Originally Posted by marqueemoon

I'm with carpediemracing. I've found when measuring things like reach, saddle height, and saddle to bar drop on my bikes I'm within about .5cm from one bike to the next.

120ish stem and a 58ish top tube is the sweet spot for me in the handling department. That's from 1 to 2 cm longer a stem than most complete 58cm bikes come with.

I personally wouldn't go any shorter than 57.5 or longer than 58.5 for an effective top tube. I don't like a big frame with short stem and I can't go smaller without resorting to silliness.

I think you need to know how you want a bike to fit and handle before you can really play with this stuff. When in doubt pass. Other deals will come along.