I'm 6'6" and have ridden and raced a 62cm Madone comfortably for
years. The issue isn't with your height; it's with the length of your
torso and legs. I'm fairly proportional and the top tube length
combined with a 120mm stem feels great and my seat post is not two
feet in the air. Someone shorter with longer legs might need a
shorter top tube.

brifters, I've got a Campy set with 30k on them. The diff between
Campy and Shimano is that one can rebuild the shifting mech with a
five dollar spring and it works as new. I seem to need one in the
right shifter at about 10k.

I'm considering a Trek 1-series and for 2010 they offer a 64cm frame
in the Trek 1.5 bike. *I was wondering if anybody could let me know if
the 64cm would make a noticable difference over the 62cm frame. *I may
not be able to justify the increased cost and may end up just getting
a Trek 1.1, but I'm concerned about comfort and getting sore on long
rides. *If starting with a larger frame would make a big difference,
I'll try justifying the additional expense.

I'm also wondering how much better the Tigara shifters are over Sora
and 2300's. *I know veteran riders can tell the difference, but my
last road bike was a Schwinn in 1989... would I be able to tell?