Mountain Bike Sizing Guide : What Size Should Buy?

Confused to determine your appropriate size of the mountain bike?

The wrong size of mountain bike is enough to destroy the joy of your riding. Unfortunately, it not only causes handling problems but also uncomfortable for long rides.

Hence, selecting the perfect size of mountain bike is a considerable factor while you’ll make a buying decision.

But to find the bike size that best fit to you is really a tedious work. Only a size guide of mountain bike can be useful to you.

Reading our mountain bike sizing guide will be the most helpful to you to choose the right size bike for maximum comfort and minimum chance of injury.

Mountain Bike Sizing Guide

If you think about comfort as well as safety while buying a mountain bike ask yourself “What size should I buy?”

To find out the answer and the perfect size of mountain bike for you, let’s go into the details of the frame sizes.

Frame Sizes

In general, mountain bike frame measurements are expressed in inches. Usually, the two measurements that you should emphasize while considering the frame sizes are:

Seat tube length and stand over
Top tube length and reach.

Seat Tube Length And Stand Over

The perfect seat tube length provides you a usable stand over the gap. Sit on the bike seat. If you able to touch the ground only with your tipsy toes, it’s the perfect seat tube length for you.

Top Tube Length And Reach

Top tube length and reach along with the stem length, handlebar position and seat position, it controls your riding performance. Sit on the bike seat, look whether you comfortably reach the handlebars without being stretched too far or being squeezed too close together.

Problems Caused By The Improper Frame Size

A too big mountain bike frame may cause:

Less control of the bike
A sore back
Wince-inducing experiences

A too small mountain bike frames may cause:

Injury on longer rides
Potential toe overlaps problems
Back problems while sitting down on longer rides

Anatomy of a Mountain Bike

We all are different shapes and sizes, so while choosing the mountain bikes, so we recommend using the anatomy of a mountain bike figure below. First, you need to know the anatomy of a mountain bike, Let’s see the different part/section of a mountain bike.

This diagram shows the different parts/section mountain bike frame

MOUNTAIN BIKE SIZING TABLE

Look at our Mountain bike sizing table which demonstrates the different frame size with different height ranges.

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The proper adjustment of the frame size and your height can remove all the frustration of your bike riding.

However, We’d always recommend looking at manufacturers’ own size charts, which will usually list a suggested height range for each bike frame size they produce, but here are some general guidelines:

Small: Frame Size 13-15 inches and generally for riders between 4’11” – 5’3″ and Rider Inseam Length 25″-27″.

Medium: Frame Size 17-19 inches and generally for riders between 5’7″- 5’11” and Rider Inseam Length 29″-31″.

Large: Frame Size 19-21 inches and generally for riders between 5’11” – 6’22” and Rider Inseam Length 31″-33″.

XL – Extra Large: Frame Size 21-23 inches and generally for riders between 6’2″ – 6’4″ and Rider Inseam Length 33″-up.

(Note hybrid bike sizes tend to be 3 to 4in bigger for riders of the same height)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. What size mountain bike for 8-year-old?

Children love bikes a lot. Bikes give them the freedom to roam around and explore. They get to cherish nature and take the fun of traveling here and there.

The wheel size here is 20 inches. Gear sets suspension, and a sound hand brake system starts to show up with this 20-inch model. Specialization starts to creep up at this level while bringing various styles. When we look for kids’ bikes, we look for height and inseam.

If the kid’s height is 4’0″ – 4’5″, and the inseam (measurement from insight the leg ) has to be 22″-25″.

Q2. What size mountain bike for 10 year old?

A good bike can be one of the best birthday surprises for a 10-year-old kid. This can significantly enhance the confidence of an a10-year-old kid. The measurements for a ten-year-old kid’s bike are given below.

Here the child’s height will be approximately 4’1″- 4’11” :

Inseam size from 23″ to 28″.
The wheel or the bike size will be 24″.

Q3. What size mountain bike for a 13-year-old?

Bikes are some significant elements to boost a kid’s confidence. This instrument becomes their great friend because they help the kid explore the surroundings. Studying is an in-built human nature, and one should cherish it.

You can go with the 24″ wheel size. This suits perfectly with a 13-year-old.
Height 4’1″ – 5’0″. The inseam size is from 23″ to 28″. This can provide a perfect fit for a 13-year-old.

Q4. What size mountain bike for a 5’10 man?

When we start talking about mountain bikes for people over 5.0″, the segment of measurement changes.

Here we only follow inseam and frame size For 5’10” :

Inseam 82 means frame size 17″-18″.
For Inseam 83 and 84, the frame size 18″-19″.
For inseam 85, the frame size 20″-21″.

Q5. What size mountain bike for a 5’10 woman?

The bike size for the females varies and stays very different compared to the man’s bike size. In a sense, that doesn’t change, like they are different but not like the usual difference between men’s and kids’ mountain bikes.

For a 5’10” woman, the inseam length goes typically 29″ to 31″. The frame size follows according to it and is 17″ to 19″. But if someone wants to go for a single shot, then we can say the frame size should be 18″.

Q6. What size mountain bike for 6’2 man?

Now we are going towards the largest size of the height. For a 6 foot 2″ person, we will compare the inseam and the bike size.

When the inseam is 86,87,88 for all three of these cases, the frame size will be 20″ to 21″.

Q7. What size mountain bike for 6’4 man?

When we are looking for a guy over 6’3″, there is this one size. Which is inseam,90″ and the frame size is 22″.

There is less hustle. If anyone has a larger inseam, then they have to get a custom-made bike.

Video on Mountain Bike Sizing Guide

We’ve put together this Mountain Bike Sizing Guide to assist you in choosing the right size mountain bike for you.

Final Words

Thanks for your interest to read our Mountain Bike Sizing Guide.

After going through our guide, all of your confusions related to mountain bike sizing are now clear to you.

You should agree that there is nothing more enjoyable than having a riding around on a perfect size bike.

A perfect size mountain bike may become an addition to your body and it’s absolutely worth putting in an effort to select the one that is right for you.

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Have a more enjoyable and comfortable riding!