When I struggled to find a bike that fit after my beloved custom bike friday was stolen last year, I did what you suggest. I looked at the geometry tables of the bikes that had worked for me in the past, and of the ones I test rode and hate. In doing that, I learned that I need a bike with a 73 degree seat tube angle or less, or I can't get positioned right over the bottom bracked, I like a bike with a top tube of 48-49 cm, or I need too short a stem and end up with squirrely handling, I like bikes with trail values in the 5-5.5 range, and hate ones with values 6 and up since their handling is very sluggish. Based on this analysis, I searched the web and found a bike that matched my needs, the 2005 terry titanium isis. I bought her site unseen, the great folks at Harris Cyclery built her up to my specs and when I took delivery she was love at first site.