Noob bike fit

[jimoots]

Originally Posted by ah87

I haven’t had a drop bar bike in many years, so don’t have a good comparison. I have an road bike converted into an upright townie and I have a hardtail MTB.

Then I'd recommend a bike fit. There is a cost but it will save the frustration you are about to embark upon.

[Gabe77]

I find the advice the other members have given a bit illogical. Putting the saddle rearward will put more weight onto your hands - therefore make it worse, you want to take weight off.
If your hands hurt its either the bar geometry, too much weightbearing or not enough padding. Have a look at a randonneur style drop bar - Rene Herse/Compass style. Unfortunately if you don't want to touch the handlebar setup the only thing that seems feasible is wrap another layer of tape or treat yourself to some nice gloves. It looks like old fashioned cloth tape - modern tape is really comfortable especially when you have gloves on. You will have to make a choice between preserving your (very nice) bike's randonneur style and being able to enjoy it pain free.
Some few observations: You are using flat pedals - so I'm assuming you are placing your shoes mid-foot on the pedals... That would put your saddle lower that it would ordinarily be with cleated pedals that usually put the ball of the foot over the spindle. There's also less stack height - so the saddle is ever lower still. There is no way you can hurt your knees since your feet are free to move around w/o being clipped in. I suppose the only other way you could hurt your knees with this setup is mashing to much.
The saddle looks too forward so intuitively I assume you should swap in an inline post since you want to sit closer to the bars. The point is your hands hurt - not the saddle position.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Gabe77

I find the advice the other members have given a bit illogical. Putting the saddle rearward will put more weight onto your hands - therefore make it worse, you want to take weight off.

I know it's counter-intuitive, but what's been suggested above is correct. Moving the saddle back a bit changes your balance and can help engage core and legs to provide support to your upper body.

Think of bending over to pick something off the ground. If you don't move your hips back and engage your core, you fall forward. Same thing here.

[jadmt]

I would suggest having someone take a photo of you seated on the bike in your normal riding position.

[PortlyPuncheur]

Originally Posted by Gabe77

Putting the saddle rearward will put more weight onto your hands

Sorry Gabe, but this is just incorrect. The other posters are right, many (probably most) problems with front end discomfort start with improper saddle position.

Sheepdog's advice is good, and I love the video that TiDesign linked in the 2nd or 3rd post.

I would also suggest Steve Hogg's pages (well respected fitter). Try this one on saddle height first, then look for his page on saddle fore/aft (setback).
https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com...ard-can-it-be/

[ah87]

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful replies! I thought I'd follow up to bring this story to a close as this bike is starting to feel pretty dialed in and comfortable now.

Initially I experimented with different saddle rail positions and nothing fully solved the problem of feeling very stretched out. I wanted to shorten my overall reach without causing myself knee problems by changing the effective seat tube angle with a zero offset stem and I didn't want to make the handling more skittish by going with a significantly shorter stem, so I decided I would try some new handlebars with less reach and drop as well as shift/brake levers with more ergonomic hoods.

For the handlebars, with my 26mm clamp, my options were somewhat limited. I eventually settled on the Nitto M151 which has a 76mm reach number and 128mm drop (vs 90mm and 140mm on the old handlebars). I also chose a narrower model to further shorten the effective reach —*I measured my shoulders and went with the 42cm width option whereas the old handlebars were 48cm.

Then I found a good deal on Craigslist on some mechanical Ultegra levers, which offer a lot more room for my hands and a more stable grip area. I also hadn't been happy with the shifting experience with the barcons I was running, so this was an upgrade on two fronts.

Lastly, I switched to clipless pedals which probably doesn't help with the stretched out feeling but it really improved the overall feel. I went with some pretty big XT pedals since they're my first pair of clipless and I was wary of not having any kind of platform under my feet at all, plus I can switch them to my mountain bike if I feel like it.

[sheepdog84]

Goes to show that a change in handlebar width, reach, and overall shape can have a massive impact on reach.

Nice to hear that you were able to sort it out!

[Anthonys]

Your rig is sick! Hopefully you’ve been able to find comfort.

[ah87]

Originally Posted by Anthonys

Your rig is sick! Hopefully you’ve been able to find comfort.

Thank you! It is quite comfortable now. I'm taking it to Pennsylvania for Grinduro in a couple weeks and can't wait. Still wondering if a smaller frame would be a better fit for me but I'm happy with it for now. Could stand to shed some pounds, I guess.