Methodology:
1. Over time.... looking at geometry charts on websites.
2. I started with straight up comparison of "stack/Reach" but that wasn't giving me the detail I felt I needed.... So... I built some equations that use trigonometry to precisely calculate stem and spacer impacts, saddle position, etc to fit. (bikes are all triangles, so this is basic middle/high school maths). Thank you Pythagoras! Make an functional equation once, and then copy it to 60 other rows to get the same metric for each frame. Basically, I calculated an "imaginary" stack and reach at the same STACK point in imaginary space and compared ALL frames to that (I did this to figure out which frames, stem lengths and stem spacers would match). This is EXTREMELY precise to the millimeter and compensates for differences in seat and headtube angles.
3. Defined algorithms to calculate a "fit" ranking (based on geometry vs current/past bikes I've owned) and a "value" ranking (based on cost, warranty, weight, etc). This is very personal. For instance, I de-prioritized weight over fit since i'm not racing and am, myself, 182cm and 86kg. I'm going to sweat out more than 100gr on a warm 60 minute ride.
4. Defined an "overall" ranking based on some math I tweaked several times to aggregate the FIT and VALUE ranking.
5. Sort, group and filter. Shockingly, the tool works very well to group into "top choices" , "maybes" and "no-go" groupings.
6. This is all pretty important since a lot of frames are now coming with one-piece integrated bar units that can't easily be swapped. You need to get it right BEFORE you spend $1000USD! For instance, My highest scoring frame, Tideace FM-R053-D that includes an integrated bar, needed a 100mm stem length x 44 CM bar width to fit, but the DO NOT offer that.. only 110mm x 44cm. The next size would have needed 60mm of spacers under the stem, so this one is OUT.
7. Communicate with Manufacturers ... turns out some frames the show on their sites are not available for various reasons. This further prunes the list.
And, lastly........
8. I'm a total dork and I realize this.
Sharing? it started in XL, but since I use a mishmash of PC and Mac, I moved it to Google sheets so I can access it from anywhere. It's sharable, so I guess I could..... I'm happy to if there's a safe way to do this.