Quote Originally Posted by Triskeliongirl
Yes, its true with the smaller framed terrys you need to carry 2 tubes, BUT, I could not find a single bike with 650cc wheels that didn't have toe clip overlap and had a slack enough seat tube angle to fit me. So, I went with the bike that fit, and I carry one extra tube. FYI, now the 19" and larger terrys have slightly slacker STAs and 650cc wheels, if that really matters to you, but I chose the 17.5" cuz it fit me better. My titanium Isis fits me like a glove and rides like a dream, for a lot less money than a custom frame. I also didn't trust a guy builder to build me a custom frame that fit. What do you do if you don't like the fit after spending all that money on a custom??????????????
That's a risk you take with custom, however, in the absence of female fitters you have to trust someone.

Building a custom frame is a lot about knowing what works for you, knowing your body and trusting your fitter.

My Aegis was refitted by a female, who happened to be trained by Serotta. She taught me alot about what was right with my bike and what was wrong. So when I had the fitting for my Serotta it was a male fitter (I've moved) but I trust him to do it right because he took the time to learn about what I was happy with on my bike and what needed to improve. He learned about my style of riding, what I was looking for in a bike and even was willing to work around my knee injury to do the fitting. He even offered me a job!

Anyway, I've learned that there are no hard and fast rules about bike fitting, that every rider is different and if someone wants to follow the "rule of thumb" steer clear.

BTW, a Terry would not work for me because I happen to have a short femur (I learned this from a Serotta fitter who is male) and I need to have a steep st angle.