Most guys know their inseam (I would guess that 90% fall within 28" and 34") but arguably torso length is more important to bike sizing yet other than jacket size being short, regular or long we know less of how we are dimensioned.
Question: Is there a standard way for measuring torso length (maybe sit on floor, back to wall, measure floor to top of shoulder) and if so, what are typical measurements.
The standard way to measure torso length is to start at your crotch (aka the top of your inseam) and then measure straight up to the notch at the bottom of your neck/top of your chest. You could feasibly just measure from that notch to the floor and subtract your inseam.
As for typical measurements, I’m not totally sure. I’m 175cm (5’9) tall, and I have a 61cm torso, which is a bit on the long end. I’m not sure what the average is though, sorry.
Thanks, no wonder I had to replace the stem to get comfortable, I come up with 72cm
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Wow. Although I’m not sure if I’m allowed to be impressed at something you can’t control, I’m impressed nonetheless.
Hold it cowboy, we’re talking torso length here. (but thanks for the compliment anyway)
Why is inseam talked about with sizing? It seems torso is the important measurement.
Thats the point, the reference to inseam was intended to make the distinction.
Answer: No.
There is no currently recognized industry standard. Some conventions have you measuring from the floor to the notch in the manubrium, others measure from the crotch to the same prominence, the so-called “suprasternal notch”.
I like the crotch to the suprasternal notch using the NECA tools for the measurement as this protocol provides for, simultaneously, a “loaded” inseam measurement and a crotch-to-suprasternal dimension.
From these two dimensions a ratio can be derived that creates a statistical representation of torso to leg length.