Originally Posted by Looigi

IMO, fit is extremely important, but it's not critical. By that I mean a bike has gotta fit or you'll have trouble, but there are a wide range of fits over which you won't. The most critical (smallest acceptable range) is saddle to pedal distance. After that, much of it is personal preference. For example, check my mountain bikes vs my road bikes. Fit's are all over the place but I can ride any all day. Same goes for rental bikes I've gotten on canned tours. And I don't think I'm particularly flexible or adaptable, especially since I'm pushing 60. Unless you have very unusual proportions, any mainstream bike can be gotten in a size that will fit properly with correct adjustment and selection of components. IMO, when it come to bike fit, there's a lot of voodoo, personal biases, and aesthetic preferences of the fitter being passed off as science.