I've a custom build and professionally fitted bike that feels great on any ride. Recently, I had the bright idea to see if I could get four of my other road bikes setup with the same cockpit measurements. I figured it would be easy. I would just take some key measurements:

1. Seat height from saddle top to center of pedal spindle.
2. Reach from seat center to center line of handle bars.
3. Center of saddle in relationship to center of bottom bracket. (I've the same saddle on all five bikes.)

AND, number three is where I started to run into problems. I can get the same reach from center of saddle to center of handle bars, but I get slightly different measurements in the relationship of saddle center to bottom bracket center. It’s only off by 2 or 3 mm in one direction or another. So, I thought I’d try swapping handle bars with different reach and/or different stem lengths to see if I could get it spot on. (Lucky for me I have lots of spare parts.) OK, so I was able to narrow down the difference a wee bit. But then I notice that the center line on the handle bars is different in relationship to the center of the front wheel axel.

Now, I’m well over 14 hours into this little experiment (over a period of six days) and I’m realizing that there is only so much that can be done to make a bike that is just a little off, in terms of fit, actually fit completely proper. And, I haven’t even started to tinker with things like handle bar drop of ideal saddle tilt. This saddle tilt thing is strange too. On the custom bike I’ve got the saddle perfectly flat. Yet that position on three of the four other bikes doesn’t seem to work. One two, it needs have the nose up a mm or so and on the third, it needs to be up even more to feel right. So, I’m now thinking that custom is custom and anything else is an approximation. I’m giving up the quest for now. That is, unless any of you have any ideas to get me unstuck.