Originally Posted by pdedes

Like most cat1 riders, I didn't get to choose what bike I got to ride for the season so that colours my ideas. But, I also had a great coach early on that gave me a great dynamic fitting philosophy. While I was staying at a pro's house in California, I got a great lesson in geometry and ride performance that aided my ability to predict how a correctly sized frame will behave in different situations. There is so much subtlety that I find it hard to believe that someone inexperienced might correctly attribute a certain response to chainstay length or any other specific geometrical attribute. I am not trying to be elitist, but I do think that buyers aren't largely informing themselves in meaningful ways on test rides. And in the end, you have to ride the thing for a season to truly get all you can out of a given bike.