I know bike fit has been covered on this forum many times, but rather than discuss various systems or expert opinions, I would like to read a more informal, personal take on the topic. So: What are your personal experiences with bike fit? What mistakes or discoveries have you made? What "rules," if any, have you learned? And so on. Thanks.

I learned that its best to get it fit by an expert. Playing with it too much yourself can cause injury.

I read more than a few books and articles and finally settled on Rivendells fit methods since they allow me to be comfortable, which allows me to ride three to four times longer than when I was all bent over. Higher bars than what "looks right" to most, results in comfort especially for older and less sporty riders. I'll bet most cyclists could use a higher bar position and I'd just about bet real racers curse their position on the bike but it is more aero so they put up with it.

Not really. With correct fit it actually very comfortable. I can ride in the drops for a long time. Of course having a good core, and regular stretching goes a long way to making lower position comfortable.
In my opinion biggest thing is your saddle height/position. Bad fit can really mess up your knees. After that is dialed in, then comes adjusting Stem/handle bars.

I have carpal tunnel syndrome, which causes my hands to go numb. I also have a shoulder impingement from years of lifting weights. I've found that keeping my bar at saddle height makes my numbness less prounouned, and I'm much more comfortable.

Whether or not my butt hurts is directly related to bike fit.

Millimeters can make a difference.

Everything is related.

The watts you save through a more aggressive "aero" position are lost when one's mechanical advantage and pedal spin go south from being all bent over.

KOPS and the "Lemond Formula" work. For me anyway. Well, sort of.

Knee pain? Adjust your cleats. Works every time. Or at least in my case that's what it is.

Level saddle position doesn't work for everybody. Definitely didn't work for me.

The LeMond formula and the Rivendell method seem to represent the two ends of the bike fitting spectrum. I bought my latest bike with a LeMond-style fit, then got cold feet and actually exchanged it for a larger frame that gave me a Rivendell-style fit. I'm still not sure I made the right decision. The Rivendell fit would seem to be the best choice for commuting or touring, but then again, I think a lot depends on body type and riding style.

The first time I rode a bike as an adult, I hopped on and rode it without adjusting anything.

Then I raised the seat post and the knee pain went away.

Then I bought a 1970's era road bike, and the hand numbness went away.

I made many micro-adjustments to the road bike, and I have found these things:

1) As a previous poster said, millimeters do count for a whole lot!

2) A correctly fitting road frame is not very comfortable to stand over. I found this out trying the Rivendell model of fitting.

3) If you can fit the bike, it will feel like an extension of your own body, and you can ride longer and harder without getting aches and pains that are debilitating.

Edit: Reading your post makes me think that you might want to consider getting fit by a professional bicycle fitter to make sure that you have the right size bike for yourself, dude.

So you think the Rivendell model is best?

I had a lot of trouble with my fitting because my previous commuter was a mountain bike with a sloping top tube and I had no experience riding a road bike with classic geometry. The shop mechanics weren't much help -- they leaned in whichever direction I was tending.

Here's a question: When in doubt, do you favor the smaller frame or the larger?

What I've learned:
I want bars that are parallel to the direction of travel not perpendicular.
I like my hand position to be low but not racing drop bar low.
I like a fairly wide handle bar for commuting.
This means I like wide drop bars on riser stems or moustache bars. Flat or riser bars are uncomfortable.
I prefer to be fairly stretched out on my bike so I tend to go up a size. If I can stand over the top tube its not too big.
Brooks saddles and fat tires make the ride much more comfortable.
Double wrapping the handle bars with padded tape makes the bars too thick even for my large hands.

Craig

+1 to all of the above. I ride two vinatge road bikes adapted for commuting. I am 6'1" with a 32 inch inseam and I ride a 59cm Schwinn World Voyageur and 61cm Trek 710. Both bikes have 700cc wheels, 44cm & moustache style bars, 32mm tires and Brooks Saddles (one sprung the other unsprung.) Riding larger framed bikes is more comfortable in my experience.

