bike fitting, bike too low/long ?

Hi.

I had a bikefitting session recently, BF concluded that frontend is too low - should be 5cm lower than saddle optimally, however it seems a bit high for me, currently it's about 6-7cm lower and i feel fine
and distance between saddle and handlebar ~51.5cm, now it's 52.

I have Spesh Tarmac 56, seatpost without setback (i don't like it, as it puts me waaay too back, comparing to MTB position, with seatpost angles 76-78*), saddle moved forward, stem 90mm - it's really nice crispy feeling, good when i ride slowly and when i do 60-80km/h. however maybe my front wheel is unweighted sometimes? during cornering i try to weight it more (by leaning forward a bit).
I'm 181cm with 86.5cm inside leg, saddle height 76cm (from BB to top surface), cranks 170, and 3cm spacers under my stem.
BikeFitter recommendation is 56 endurance frame (higher and maybe a bit shorter).

However when I tried Giant Defy M/L in a shop, feeling was completely opposite of course, it was because of seatpost with 20mm setback and saddle in central position.
However steering was very slow and 'boring', was it because of head angle? (defy 72.5 vs 73.5) or mainly because of stem=110mm ? (handlebar was very similar, maybe 42cm instead of mine 44)
on a paper, both bikes have similar length defy: TTh=560mm vs Tarmac TTh=565mm.

Any downsides of putting shorter stem? from 110 to 90mm ? other than i mentioned, and also the feeling with steering response is great
or maybe I should look for smaller endurance frame with even higher stack? i see that Roubaix 54 has stack as high as Defy M/L and still 2cm higher than Tarmac 56

Comments

  • So, you've had a bike fit the fitter has recommended and made some changes.

    How long have you been riding with these changes? You can go back to the fitter and they should re-adjust based on your input with the new fit.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,695
    If you were comfortable, why did you have a bike fit?
  • I didn't complain about comfort in fact. I was able to do >3000m climbs and 120km during few hours, without pains.
    I visited bikefitting mainly to check correctness of my lower body (I broke my leg once and I need some asymmetric setup), to avoid future issues.

    According to BF, there are two issues, my propotions (shorter torso?), and lack of flexibility - when i try to touch the flour while standing, my fingers are still 20cm above (but i'll try to make it better :) )