"I like to ride high" was the comment I heard frequently. Funny that at the time I never thought of any banned-substance hidden meaning. I've never heard of the "bounce over the top tube" fit method---wish I had---though I did make sure every potential buyer tried to stradde the top tube so they understood the fit issues. I actually had one guy tell me he was sure that if he fell on the top tube it would bend before he got hurt. He was known forever after as "Iron Balls."
We didn't sell lots of 27" frames, but we did always try to have at least one 27" Fuji Sports 10 and Royale in stock. Panasonic also had a 27" frame or two, but we special-ordered those.
In '81 I asked the shop owners print up two disclaimers, to be signed by customers when appropriate. One acknowledged the customer was buying a frame size we deemed unsafe, for those that liked to ride high and for parents risking ever having grandchildren by buying way-oversized bikes for their sons ("He'll grow into it.").
The other, off-topic, acknowledged the customer was electing not to pay for additional repairs needed to make a bike safe, mainly for the Huffys that only had a flat tire repaired when they needed brake/der/wheel work to make then rideable/safe. The spectre of liability lawsuits was alive and well in NJ in '81.
Ridin' high.....
Paul Brodek Hillsdale, NJ
On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 21:25:24 -0500, Joe Bender-Zanoni
<joebz@optonline.net> wrote:
>The 27" seat tube Fuji and other Japanese bikes were a trend about 1979 or
>so. While they were a great boon for riders with 36" inseams etc. they
>presented a funny problem to the people fitting bikes in shop.
>
>A certain type of short guy had to have that big bike. My fitting process
>was simple. I would invite him to straddle the bike and stand flat footed
>(actually impossible as he was on tip toe). Then I'd ask him to bounce up
>and down a bit and ask "How's that feel? If the answer was "good"- I sold
>him the bike. About half the guys grinned sheepishly and settled for the
>puny 25" frame.
>
>Joe B-Z
>GNNJ
>"Protecting future fathers where possible"
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "rocketman531" <rocketman531@earthlink.net>
>To: "Thomas E Ward" <tom.ward@juno.com>; <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2003 7:44 PM
>Subject: Re: [CR]salutations
>>
>> Welcome. Responding to your comments about frame size: I have never
>raced, so I never felt the need to ride my "correct" size, whatever that is.
>I'm about 6'1", but I have always ridden large frames. 62cm seems to be my
>favorite, but I have a 65cm Raleigh Competition, a 66cm Botecchia, and a 27
>inch (68.5cm) Fuji. I can get on the Fuji, but the first time I got off must
>have been pretty amusing to the onlookers.
>>
>> Pat Moffat
>> Tempe, AZ
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Thomas E Ward <tom.ward@juno.com>
>> Sent: Nov 5, 2003 11:26 AM
>> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
>> Subject: [CR]salutations
>>
>> Hi, I'm another of the recent ones to join the list. I'm writing to you
>> from a small apartment in Greenwich Village, though I am originally from
>> San Diego by way of the San Francisco Bay Area. Thank you Pete Rutledge
>> and Steven Maasland for separately inviting me to the list over the past
>> year, and I have a feeling I've encountered a few others of you on eBay;
Paul C. Brodek
Hillsdale, N.J. U.S.A.
E-mail: pcb@skyweb.net