until you're about 21 anyway so you may want to leave yourself some "room for maneouver"!

Your weight doesn't come in to it until you need to set up suspension. 50kg is pretty light (under 8 stone) so if the bike that you buy has a coil-sprung fork you will need to make sure that the spring is light enough to react to your weight - you'll need to make sure that the dealer helps you with the initial setup. Air sprung forks are easier to change the spring rate (just add or remove air as necessary) but are more expensive.

MiloRida

Thanks a mill....

Im going to London in 2 weeks so ill go and try the sizes out!

Thanks again

xcracer

There's some useful info here including some sizing charts:

http://www.tredz.co.uk/sizingguides.asp

But as the others have said, try before you buy.