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PhilDAS
Maj
imo it's inherently reactionary, modern bikes have compact geometry partly because it's adjustable and fits a lot of people on a small number of frames; partly because sport drives somewhat of the upper end of the market and people want "fast" "low" bikes.
in the end you get this bike frame which kind of fits everyone, never really fits anyone, and to someone like myself who likes a short reach and high bars, has absolutely no interest in being sporty and rides a 56, the bars are never high enough, hence mammoth spacer stacks. which while have charm, can often look unsightly when you factor in the visual weight of modern componentry adorned on them
outside of custom, and as such lower the cost, the one way to get a more desirable headtube length is to run a shorter stem and a buy a bigger bike, by extension giving you less seatpost, more stand over. to get it even cheaper you usually just end up with retro bikes, which are square and or less compact.
it's of course now became quite trendy and bikes are made and sized with this in mind by a few cool brands, not for fit reasons, although they'll tell you short stem long top tube and wide bars will "help you shred better like an mtb", but more so because a small selection of well broadcast cult figures did this and it's trickled down to the pond scum like myself to copy and emulate for purely aesthetic reasons.