Opinions on self fitting are abundant and, many times, passionate! I, for one, am a self fitter. Back when I started cycling, there really wasn't any such thing as a "professional fit". 90+% of the LBS's "fit" you by having you straddle the top tube, and that was about it.

So, I bought a book on competitive & long distance cycling and went by that, and have continued to use those guidelines to this day.

26 years later, I still have no "issues". I can do a century in a reasonable time and not have my knees kill me. Yeah, I might be butt sore for a day, and leg sore for a day (maybe 2, depending on effort), but no adverse effects to speak of.

I recognize the fact that there have been many advancements in sports medicine & understanding of the physiology of the body in the last 2+ decades, and I'm not nay-saying any of that.

Some people do not have the patience to go through the trial and error process of self fitting. Some people do not trust that they have accurate information to do it. That's all well and good. Some people are more than willing to have a pro fit. That's all well and good too. In fact, I am scheduling a pro fit for myself in the next couple of weeks. I'm interested to see how the way I've been doing it all these years jives with the modern method.