Rivendell loyalist here. 5'9" with a "61" frame. Aesthetics are important to me. A tall bicycle relative to my height just seems right and I love the look of 700mm wheels. On the practical side, I think it feels nice to stretch out a little bit while riding. I sure want my legs to extend to their full length. I found Peterson's suggestion about having the bars slightly higher than the seat to be brilliant: balance one's weight between the bars and the seat and everybody's happy.