Originally Posted by 531phile

If I followed this advice I wouldn't own 4 out of my 6 bikes, all of which fit great. The original poster who is a newbie should check the geometry of the bikes he is looking at and see if he could find a bike with similar geometry at a store and test ride it. If it fits, get the bike online. Geometry has to be close though. Within .5 or 1cm. and .5 degrees for the seat tube/head angle. Also, to complicate matters a little, compare the trail on both bikes. See http://yojimg.net/bike/web_tools/trailcalc.php Plug in the numbers for the head angle, fork offset(rake), diameter of the tire you will be riding, and tire width. The trail on the bikes you are comparing should be within 2-3mm of each other. That should give you a good indication on the handling similarities. A lot of bike companies don't list their fork offset, sometimes you have to call them directly or email them for this, but if you can get the fork aftermarket online, they usually list the fork offset(rake).