A while back I decided my bike (57 cm Lemond) is too small (I'm 6'2"😉,
and was having trouble figuring out what size I needed. I went to one
bike shop and was measured up, but the results seemed rather
inconclusive.
I went to another bike shop and went through the whole bike fit process.
They measured me, put me on their adjustable stationary bike, and moved
the seat post and handle bar up/down fore/aft, and got it dialed in to a
good comfortable position.
The guy doing it seemed like he was really good at it. As he moved the
handle bars around, he could see from my posture if my shoulders, back,
and neck were under strain or moving into unnatural positions.
Anyway, the end result was rather interesting. He is recommending a 60
to 62 cm seat tube (c-c), a 57 cm top tube with 100 mm stem (or 56 cm TT
with 110 mm stem if I want quicker handling). I also needed a wider
handlebar (from 42 cm to 46 cm).
The real interesting part is the handlebar position. The handlebars
ended up 10 cm below the seat, which is MUCH lower than I had them.
That seems way too low for a non-racer, so I asked if that was really
correct. When I first got the bike, the bars were really low and I got
the long stem because I was having problems (numbness in various
places...)
He said the wider handlebar and shorter reach stem would fix that
problem, and he suggested putting a cheap handlebar and stem on to try
out, so I did - I now have 46 cm bars and a 100 mm stem.
I've only been out for a couple rides since then, but the bike is a lot
more comfortable than before. My position seems a little weird right
now since I'm not used to the low handlebar yet (especially in the
drops), but I am amazed at how much better the bike feels.
I will try it this way and get some longer rides in before deciding if
this is the way to go, but so far it seems like a huge improvement.