How is a road bike measured? I see one listed as 52 cm.?

Road bikes are measured from the center of the bottom bracket (BB) to the top tube (TT) under the saddle. This section of the bike frame is called the seat tube. Trek will have a list of dimensions on their website that you can look at. They build bike frame proportional to the average riders size. So as the frame size goes up, the seat tube length and the top tube length will increase in length. A quality bike shop will be able to fit you properly. I suggest test driving a few different bikes at a couple different shops to get a good idea of what you like. Every bike rides and feels different because they use different components or the way the frame is built and they type of material used.

The size of a road bike is usually the length of the seat tube. It is measured from the top of the top tube to the center of the bottom bracket. You could check out the other details of the frame's geometry at Trek's website.

Usually this size is the seat tube (basically the tube where your seatpost and saddle attach to, down to where the cranks attach). It looks like Trek measures to the top of the seat tube, center to top or C-T (many brands measure from C-C center to center which is center of bottom bracket to center of top tube).

http://www2.trekbikes.com/bikes/bike.php?bikeid=14...

Also, if you are cross shopping, you may find other brands with sloping top tubes (Trek has level top tubes) and they give you a virtual size and a real size.

Go visit a shop to get properly sized for a bike or if you must do it DIY, go here:

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/bikefit/

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from bottom of wheels to top of seat usually...