Lisa, you are also making assumptions about postion and comfort. I have found that my position can vary with the bike and frame geometry. For example, on my steel Isis, which is a 19" frame, my bars are level with my saddle. However, on my titanium isis, which is a 17.5" frame, in order to feel balanced on the bike and have her handle well, I had to position my bars both closer and lower. So on that bike, the bars are 3 cm below the saddle. My reach is in fact one cm shorter on the smaller bike (taken from tip of saddle to front of brake hoods), and both bikes feel very comfortable to me and handle well, although the bike with the lower bars looks racier. So, sometimes its about getting the optimal position for the rider-bike combo. My husband favors a very aerodynamic position, whether he is racing or touring. He feels one should ride in the most aerodynamic position that is comfortable on any bike, cuz hey, its faster. Whether you are touring or racing, you still wanna get there quickly! Some people are more flexible than others, so for them having the bars low is comfy (my husband's bars are like 3" below his saddle). I think often women end up with higher bars because they ride bikes with top tubes that are proportionally too long.