kannon8833

Morning

I was able to find a used 2014 Giant Defy 2 Men's Large at a great buy on Craigslist. Frame seems to fit fine (I'm 5'11"). Been playing with different settings.

I have raised the seat little by little to get a nice leg extension (no knee lock) to try to maximize efficiency.

But doing this I have now two new problems.

Before when the seat was lower, I was comfortable in the saddle. Now it feels like I am sliding forwarding all the time and I have to re-seat myself as I ride.

The other issue is pressure on my hands/palm where I grab the handlebars - much more of a feeling that I am pushing into the handlebars from before.

Do I need to now raise the handlebar?

I am a little confused on how to do this. All of the spacers are below the stem. Do I purchase new spacers? What is the limit of how many spacers to use with out sacrifcing handlebar integrity and safety?

Many thanks from a returning to biking newbie.

philbob57

Is the saddle level, tilted with nose down, or tilted with nose up? It sounds like it's nose down. If it is, make the saddle level.

Carbonfiberboy 

Saddle's probably too high and your hips are rocking. There are many ways to determine saddle height, try them all: https://www.mantel.com/blog/en/how-t...saddle-height/

Weight on hands is probably saddle too far forward or not level. Bar height has nothing to do with it.

kannon8833

K. I calculated inseam of 34" so will try to set saddle height to 37".
Next take a look at the seat again, make sure saddle is level with top tube.
Finally, look at the saddle setback - whether seat needs to be moved fwd or aft.

Thank you - very helpful

Carbonfiberboy 

Do you mean "calculated" or measured as in that link I posted? One can't calculate an inseam.

kannon8833

You are correct. Measured inseam, calculated seat height.

fietsbob

How's the old fashioned ' heel of the foot, on pedal, leg straight', saddle height thing work for you?

yes saddle level .. maybe the stem is too long , and bars too low ..

gildelrosan

Use a scoop saddle, a race saddle for mtb

PeteHski

You don't want the saddle level with the top tube, otherwise it will be tilted up (as the top tube slopes down from front to rear). You want the saddle level to the ground as a starting point.

Moisture

I find that having the saddle set to ideal leg extension places me too high off the ground without doing anything at all for power output or efficiency. I adjusted my seat to get a bit lower while still having enough leg extension and it's better.

There is no magic number here. Keep adjusting the seat at different intervals until you find what works best.

Iride01 

A large frame in that model is probably a size bigger than you should have gotten. A ML will have given you a more appropriate effective top tube length.

You can get it fixed up to fit by changing stems, bars, setback and other stuff.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/defy-2-2014

I use to ride oversize frames and thought they were wonderful for me. Now that I'm in a more appropriate size, I'm thinking I missed out on some better riding in the past.

Moisture

a Large is a good size for someone of his height and inseam.

shelbyfv

Maybe it doesn't matter to you but OP hasn't been here in over two years....

Iride01 

Wish I'd seen that before I bothered to make my ever so profound statements. <grin>