Does toptube length mean anything anymore? What with all the changing angles—from steepened headtubes to slacker seattubes—is one 21″ equal to another?

Apparently not.

Fit was first, labelling their Eddie Cleveland frame as if they were Champion sweats, in M, L, XL, etc. Now Fly has joined the “eh, we have no idea what size it is” party by sizing their new Tierra frames based on what they’re supposed to feel like rather than what they are. It gets more confusing by the minute.

Maybe some good will come of this. Maybe more companies will start to go by the sweatshirt sizing method rather than releasing frames in 20.25″ and 20 5/8″ and 20.666″ and 20.31415926535897932384″ and leaving us to wonder what the hell it all means. Your frame isn’t a pair of shoes, it doesn’t have to be an exact fit. This is checkers, not chess.