Originally Posted by BigSung

Hey Hank. I went through exactly the same thing that you are going through. I also read the full forum at least twice or more and read through many sites including Guitar Ted. It provides a good baseline and it's just that a baseline to start. Ultimately, it really comes down to your preference.

The personal preference part is well understood.

The RH has slightly longer effective top tube than my Cimarron. I tried to maintain the basic dimensions. Therefore, I used a slightly taller stem threadless converter and slightly shorter stem (70mm x 35 deg rise vs. 90 mm x 35 deg rise on Cimarron) to keep the bar height and position from the saddle about the same between the two. Once I have that setup, then the real fine tuning comes into play. Before I wrap my bars, I play around with angle of the drop bar and position of the brake levers to ensure I am comfortable with the setup. I think this part takes the most time. I usually ride around the block. Once I feel that the fit seems to be good, then I actually do a longer run to confirm. I have a great 12 mile trail that includes road, bike path, and 4 miles of tight singletrack as my test ride. On the Cimarron, it took about 4 actual rides before wrapping the bar. On RH, I have already changed the position several times just riding around the block. Keep in mind that I have two different bars and different purposes. Once I have the bike fully built up, then I will take it out for the long run to confirm before wrapping the bar.

The stem on my SJ is 135mm (~5.375") X ~ -14º and according to the stem calculator 118mm (~ 4.625") X ~-17º
should do for a set of On-One Midges placing the drops on the same (+or- a mm or 2), . Of course, different
bars call for slightly different measurements. Could get a steer tube extender and work with a shorter stem length ...

I think you are doing the right thing. Get the baseline taken care of, and then you can fine tune it.

By the way, I weighed my RH with 1 shifter cable and 1 brake cable installed, and the weight came in at 25.0 lbs. It looks like my completed build will be in the low to mid 25 lbs...not too shabby considering that it doesn't have the lightest components. My Cimarron came in at 24.0 lbs which did have lighter components.

Mine will be heaver due to the "Troll" front fork that I am using to replace the Mag-21 that came with it and is shot,
but less then it's original weight. I think ...maybe ... I hope.