ejewels,

Why the experiment? Does some part of your body hurt? Do you think a different positition will make you more efficient of powerful? What makes you doubt the fitter?

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I ride differently over a season, from the start, when I can't comfortably ride more than 10 miles and have to stretch to reach the tops, to the end, when I can do 50+ and can be comfortable on the drops. And I ride a '73 MKM, so the stem is a PITA to change out, and I'm not about to mess with reach. So when is a fitting going to be valid for me, or for any other seasonal rider?

Further, my bet is that different fitters will give the same rider different fits (no pun intended, but a pun may be accurate here), and if that happens, there's no way to tell which is right.

Each rider needs to know him- or herself. For me, and I think for a lot of people, the first goal is to ride without pain or discomfort. Some - most? - of getting comfortable on the bike requires conditioning. I don't see how a fit can solve conditioning problems - and I think a whole lot of problems are due to lack of conditioning, in all likelihood.

Besides the fitting systems are based on probabilities or on the fitter's own rules of thumb. Either way, if you're an outlier, a fit may not suit you very well, at all.

If you're reasonably conditioned and in pain (or think you can get more from biking if you changed you position), a professional fit is definitely a worthwhile use of funds, if a good fitter is nearby.

If your bike is so uncomfortable that you can't get conditioned, a good LBS may be the answer. IMO, I can't see how fitting an unconditioned body is going to be valid for long.

BTWm by 'conditioned', I mean conditioned to the demands of cycling.