# Inseam Length: How Do YOU Measure It?



## TomBrooklyn (Jul 18, 2008)

How do YOU measure your inseam length? 

1. Do you measure up tight as high as you can go, or

2. Just up to the bottom of the boys, or 

3. Somewhere in between?


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

This website should help.


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## andytiedye (Jul 26, 2014)

TomBrooklyn said:


> How do YOU measure your inseam length?
> 
> 1. Do you measure up tight as high as you can go


Hello, boys, I'm Mister Top tube, but you can call me "Sluggo" 



TomBrooklyn said:


> 2. Just up to the bottom of the boys


This ☺☺

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## phlegm (Jul 13, 2006)

TomBrooklyn said:


> ...
> 
> 2. Just up to the bottom of the boys, ?
> 
> ...


Hot, or cold weather?


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

Are you measuring for the sake of standover clearance, saddle hieght, something else?


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## eb1888 (Jan 27, 2012)

With your shoes on.


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## twodownzero (Dec 27, 2017)

I generally measure my "inseam length" by having my tailor mark my pants while I'm wearing them, hem them, and then measure from the crotch to the end.

"Inseam length" might be shorthand for something else in the cycling world, but your "inseam" is not the distance between your pubic bone and the floor unless you normally wear the crotch of your pants shoved up against your taint. I don't think anyone younger than about 80 years old does that.


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## noapathy (Jun 24, 2008)

twodownzero said:


> I generally measure my "inseam length" by having my tailor mark my pants while I'm wearing them, hem them, and then measure from the crotch to the end.
> 
> "Inseam length" might be shorthand for something else in the cycling world, but your "inseam" is not the distance between your pubic bone and the floor unless you normally wear the crotch of your pants shoved up against your taint. I don't think anyone younger than about 80 years old does that.


This isn't a website for tailors or clothing...js.


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## twodownzero (Dec 27, 2017)

noapathy said:


> This isn't a website for tailors or clothing...js.


Sure isn't. My inseam length is 28.5" or so and I can still stand over a bike that advertises a 30" standover (with room to spare). The point is that pubic bone height and inseam are not the same thing. Maybe the latter is more properly referred to as "cycling inseam"? I'm not sure...but if one is using a term that isn't universally understood, then confusion is much likely.


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## TomBrooklyn (Jul 18, 2008)

I'm 5'10" and measured my barefoot inseam up tight to my pubic bone as is 33 3/4". I've seen some guys around my height say their inseam is considerably shorter, so I was curious if they're measuring the same way.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

are said guys measuring it the same way, or are they citing their pants inseam?

I am 5'9" and I have measured my actual inseam (barefoot, book pulled up snug against pubic bone) at 33 inches.


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## SteveF (Mar 5, 2004)

https://www.rivbike.com/pages/pubic-bone-height-how-to-measure-your-pbh Sizing guidelines are for road bikes so don't really apply to mtb's but the directions for measuring your bike inseam are useful.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

it can be useful in determining a _ballpark _ measurement for your saddle height. that's about it. it has almost nothing to do with sizing a frame, unless your have particularly short legs and need a low-standver bike. it's no substitute for getting on the bike and experimenting with dialing in the saddle position.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

cycling inseam is NOT your pants inseam.

one shop where I worked for a few years had a quick formula that ballparked road bike frame size for "average" people. By looking at their overall proportions (long torso/short torso relative to legs), then could generally apply a "fudge factor" to figure the most likely correct size. Because when it comes to frame size, torso length is the most important. Arm length is a factor, but is a relatively minor one.

We basically used the "Lemond Method" which has aspects for calculating saddle height:
Saddle Height

And you'd use something like this to help ensure that you've put the saddle in the same spot as you've calculated:
https://fitkitsystems.com/product/seat-height-tool/

and frame size, which is kinda specific to road bikes:
My World From a Bicycle: Lemond's Sizing Chart and Hamley's Method Charted

Note that the Lemond Methods are only one way of a number to calculate saddle height and frame size. When it comes to saddle height, particularly, it's just one formula out of a couple, which you can use to "bracket" the ends of optimal seat height. And you'd fudge from there based on what's most comfortable. Regardless, any method that requires measurement of the inseam for bike fitting purposes requires measuring all the way to the pubic bone. Shoes off.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

Stand against wall, wearing riding shoes

Book perpendicular from wall. Snug up against crotch. Measure from ground to top of book.

I'm 5'5" (I'm shrinking), 31.5" cycling inseam.


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## jimPacNW (Feb 26, 2013)

The chart in the LeMond book is a good starting point for fit (if you're not going to a shop for a custom fit), and it works for me. I do barefoot to snug up like a seat would go. It used to surprise me how many active cyclists have never even looked into this, and just guess where their seat should go. 
Tom/OP; good for you for looking into this, you can establish a starting point, and after you've figured out what works best for you, you'll know exactly how high you like your saddle. I have a copy of the LeMond chart with notes on the wall of my shop, and I can check saddle height with a yardstick and get my bikes consistent without guessing. I like my mtb's and cx bike just about a half cm lower than my road bikes btw.


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## One Pivot (Nov 20, 2009)

Inseam is nearly useless for mtb fit now.

My 18 inch giant is considerably "smaller" than a new 16 inch Kona. I fit the giant pretty well, but someone a couple inches taller would fit the Kona better than I fit my giant.

Fit has dramatically changed, standover is much lower these days and reach is much longer.

No one likes admitting it, but the height charts that manufacturers list is more accurate than classic fit charts.

Also, we have droppers. You can set your seat to a trail appropriate height, which can vary by inches (not millimeters). Relating body measurements to seat height is no longer used or useful.


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## Le Duke (Mar 23, 2009)

One Pivot said:


> Inseam is nearly useless for mtb fit now.
> 
> My 18 inch giant is considerably "smaller" than a new 16 inch Kona. I fit the giant pretty well, but someone a couple inches taller would fit the Kona better than I fit my giant.
> 
> ...


I'd disagree in one particular area.

I find inseam useful for comparing proportionality of people, and then their preferred frame sizes. Two 6'0" guys, with 29" and 34" inseams respectively, are probably going to be on different frame sizes.

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