Hello all again
So have had a giant store bike fit now.
I sit slap bang between small and medium. Fitting suggested probably having a medium frame with a 70mm stem as the saddle to bar drop was only 45mm from saddle to bars whereas a small would be a drop of 60mm to the bars but with a 90mm stem.
Sitting on a medium with a 70mm stem is seemed ok but my nagging doubt is should i be a on a medium with such a short stem and how will that affect the ride/handling? Will i be able to cope with an extra 15mm drop in which case the small would be better?

Again real world comments would be welcome.

70mm stem seems very short, sounds like a medium is too long for you.

Go for a small. A 45mm drop is not very large, you will become more flexible, and a longer stem on a smaller bike will handle better.

FWIW I’m on the border of M and M/L. I ride a M Defy with a 120 stem. I’ve also ridden a small with a 130 stem with no ill effects.

The medium will feel too big and not handle as well.

TiRed plus 1.

I was between a M and M/L also and bike fit at the Giant dealer put me on a M with a 110 stem. Fits a treat.

Yep, I agree that a small will be a better bet. Don’t get caught up with stem length too much as the reach of the bars will also make a difference.

Regardless I’d say the small would be a better bet – also, 45mm drop, that’s tiny , it’s a road bike.

So have had a giant store bike fit now.

What system did they use?

Powerfit, or something else?

Each Giant store is a privately owned franchise, so “fitting” methods vary across the 26 or so brand stores in the UK.

some use ‘powerfit’, others ‘retul’ and so on…might be worth going back and asking the store to recheck, or finding a good bike fitter with experience

Powerfit was the tool they used.

Given I do a lot of endurance riding with rides >50 miles I think the theory was a 45mm drop vs a 60 mm drop would suit me better. The stem tho had to be back at 70mm to account for this. However when you look at the reach differences between medium and small the difference is tiny (4mm)
i have a flexible back so i am guessing a drop of 15mm more isn’t going to make much difference.
.

Do you have to pay for the bike fit?

If I were paying I would want them to set me both bikes up, and then see which I find most comfortable, not be told that I would feel more comfortable on one rather than the other….

50miles isn’t endurance on a road bike though, as its only 2-3 hours.

As Funky says, you should leave a bike fit setup and ready to go rather than still trying to work it out on your own

not sure why they can’t adjust the drop? 15mm more spacers isn’t exactly loads.

or a different angle stem.