Riese & Müller frame sizes explained

Riese & Müller changed how it labels frame sizes for 2027. The centimetre numbers are gone, replaced by Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large, though not every model comes in all four. If you own an older bike, or you are trying to work out which size to order, this page tells you what your size is called now, which measurements matter, and what to do if you fall between two.

If you would rather just ask, call ebikeist on 03330 151 979. We stock the range and we size people on real bikes every week.

Your old size in the new labels

For the Delite5, Superdelite5 and Homage5, which share a frame platform, the 2027 labels map onto the old centimetre sizes like this.

The frames themselves have not changed. Only the names have.

One thing to start: those old centimetre numbers were never seat tube lengths. A bike sold as a 47 cm Delite5 has a 51 cm seat tube, and so does the 51 cm. That wasn't an error, it was how the labelling worked, and it is the first clue that a number on a frame size is not a measurement you can compare between bikes.

We are adding the remaining models to this table as we work through the 2027 range. If yours is not here yet, call us and we will do our best to find out the information for you.

Which measurements decide fit

Most people are given a seat tube length and told to get on with it. It is the least useful number of the four, because all it measures is one tube. A manufacturer can decide to make that tube a centimetre shorter while every other dimension on the bike stays exactly the same. Change the angle that tube sits at and the saddle ends up somewhere different again, from an identical number. We have a Nevo in the workshop that is a classic of it: a very short seat tube on a bike that is big all around it. Seat tube length is a reference point within one model, not a comparison between two.

These are the ones that decide whether a bike fits.

Reach. The horizontal distance from the bottom bracket to the top of the head tube. This is the single most useful fit number. It determines how stretched out you are, and unlike saddle height you cannot adjust it away. On the Delite5 and Superdelite5, reach goes 40 cm, 44 cm, 48 cm across Medium, Large and Extra Large. A 4 cm step is a lot: it is the difference between an upright riding position and a noticeably longer one.

Stack. The vertical distance over the same span. Higher stack means a taller front end and a more upright position. Stack and reach together describe the riding position, which is why we quote both.

Stand-over height. How high the frame is where you straddle it. This matters more on an e-bike than on a light road bike, because a Superdelite5 weighs around 35 kg. Being able to get a foot down flat and confidently at a junction is worth more than a perfect saddle position.

Seat tube length. A reference point inside a single model. It will tell that model's sizes apart and it will tell you almost nothing when you hold two different bikes side by side.

If you are between sizes

Plenty of riders sit between two sizes, and both will be rideable. The choice is about how you want to ride rather than about right and wrong.

Going smaller gives you a shorter reach and a more upright position, easier stand-over, and a bike that feels more manoeuvrable in traffic and at low speed. It suits town riding, frequent stops, and anyone who wants to see over traffic rather than through it.

Going larger gives you a longer reach and a more stretched position, which spreads your weight and is more comfortable over long days. It suits touring, longer road miles, and riders who want the bike to feel planted at speed.

A test ride settles it faster than any chart, so if you can get to us, ride both. We are on a farm unit outside Dartmouth with a bridleway and coastal hills from the door, which tells you more in twenty minutes than a spec sheet will.

Devon is a long way from most of the country and we know it. We deliver across England and Wales, so buying without visiting first is a common way to do this rather than a compromise. Call us on 03330 151 979 or email hello@ebikeist.com with your height, your inside leg and what you ride now, and we will work it out with you. We would rather spend twenty minutes on the phone getting it right than have you order from a table.

If you would rather work it out yourself first, our bike finder asks about your riding and narrows the range down before you get to sizes at all.

Why a 47 cm here is not a 47 cm there

The measurement itself is not the problem. Manufacturers broadly agree on it: the seat tube is measured from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube. What differs is everything built around that one line.

Seat tube angle, how far the top tube slopes, where the bottom bracket sits between the wheels, how long the head tube is. All of it varies between manufacturers, and between models from the same manufacturer. Two frames can share a seat tube length to the millimetre and still put you in noticeably different positions, because the rest of the bike is laid out differently around it.

So a 47 cm from one manufacturer and a 47 cm from another are not the same bike. The number tells you roughly how tall the frame is. It tells you very little about how it will feel to ride, which is why reach and stack are the numbers we quote first.

The sizes are not consistent within a single brand either.

A Riese & Müller Charger5 comes in four sizes. A Delite5 comes in three. So a Charger5 in Large is the third size of four, while a Delite5 in Large is the second of three. Same manufacturer, same model year, same word on the label, and a different position in the range.

The steps between sizes differ too, and that matters more than the labels. Reach on the Delite5 goes 40, 44, 48 cm, moving in 4 cm jumps. Reach on the Charger5 goes 39, 42, 45, 47 cm, in steps of 2 to 3 cm. If you are between sizes on a Charger5, you are choosing between two close options and either will probably suit you. On a Delite5 the same decision is a bigger one.

So if you own one Riese & Müller and you are moving to another, you cannot carry your size across. That is not the manufacturer being careless: these are different bikes. The Charger5 is a hardtail with 100 mm of front travel; the Delite5 is full suspension with 120 mm front and 110 mm rear, and it sits you differently.

That is why we size people on the bike rather than off a chart, and why we will always ask what you are riding now before we quote you a size.

