Rod wrote, in part:
Some may not care for the look, but each builder has far too many satisfied customers for me to believe each doesn't know how to properly size a frame.
cheers, Rod Kronenberg Fort Collins, CO
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The issue is getting the bars higher. If a "slightly" taller frame will get the bars up higher and be a good ride, why not? Aesthetically, it's more pleasing. size a frame "right" for most people, and if you want the bars higher relative to the saddle, you either have to have an extended head-tube, or your have to use a long-quill stem, as we all know.
My experience suggests that extended head-tubes or long-quill stems on frames that are "sized right" result in a ride that is not quite as pleasant as you'd get if you just got a slightly bigger, older-style road frame with no extended head-tube and raised the bars to the same height relative to the saddle as you would on the smaller frame by other means.
As has been pointed out many times on this list--and by Grant Peterson--up to about 1964, when Eddy Merckx started raising his saddle much higher relative to the bars to get more power, frames even for racers were a little taller, and bars were closer to the height of the saddle as a result.
the lower bars, higher saddle position is certainly better for racing, esp. short races like criteriums, at least in my experience, but for any other riding it's more comfortable to get the bars up a little higher. And if that's what someone wants, why not get a little taller frame, and do it the way the old guys did it?
Charles "getting to be an old guy myself" Andrews SoCal