Comment number two.....has me puzzled. If you sized correctly as per Rivendells advice there should be no pain standing over the bike. You should end up with at least a couple centimeters of clearance.

Keep in mind is the amount of stopping and starting you have to do on your commute. If you need to hop off frequently to wait out a light, stand over height becomes tons more important than if you do it only occassionaly. Also keep in mind that during quick stops on unlevel ground, that centimeter or so you have for clearance will disappear rapidly.

I like compact geometry with sloping top tubes...

I'm all for KOPS, proper seat height and having your body at a 45-degree angle to the horizontal when you're in your preferred position [regardless of the handlebar type]. This gives nice fore-aft balance, reasonable aerodynamics and maximal power from your glutes. More aero? Lower those handlebars. Weak core muscles? Raise the bar. Knee pain? Likely KOPS issues, but you could have other problems that require a proper diagnosis.

The key thing to remember is that your "ideal position" will vary with time. Even a "professional" fitting will need to be messed with in a month [or a week]. Body flexibility, core strength, leg strength can all change what feel comfy. Further, everyone is different. Even among the responses in this thread, we've got quite a bit of variation. I wouldn't take anyone's suggestions as gospel - if your current fit isn't working, try something else.

Maybe I'm odd but I have never had any trouble with stand over height on any of my bikes. My commute involves over 30 signaled intersections each way. My bikes are mostly a size larger than is commonly recommended and my road bikes are traditional geometry. I usually have 1-2 cm of stand over. Even my MTB has limited stand over and it has never been a problem. I do not recommend a bike for commuting that you cannot stand over. But as soon as the bike can move between your legs then it is not too big. Rivendell may have some strong opinions that I often don't agree with but they are not too far off on bike fit in my opinion.
Craig

I agree with dalmore about the hopping off thing. On the other hand, it's not difficult to get used to hopping off a frame with little clearance.

charles vail: well, it's just that the stand-over height that I can personally tolerate is 31.5". Most "traditional" diamond road bike frames with that sort of stand-over have top tubes that feel too short for me, forcing me into using longer stems. I can probably go a bit larger, into the 32" category, but I'm uncomfortable with a 1cm stand-over clearance

x37: Much as I like Rivendell's philosophy on things, I suggest once again, that you should get a professional bike fit from a professional bicycle fitter.

I guess it is likely I have long legs for my height (6'2", 34" inseam) which probably makes fitting easier with traditional geometry. If you have a long torso a sloping top tube will give you extra clearance to make stand over a non issue. The only problem comes about if you are looking at older road bikes which seldom have compact geometry.
Craig

I agree. I'll have to travel to a larger city, however, because my town doesn't have any pro bike fitters.

Yep. The road bike I've been tinkering with is indeed, a traditional geometry-type bicycle. The stand-over on it's about at the upper limit of my tolerance, but the stem still feels about 1cm too short. The handlebars are also too low, and since raising a stem's height also decreases the distance to the handlebars (due to a less than 90 degree headtube), I'd also have to increase stem length some more.

I think you read lots, and try lots and adjust, adjust , adjust mm by mm, and adjust more.
Just changing cleats or shoes takes me forever, as in a week or two, to dail them in.

I had the Goldie Locks experience; my first bike a little too small, my second one a little too big, and the third almost just right. So after messing around with three different size bikes I calculated all the various parts of a bike that would come into play to making my dream bike fit me the way I wanted it to; from there I ordered a custom built frame, one that would fit me in relationship to the stem length that I was going to use, the fore and aft seating position I wanted the seat to be placed at, the height relationship between the stem and the seat height, and the crank length I was going to use. When this was all said and done I ended up with a frame size that I would have not been able to purchase at any showroom floor. Yes it took a long time to get to this point and four bikes later, but in the end I got a bike that fit me period, just right.