Edit--I didn't see that you mentioned lifting your hands. Think about this "sliding forward" test when you try it again. Sounds like your fit is pretty good already.
This bike fitter video is interesting and useful. Essentially, you want a saddle position where you aren't sliding forward if you lift your hands off the bars. That keeps the arms from having to push you back all the time.
The first part to the 4:00 mark is an interesting discussion and debunking of "knee over pedal", but since it's not relevant to fitting, it can be skipped.
How to set saddle fore aft position 3:55 mark.
This helped me make a slight adjustment that was a nice improvement.
My bike fit
I have the saddle quite level where my seat bones are, not overall level. The nose is actually slightly higher.
I have the bars set just an inch below the top of the saddle. I have a very comfortable position in the drops this way. And the hoods are still fine. Oh, it's so nice to have usable drops when I'm going fast, in headwinds, and especially on very rough roads or fast downhills. There's much more control in the drops.
My hoods are slightly sloped upward, so my wrists are straight while using the hoods. The drops are angled just like the fitter video.
Originally Posted by
ofajen
With steady, medium effort pedaling, I move the saddle back to make sure that I don’t feel like I’m sliding forward on the saddle when I lift my hands.
Otto
Yeah!