Great question. Did a lot of measuring on my current collection and have kept notes on previously owned bikes, so went there with some specific ideas regarding setback and chainstay length.

In particular, i knew that bikes with a setback of less than 14cm (measured with a plumb bob with the top tube horizontal) tend to be easy climbers and work well with my setup measurements (30.25 inches from center of crank to top of saddle measured along the seat tube; 25.5 inches from the center of the seat post under the saddle to the center of the handlebars; 36 inches from the center of the handlebars to the ground). I also knew that a certain chainstay length (can't remember it offhand, need to go to the file) had worked well for me on all-day riders and solid descenders.

I didn't dictate fork angle, rake, or trail, allowing Sr. Pelizzoli to use angles he knew from experience would work with my numbers above for an Eroica-styled bike. It's pretty clear in the picture that the seat tube is somewhat more vertical than the head tube. At no point during our discussion did he disagree with my suggestions; in fact he was very thoughtful and worked out some numbers using sketches while we met. He conferred frequently with Simone to ensure there were no mistakes being made through translation.

While the external tube sizing was a pain, in the end it worked out OK. I'll post pics and a ride review after Cino this weekend.