I think we all need to clarify what we each mean by "measurements." I worked with Tom Kellogg of Spectrum, arguably one of the best in the business. Many world titles on his bikes. He didn't want body measurements; he wanted to see profile photos of me in very specific positions on all of my bikes and measurements of my current bikes. He was working with joint angles and weighting because that is what allows the proper muscles to be engaged. Measurements like leg length, etc., tell a builder nothing about your flexibility - for instance, how comfortable you are with leaning forward and where the bend is achieved. Some folks will never have a pure "flat back."

I had a very experienced fitter do everything locally and then set up a fit bike off Tom's CAD drawing and take more photos. Tom nailed the fit from across the continent. But I've got 20 years of riding under my belt and knew what positions my body was happy with. Therefore, Tom had an experienced and knowledgeable customer to work with.

All this doesn't mean you don't need a custom bike. A friend's first road bike was a custom Seven because her body just didn't fit stock bikes. She looks fabulously comfortable on it and her mileage zoomed up, but she worked with a local fitter (happened to be the same one that I did). The builder doesn't need to be local, but whoever is doing the fit and advising the builder needs to be be. Tom could turn out the same great fit for an inexperienced rider if he has a good fitter to work with. For one thing, the average newbie wouldn't know how to measure bikes properly.

Ask BikerZ about getting her Seven. She had a local fitter and the bike was built across the continent.

And good builders should be willing to work with local fitters. Otherwise, move on . . . .