Superbikes foil the attempt to use these solving calculators because we don't know the geometry of (say) a Speed Concept mid/far stem. Trek's engineer Carl Matson solved the problem on his own: a simple-to-use
solving matrix for his Speed Concept's bikes. The user or the fitter identifies the height and length (y and x) from the bottom bracket to the center-top of his aerobar armrest pad. Then you look up the complete bike solution on a chart, which can be fancy or it can be an Excel Spreadsheet. Carl's motif was simple, elegant and powerful. Every superbike maker copied what Carl did.
Well, not
every superbike maker, and this is a problem. I have spoken to a number of brand managers who have no solution to matching a prospective customer's bike position to their superbikes. This is a head scratcher because making a superbike solver is a 1-day task. How is it done?
First you need one root bike. Any bike. Any size. Let's take a Felt DA, size 56cm, with Felt's handlebars an one of Felt's 1-piece stems (any of its stems). Stick this bike on a trainer, level it, measure x and y from the BB to the armrest.
Accurately.