Everyone is different in terms of what they prefer, and that goes for framebuilders as well.
- Colnago frames have a lot of trail and steer slowly relative to many other frames. Does this mean they handle poorly?
-Serotta uses a lot of bottom bracket drop – 8 cm (most frames have approx 7.0 cm). Does this mean his frames handle better/worse than the competition?
Both Serotta and Colnago are highly respected brands, yet their frames are different from the norm in subtle ways. Riders are different as well; some people may like a bike that steers fast but others do not. There is no right and wrong answer here.
Framebuilders shoot for the middle ground because they know what works. As I said before, a frame built right on the median of the popular geometry range will work wonderfully for both general road usage and crits as well. Somebody may prefer something that steers a little faster/slower but that does not mean that the general purpose frame is not great for most riders.
The quandary of what is best could possibly be best explored in terms of bottom bracket height; a low bottom bracket frame turns easier since the CG is lower, yet a low BB is ripe for a pedal strike. What is “best”? Most builders shoot for a compromise of roughly 7.0 cm because this works for most riders, under most conditions.
I think you are hung up on the fact that you like a frame that steers fast, and you assume this is best for all aggressive riders. Colnago apparently begs to differ. Personally, I’m not a Colnago fan, just using the brand an example. There is no reason to get hung up on all these subtle differences. Just get a frame that feels the way you like and don’t generalize as to whether or not this frame should have its own category, or whether or not this frame is best for people other than you.
This horse is flogged.
PS: Dual pivot brakes are one of the most positive improvements in road components in the last 20 years. They are industry standard for a reason. Your singling them out as bad clearly puts the spotlight on yourself as the outlier.