Originally Posted by
Wildwood
Then I see such poor fitting bikes that have been sold by shops (of all kinds) = jacked up stems/spacers/seatposts/etc. My advice seems only logical for so many. YMMV
If you truly see 'so many' on ill-fitting bikes, the logical conclusion is either that a. shops are fitting people on the wrong type of bike or b. people are insisting on buying the wrong type of bike. The majority of us aren't sizing freaks that require a custom frame to achieve standard-looking proportions. And with so many categories of bikes available to accommodate every type of cycling, there's simply no reason to buy a race bike and run 50mm of spacers (and I doubt there ever was a reason, other than stubbornness on the part of the buyer).
Originally Posted by
Wildwood
Sorry you or others claim a bad experience with a local builder. When I had my last fitting, the builder put me on a stationary trainer with my best bike. He took a few measurements. Then told me to warm up and he would be back in a few minutes. He passed by 10 minutes later and asked me to up the pace. 5 minutes later = up the pace again with mild out of saddle exertions. Then back to a moderate pace. After 40 min on the trainer he took measurements again. As a result, I ride shorter cranks (attempt to spin better) and went back to narrow (38cm) bars, a slightly longer stem to compensate for short/shallow bars, since I round my shoulders when i tire and rode the hoods rather than transitioning to the drops. He also built a frame to meet my requests.
Other than the 'frame to meet [your] requests,' all of the above is doable on any bike. Anyone who has cycled for years is very likely to be making some component change on a new bike, or building up a bare frame, to get things just how they like. Your minor changes (other than perhaps the frame, but it is unlikely you have anything extreme there in regards to geometry, as most don't) can be made on any bike.
I have some pretty quirky preferences these days so I am building up a bare Hongfu (
) frame for my next bike. There's no off-the-shelf bike that even comes close to what I want any more so the decision to build is easy. However, for the frame, the standard 50cm Hongfu offering is a perfect fit for me.