As to turn of the previous century bikes I was going to post the same thinking as Sheldon but he has, of course, said it better.
I think that after about 1915, pro velodrome riders in the US fit a bicycle in much the same way we do now. Larger frames from those years are hard to find and the catalog track bikes are often only available in 22" c-t with sometimes a 21" available. People were a bit shorter then so an average 5'9" rider and a 22" c-t frame sounds like a pretty normal fit to me. I have never passed on buying a pre-war track bike because it was too big for me and I'm 5'10"..
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
<snip>
> This was even more pronounced on 1890s and early 20th century safties.
>
> My theory is that when the safety replaced the high-wheeler, it took
> men quite a while to get around to the idea of a bike that you could
> stand over--they were in the habit of mounting "cowboy style" on the
> fly, and didn't expect to be able to straddle the top tube.
>
> Ladies, with their step-through frames _did_ have this option, but
> for the manly-man, a big tall frame with a nice long head tube
> "looked" better...
>
> Sheldon "Had A Too Big Bike As A Child" Brown
> Newtonville, Massachusetts
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