Bike sizing

The XC set up[ do make you go faster. But only when you hit the rough stuff then it becomes hellish to control. I am short 5'4" or something. I have a small size Cannondale hardtail. I have a short stem and a rather long fork with 140 travel. It gets me to where I want. Because of this, the climb is not so great, kind of hard to keep my front on the ground when something steep is happening. But when the going get rough I can make it down almost anything.

Thought that I'd throw this out there - how did you choose the size of bike you ride, and how did you set it up to fit you? Anyone out there gone all-out and bought a custom frame? I'm interested to see how MTB'ers size up their rides. Give us your stories; the good, the bad, the ugly.

I used to think that a long top tube [24"], long stem, and low bar made me faster - in the early days, people used to say that the handlebar should be 2-4 inches below saddle height, which nowadays seems absolutely ridiculous. Now I've got one of the highest bars and shortest stems around, with a 22.5" top tube and find this works perfectly for me. Much more stable.