Owning a bike that fits you the right way is the key to getting all you can out of your riding experience. Luckily, it's quite easy to measure a bike frame. From there, you have to do a few quick measurements on your own body, find the frame size you need and begin the process of fine-tuning your fit.
Step 1
Hold a tape measure at the center of the bracket at the bottom of the seat tube where the pedals mount.
Step 2
Measure a road bike frame by running the tape measure from the center of the bottom bracket to one of two spots on the top of the seat tube. Road bikes have a C-T, or center-to-top, frame size, which is measured from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. Road bikes also have a C-C frame size, which is determined by measuring from the center of the bottom bracket to the center of the top tube, which runs horizontally from the seat tube to the handlebars.
Step 3
Measure a mountain bike frame by running the tape measure from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. This number represents the bike frame size.
Step 4
Convert your measurement, if needed. Mountain bike frames are measured in inches, while road bike frames are measured in centimeters. One inch is equal to 2.54 cm, and 1 cm equals 0.39 inches. To convert from inches to centimeters, take the number of inches and multiply by 2.54. For example, 10 inches equals 25.4 cm. To convert centimeters to inches, take the number of centimeters and multiply that number by 0.39. Fore example, 25.4 cm multiplied by 0.39 equals approximately 1 inch.
Things You'll Need
- Measuring tape
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