I'm convinced that mounting my Torq, which has a wheel diameter equal to my inside leg measurement, helps keep me in shape. As a youngster I never had a problem mounting the then standard 27" wheeled bikes but when I returned to cycling many years later I found that getting my leg over a 26" wheel was a challenge that resulted in a much kicked rear mudguard. In time I became able to mount without kicking anything until I changed to the Torq with 28" wheels and a rack, this becoming a target for my right foot. In time I got used to that and then added a rack bag, and the training started again.
These days I have little trouble clearing the bag, who's top is 1 metre above the ground, with my short 28" leg, something I wouldn't have believed possible not so long ago. I'm not sure that that degree of suppleness has any other use but it's good to know I can do it.
I have an old cycling film made in 1955 in which one gentleman is seen to dismount by simply raising his right leg very high and swinging it over the handlebars in one fluid movement while remaining facing forward, this on a full size bike! It certainly has style but I've never seen it done elsewhere and it would certainly be impossible for me, even dangerous.
