I appreciate there are some companies & people who can and do Bike Fit a person to a bike (or should that be the other way around?), but I was wondering if there was a web site or a set of measurements and angles that are a starting point?

One of the bike mags just had a thing in about that I think ….

Which one and which month?
Any thoughts

Every other road bike mag every other month.
It varies so much, it's a decent enough starter point but everyone is different, different bikes/riding styles and what suits Mr Pro Racer won't suit Mr Average Sportive Rider and certainly won't be the same as Mr Downhiller.

I've got a book called "Serious Cycling" (all roadie based) and that lists 4 different ways of setting saddle height using various equations – trying all those equations results in a latitude of about 2cm saddle height for me (on a road bike obviously). While not critical on a "trail" MTB, it's very important on a road bike (and my saddle height doesn't equate to any of those 4 measurements!)

Those articles in magazines are the same as fitness articles – you'll never cater to all types and it's largely a matter of filling pages a lot of the time.

The only way you learn it is to ride lots and find out what works – change one thing at a time, make a note of it (mark the saddle position, seatpost height etc) and then record any difference in feeling, in speed, in comfort.

My thoughts regarding bike fit; it's not about a set of numbers. Bike fit is a dynamic process which changes as you change and as your activity changes, hence my contempt for the current fashion of paying money to receive advice regarding your 'perfect' fit.
It also depends to a significant extent on fashion, which rather contradicts the 'scientific' measure all your bits and use a computer programme stuff.

Think about mountain bike position; recently the fashion is for shorter stems and wider bars, whereas 10 years ago that would have been 'wrong'.

Road bike wise, the rise in popularity of road biking, particularly in the US led to loads of people buying full on road race bikes and finding that they weren't flexible enough to actually ride them, leading to the idea of 'sportive' geometry, higher head tubes and bars..

Bike fitting is not a science, it's a craft, and you need to learn it over the years rather than look up numbers or pay someone to tell you.

Blimey, Crikey thats a perfect point sensibly put.

Yup – but in the years it taken me to learn the craft my body angles have gone differently too.