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Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Metric Dimension Crib Sheet

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3/32" 2.38 mm Chain/chainring width for derailer-equipped bicycles, up to 8-speed
1/8" 3.175 mm Bearing balls: freewheels, some headsets, some pedals
Chain/chainring width for most one-speed bikes (frequently rounded to 3 mm)
5/32" 3.969 mm Bearing balls: many headsets, many pedals
3/16" 4.763 mm Bearing balls: most front hubs (10 x 2) many headsets
7/32" 5.556 mm Bearing balls: high end Campagnolo front hubs (9 x 2)
15/64" 5.953 mm Bearing balls useful for mismatched bottom bracket cup and spindle
0.236" 6.000 mm Bearing balls useful for mismatched bottom bracket cup and spindle
1/4" 6.35 mm Bearing balls: almost all rear hubs (9 x 2)
Most bottom brackets (11 x 2)
5/16" 7.938 mm Bearing balls: bottom brackets for one-piece-cranks.
0.833" 21.15 mm BMX & OPC stems, seatposts
0.866" 22.0 mm French handlebar stems
7/8" 22.2 mm Upright handlebars (grip section), 1" stem quills, BMX Seatposts
15/16" 23.8 mm Drop handlebars (grip secction)
1" 25.4 mm ISO handlebar clamp size, standard top tubes.
1.024" 26.0 mm Italian handlebar clamp size, many higher-end road bars.
1.039" 26.4 mm Old Cinelli handlebar clamp size
1 1/16" 27.0 mm
1 1/8" 28.6 mm Standard steel seat tubes, down tubes, O.S. top tubes
1 1/4" 31.8 mm O.S. seat tubes, O.S. handlebar clamp size, others
1 3/8" 34.9 mm O.S. seat tubes, others
17" 43.2 cm Frame sizes listed in inches are most often "center to top."
18" 45.7 cm  
19" 48.3 cm  
20" 50.8 cm
21" 53.3 cm
22" 55.9 cm
23" 58.4 cm
24" 61.0 cm
25" 63.5 cm

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This page is intended as a quick reference primarily for the benefit of folks in the bicycle business. Feel free to print it out, but please don't reproduce it without proper credit and linkage.

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Spoke Divider

Articles by Sheldon Brown and Others


Reports of the demise of this Web site are greatly exaggerated! We at sheldonbrown.com thank Harris Cyclery for its support over the years. Harris Cyclery has closed, but we keep going. Keep visiting the site for new and updated articles, and news about possible new affilations.

Copyright © 2006, 2008 Sheldon Brown

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Last Updated: by Harriet Fell