Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl View Post
The problem for shorter people, is that even if your body is well proportioned, most small framed bikes are not. Just look at any bike geometry chart. On the medium to large framed bikes, the STA is 73 and the top tube and seat tubes are roughly the same length. On the smaller framed bikes, the top tube is always proportionally longer than the seat tube, increasing the reach. This is further compounded by increasing the STA which while this appears to decrease reach, doesn't really, it just makes you need to push your saddle further back to get the same KOP position. To avoid TCO, they may also mess with the head tube angle and fork rake, all of which adversely effect handling. This is all in order to get a 700c or even 650c wheel in a space that is really too small for it to go. That is why I am such a fan of terry bikes with small (24") front wheels. When you don't have to worry about to fit a large wheel in, the frame can be designed with concerns about handling first. Even custom won't solve this problem unless your custom builder is very sensitive to this. I think you only get it if you have a body that has felt the impact of the problem.

I also want to add that one must also consider differences between female and male bodies. So while this is a problem for all shorter statured cyclists, women on average have longer legs, shorter torsos, and especially shorter arms than a male counterpart of the same height. So, you can have a perfectly normally proportioned female body, but not fit well into most of the stock frames that are available, even in the best of shops. Just cuz someone sells you the bike that is the best fit he has in stock or knows how to order, doesn't mean that it is the best fit you could get if you looked at frames built by women for women (or by a framebuilder that really gets this).
Boy did you ever say a mouthful! You exactly described a problem that is very common for women yet seldom explained very well. And it's not just for shorter women either....
I'm 5'5" and this was exactly my problem when on my stock Rivendell (which I love, but it does not fit my women's proportions that well). My center of gravity was too far forward and nothing could fix it. I could never get my weight back off my hands enough to feel balanced- and it wasn't so much because of the reach but more because my seat was too far forward over the crank. The bike was designed with a size 60cm frame and a male rider in mind, and mine was a 54cm shrunken down model with a woman on it.
My problem was totally solved when Margo of Lunacycles.com built me a custom bike based on my measurements and my list of frustrations.
Even though the distance between where both wheels touch the ground is the same, and the reach is not that different, I feel so balanced now and no longer feel like I have to hold my weight up on my hands or else fall on my face. I no longer feel I can't get my saddle back far enough to feel right. My awful elbow pain is gone too. The comfort difference is incredible, it's a joy to ride. Plus, I have almost no toe overlap at all on my Luna, while I do have more on my Riv.
Triskellion, you described the problem so well! For me, it really was a weight balance and center-of-gravity issue more than a simple 'reach' issue.