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Tall Frame?

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Re-Cyclist

Finally riding a big boys bike
Just curious....What constitutes a "tall frame"? I have heard the term used, but I don't know what the dimensions are. Is the head longer? Thanks in advance for any information.
 
I had posted this on another schwinn thread about frame size. Tall frame in schwinn lightweights is the 23" frame size. In schwinn, my reference to "tall frame" is bikes before the early 60s. After that they expanded the frame size selection of the road bikes to many different sizes versus your standard 19", 21" and 23" (tall frame). This whole section is devoted to cantilever tall frames (king size). Tall frames are much harder to find than the 19" and 21" frames. I run across 21" frame sizes all the time, sometimes 19" and almost never a 23" in 40s and 50s lightweights. My understanding of that is until the schwinn bike boom in the early to mid 60s (and more in the 70s) it was largely children and teens that rode bikes. A tall frame would have been for the rare tall adult riding the bike or tall kid / teen. Most rode the 21" frames. For paramounts / superiors those most likely were adults (cost and use case) and you would think you would see more large frames, but I don't see them and generally see 21". I don't know anything about road bikes or racing them but maybe the average size of person riding them is smaller (maybe has to do with body proportions / ratios that make a better more efficient rider...?) which would not require a larger frame. All that said, tall frames are just not as common.
 
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I had posted this on another schwinn thread about frame size. Tall frame in schwinn lightweights is the 23" frame size. In schwinn, my reference to "tall frame" is bikes before the early 60s. After that they expanded the frame size selection of the road bikes to many different sizes versus your standard 19", 21" and 23" (tall frame). This whole section is devoted to cantilever tall frames (king size). Tall frames are much harder to find than the 19" and 21" frames. I run across 21" frame sizes all the time, sometimes 19" and almost never a 23" in 40s and 50s lightweights. My understanding of that is until the schwinn bike boom in the early to mid 60s (and more in the 70s) it was largely children and teens that rode bikes. A tall frame would have been for the rare tall adult riding the bike or tall kid / teen. Most rode the 21" frames. For paramounts / superiors those most likely were adults (cost and use case) and you would think you would see more large frames, but I don't see them and generally see 21". I don't know anything about road bikes or racing them but maybe the average size of person riding them is smaller (maybe has to do with body proportions / ratios that make a better more efficient rider...?) which would not require a larger frame. All that said, tall frames are just not as common.
Thank you for this information.
 
I bought this '73 Speedster a while back, and its frame is 24" (I think, I haven't measured since I bought it). I feel like it's got a tall frame!
1205191
 
Here is a 26” small frame and standard frame prewar..
seat post tubes are 15 1/2” and 17”.. Post war 40’s & 50’s
The standard frame seems to range from 17 1/4” to 17 1/2”
1205228
 
"Tall" is customarily to denote that the length of the measurement from the center of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube is longer. Remember that just because that measurement is bigger or smaller, it does not automatically follow that the frame overall is bigger or smaller. Other measurements such as stand over height, fore/aft reach, frame angle between tubes are also relevant if you're trying to find a frame that fits you. Tall versus short is useful, but it's sort of like saying that a bus is longer than a volkswagen. Yes it is, but other dimensions vary as well.

Sizing a frame and setting up the ergonomic aspects are actually pretty tricky because people gravitate toward looking at frame height and don't consider other frame dimensions. I knew one vintage bike guy who loved old Schwinn 3-speeds (standard frame or tall frame especially) but hated Raleigh Sports bikes, even in the standard and tall Raleigh frame sizes. He hated them because he said they felt "cramped". For him, a standard Schwinn frame was better than a tall Raleigh because the Schwinn frame had a longer reach fore/aft.
 
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