An Internet retailer has begun offering a new line of latex condoms available in a range of 55 sizes that is billed as a better way to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and reduces the chance of an unwanted pregnancy.

Los Angeles-based Condomania says the "TheyFit" condoms can offer men a more comfortable fit than other condom brands, which typically are available in only three or four size variations. A better fit should lead to fewer tears and slippage problems, and less anxiety, the company's CEO Adam Glickman said.

"A condom that fits right, not only physically fits better, but psychologically," said Glickman, who got his start selling condoms door-to-door at Tufts University before founding Condomania in 1991.

Each of "TheyFit" condoms' 55 sizes have been sold to 200 customers since Condomania began selling the brand last week on its Web site and at a store in New York City, he said.

Alex Farioletti, a bicycle messenger who stopped in at the Condomania store in Manhattan on Monday, saw the condoms in a store display and said he would buy a pack once he determined which size to buy.

"Condoms pretty much are not a pleasurable thing to use, so anything that could help the whole process along, I'm definitely going to try," said Farioletti, 24.

Glickman said only one or two men have reported not finding the right size for them.

"An argument can be made that maybe 55 sizes aren't enough," he said.

But the correlation, if any, between the fit of a condom and how well it protects has not been clearly defined, some researchers say.

"We don't have the science to support a need for 55 sizes," said Richard Crosby, an assistant professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Only anecdotal data are available on the subject, said Cynthia Graham, a researcher with the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Bloomington, Ind.

"It's clearly an area that is open for more research."

Beyond selling men on why they should buy a "TheyFit" condom, Condomania has to bank on prospective buyers' willingness to undergo a fitting.

Would-be customers are asked to print out and use a measuring template off the Condomania Web site to determine which size of condom to buy. Conspicuously absent from the "Fit Kit" template is any obvious size definition that might be offensive or make someone self-conscious. Instead, measurements are defined by random number and letter combinations like "J33" and "G22."

"You will not see in the they 'Fit Kit' vocabulary 'small' or 'thin' or anything that would make anyone feel less about themselves," Glickman said.

Armed with the magic number, a customer could then place an order. A pack of 12 condoms runs $11.95.

Most major brand-name condoms can be found virtually everywhere from convenience stores to pharmacies or vending machines in some night clubs.

But the demands of stocking so many sizes likely will keep the "TheyFit" line available only through the Internet or specialty shops, Glickman said.

By Alex Veiga