So I wanted to get a bike and came across a Giant Boulder Bike. It has 26 inch wheels and 17 inch frame. I’m 5’11 or 6’0. Is this bike to small for me? If so, what size would be good?
1 Answer
Normal advice is to test ride the bike to see. 17" is a medium frame, and likely to be on the small side for someone over 5'10". If you cannot test ride the bike, presume the frame is too small.
For reference I am 5' 10", and ride a medium, but a large frame also fits me fairly well. I choose medium as I ride technical single track, and do lots of rides of only 1-2 hours long. For less technical and longer rides, a large frame suits me better.
Do note that body geometry and flexibly can dictate a size up or down for a particular manufacturer, so a size that suits one person might not be a good fit for someone of the same height.
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I'm 5'10" with long legs and a bad shoulder, so I tend to go towards "large" frames to help keep the front wheel further in front of me. "Large" for me is ~470 mm reach with an effective top tube length of ~630 mm. With smaller wheels, I'd lean into my bias towards longer frames/wheelbases– Paul HSep 21, 2022 at 21:23