Bicycle Fit-The Great Debate

After pouring over websites and forums for years, one constant thread of debate hangs among them all.  How to fit a bicycle.  The geometry of a bicycle is far more complex than it appears.  Length and positioning of each tube affects the final outcome of the total bikes geometry.  A few millimeters in the position or angle of the head tube, or down tube and it can change the overall geometry and how it will fit.  Angles alone can make the lengths of the frames tubing become an inaccurate way to determine the fit.  A 22" seat tube on a ten speed may be a good height for you, but on a mountain or cruiser frame, may make it awkward or uncomfortable.  Fitting methods are simply a way to simplify the immense diversity in frame measurements to average body types.

My Crude Frame Diagram

Rummage Sailing

Rummage sales are of great interest to my daughters. They are very thrifty at times. In our travels we ran across an old Cleveland welding cruiser. It was a woman's frame, but having two girls and two boys, finding womens frames are not a let down for me. My daughters enjoy the idea of a stable of cool bikes. Unfortunately, this means more projects, and less time and resources for a build of my own. The boys of course are younger, and not quite ready for a full sized frame yet. Finding mens frames would be nice for myself, and of course for them as the selection grows with their interest.

A Friendly Donation

A friend from work overheard me during a discussion of old bikes, and told me that she had a few in her yard that I could have.  Her husband was planning a dump run, so it would save him from hauling them.  Of course me and the kids loaded up the next day to help as much as we could.
There was a few of them lined up against the wall of a shed.  Two old womens Austrian Sears 3 speeds, one with the rear spokes wrecked and the other cannibalized and missing most of it's parts were at the front.  We loaded them, and there sat a black Hercules 3 speed.  Mens frame!  There was also a small child's bike, a Westpoint with a tank.  A few miscellaneous bits and parts and we were of to the Ant cave.