# 54 or 56 Frame Size??



## papaluker (Dec 18, 2008)

Newbie here...Please be patient!

I'm considering either a Motobecane "Sprint" or Mercier "Serpens 853" as my next bike. (prefer the Serpens by description but +$300. My inquiry is about selecting the frame size, but if anyone has something to say about the bike choice, I'm all ears.)

It seems that the geometry is the same for both bikes so this is the general question:

Given that my height is 5' 9" tall and I'm comfortable standing over my 25 year old MB with a 31 1/4" cross bar height it seems that there might be some small feature of the 54 or 56 that might make one more preferable.

I wrote CD and they responded within 24 hours as advertised with basically, it is up to me as though I might have some way to determine the difference by riding the bikes (which are not available locally)!

I was hoping for an answer like "given that you measure up from the charts for either, it is generally better to go with the larger (or smaller) size."


Is there such an answer?

Thanks!

papa


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## rogerstg (Aug 1, 2007)

Go to a site like wrenchscience.com and measure yourself. Then compare that to the geometry charts for each bike and pick the closest.


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## papaluker (Dec 18, 2008)

Thanks, Roger. Those steps have been completed, hence the dilemma at hand. I measure OK for either or size. I'm just looking for a general rule for this type of situation.

The quest for something that would tip the scale, i.e. handling, weight, etc.


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## rogerstg (Aug 1, 2007)

There's a 2 cm difference in reach. What are did you assume for stem length? FWIW, I''d guess it is 110mm for the 54 based on the 4 bikes I've bought from BD.


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## 20sMotoSpirit (May 27, 2007)

I would say 54' cuz the bikes usually comes with a long stem. Got the 56 Le Champion SL and it was a good size, just too long of a stem ( Im 5'10+some).


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