Geometry by model

Figures below are Riese & Müller's own published figures for 2027 models, checked on 7 August 2026. Where we could not verify a figure to our satisfaction, it is not here and we say so.

Which sizes each model comes in

Not every model comes in the same sizes, which is the single most useful thing to know before you start comparing them.

Charger5

Charger5 Mixte

The Mixte shares the Charger5's reach, stack and top tube exactly. The difference is the step-through frame, which drops the stand-over height by 8 to 10 cm.

Nevo5

The step-over height is 43.5 cm on every size. On a low-step frame the step-over is set by the down tube rather than by the seat tube, so it does not grow with the frame. If getting on and off easily is your main concern, the Nevo5 gives you the same low step whichever size fits you, and you can choose the size on riding position alone.

Two things in that table look wrong and are not. The Small has an 80 mm suspension fork where the other three have 100 mm, which is why its stack is lower than you would expect from its head tube. And the Large and Extra Large use a slightly steeper head angle than the Small and Medium, 68 degrees against 67. That is why the Medium and Large share a reach of 39 cm, the Large sitting taller rather than longer, and why the Large's wheelbase is fractionally shorter than the Medium's despite the longer top tube. The Nevo5 is not one frame scaled four ways; it is designed in two halves.

Between the Medium and the Large on a Nevo5, the decision is unusually clear, because reach is identical. You are choosing how upright you sit, not how stretched out you are.

Delite5, Superdelite5 and Homage5

The Delite5, Superdelite5 and Homage5 share a frame platform, so their geometry is identical across all three. What separates them is battery capacity, drivetrain options, equipment and frame style, not fit. The Homage5 is the low-step-through of the three, with a step-over height of 53.5 cm on every size.

Maximum rider weight is a model decision, not a size decision. The Charger5, Charger5 Mixte and Nevo5 are rated to 125 kg. The Delite5, Superdelite5 and Homage5 are rated to 120 kg. The Load5 is 110 kg. The figure is identical on every size of a given model, so if it is close to the mark for you it decides which bike to buy rather than which size. Gross vehicle weight, meaning bike plus rider plus luggage, is 160 kg across the six models in the tables above. The Load5 is a cargo bike and is rated differently; ask us if you are planning to load one heavily.

A note on stand-over height. You will see it on the Charger5, Charger5 Mixte, Nevo5 and Homage5, and not on the Delite5 or Superdelite5. That is deliberate. Riese & Müller's published stand-over figures for the 2027 Delite5 and Superdelite5 do not behave the way the frames do, and they disagree with the figures published earlier in the year. Rather than repeat a number we do not trust, we are measuring those two in the workshop. The Homage5 is a low-step frame and publishes a step-over height instead, which is in its table above. If stand-over is the thing you need to know, call us and we will go and measure the actual bike.

The Load5 does not have frame sizes. It is built in one size with an adjustable top tube spanning 59 to 77 cm, a 59 cm stand-over height and a maximum rider weight of 110 kg, lower than the 120 to 125 kg across the rest of the range. Riese & Müller also splits it into two models by box size, the Load5 60 and the Load5 75, and they are different bikes rather than two sizes of one.

The rider height ranges above are Riese & Müller's own, per model. They differ from model to model, which is why there is no single height chart on this page: the Nevo5 starts at 1.55 m and the Delite5 at 1.70 m, so one chart across the range would send people to the wrong bike. Treat them as a starting point rather than a rule; a 1.78 m rider is inside three different sizes depending on the model.

Common questions

What size Riese & Müller do I need?
Start with the rider height range for the model you are looking at, then check reach. Height gets you to the right one or two sizes; reach decides between them. If you are near a boundary, call us rather than rounding.

What is my old 47 cm frame in the new labels?
On the Delite5, Superdelite5 and Homage5, 47 cm is now Medium, 51 cm is Large and 56 cm is Extra Large. The frames have not changed, only the names.

Do Riese & Müller sizes mean the same thing across models?
No. A Charger5 comes in four sizes and a Delite5 in three, so a Large is a different position in each range. The size steps differ too: reach moves in 4 cm jumps on the Delite5 and 2 to 3 cm on the Charger5.

Can I ride a bike that is between two sizes?
Usually yes, and both will be rideable. Smaller gives a shorter reach and a more upright position; larger gives more room and more comfort over distance. It is the clearest case for a test ride, or a phone call if you cannot get to us.

Is stand-over height the same on every size?
On a low-step frame, yes. The Nevo5 is 43.5 cm on all four sizes and the Homage5 is 53.5 cm on all three, because the step-over is set by the down tube rather than the seat tube. On diamond frames it rises with the frame.

Book a Test Ride

Book a test ride. You can ride the actual bike, in the size we think fits you, on real hills rather than a showroom floor, and we will adjust it while you are here. If it turns out you want the other size, you'll find out before you order a bike rather than after.

Test rides are at ebikeist, our unit at 3, The Piggery, Little Dartmouth, TQ6 0JP, by appointment. We are the Riese & Müller and Moustache specialist for the South West. We are open Tuesday to Friday 9 to 5 and Saturday 9 to 1, March to November.

Book a test rideor call 03330 151 979.