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Is low standover and 4-5" fully mutually exclusive?

927 views 11 replies 9 participants last post by  trailwoman 
#1 ·
Greetings Mountain Bikers!
I have a friend who is 5'4" tall, female, and looking for a full suspension bike with 4-5" of travel front and rear. However, it seems like her options are somewhat limited due to standover height problems. She through a leg over a small Blur and was dismayed about the standover clearance (over 29" standover, her inseam is 30"). I did a little research and it looks like there aren't a huge number of options.
The usual suspects for shorter women like the Santa Cruz Juliana, Trek Fuel EX Women's and Titus Racer X are the obvious choices (though all are on the 4" end of the spectrum for suspension). The Stumpy women's models or men's smalls aren't bad, but I fear that the standover height is measured at the top tube low point, which can be underneath the tip of the seat.
I checked Turner, Intense, Yeti and a couple of others with no luck. The Ventana X-5 is a possibility, but no local dealers, unfortunately.

Anyone out there have any recommendations?

Thanks,

MTBmoose
spokane, wa
 
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#7 ·
Check out Titus and specifically the Moto-Lite. It has the lowest standover of any FS frame.

JimC. said:
an inch or 2 is fine. Much of stand-over you "must have" just isn't needed, and is a hangover from years back...designs of frames have changed a lot since then.

Just my .02, Jim
I thought the same until I landed twice on the top tube of my 32" standover height large Intense Spider which gives me about 3-4" of clearance. Sure makes me appreciate the 29" SO of my Switchblade. Low standover is a gooooood thing.
 
#8 ·
Thanks for the help!

Thank you to everyone who provided some suggestions. That Titus MotoLite looks like a good option. I don't think an '01 Stumpy (3" travel) compares to the new 4" and 5" 2005 Stumpys, however. I checked with Santa Cruz on the Julianas and they are out 6-8 weeks at least.

Thanks again for all the help,

MTBmoose
Spokane, WA

P.S. - Standover is only a myth when you have 1"-2" clearance. When there is *none*, however...
 
#9 ·
disagree

almost every rider on a FR bike has zero. When one runs a 7" or 8" or bigger fork there's just no room.

It's not a problem as we ride our bikes, as opposed to standing over them. Additionally, I know of none who have suffered the fate of the previous rider who dropped down on the top tube. Sure it's probably happened but it sure isn't any consideration in bike buying on the North Shore. I suspect if he was going down, it wouldn't have mattered where the top tube was, his n*ts were going to hit anyhow. Therefore stand-over is irrelevant, assuming his feet slipped or whatever. He was doomed regardless of standover margin of error.

I'm serious when I say it's non-issue.

Jim
 
#10 ·
JimC. said:
almost every rider on a FR bike has zero. When one runs a 7" or 8" or bigger fork there's just no room.

It's not a problem as we ride our bikes, as opposed to standing over them. Additionally, I know of none who have suffered the fate of the previous rider who dropped down on the top tube. Sure it's probably happened but it sure isn't any consideration in bike buying on the North Shore. I suspect if he was going down, it wouldn't have mattered where the top tube was, his n*ts were going to hit anyhow. Therefore stand-over is irrelevant, assuming his feet slipped or whatever. He was doomed regardless of standover margin of error.

I'm serious when I say it's non-issue.

Jim
Wow, i totally agree. Your balls are gunna smack no matter if it's 2" or 4" away. Also, whens the last time you jumped straight down on you bikes? Don't you usually put a foot to the side?

-TS
 
#11 ·
I respectfully disagree

While standover may not be an issue for some, I have had at least two experiences lately where I was very glad for a lower top tube. In both cases it involved abrupt stops when climbing up steep, rooty singletrack. I didn't have time to lean over to the side. Basically bike stopped, my momentum kept going forward. Granted, this might not be a big concern for better riders, but isn't that the fun of pushing yourself to get better? Granted, I agree that some published standover requirements are not needed, but if you are looking at two bikes, and all else is equal, I would want the one that has better standover.

I will agree that it doesn't really matter on long travel bikes and the riding they are designed for. An extra inch or two won't save you there.
 
#12 ·
Have similar specs as your friend so I know the problem you're facing. Titus is the way to go if you have the $$. That being said, I spent a lot less $$ and picked up a GF Cake GS (13") and have been very pleased with it -- but then I have a longer torso so the Genesis geometry works for me -- but it doesn't work for everybody.

With this kind of inseam, clearance is hard to find but you can get a good 2" and that should be enough. A little bit of clearance is always a good thing . . .
 
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