Originally Posted by
valygrl
I disagree with the suggestion to move the seat to fix an upper body problem. In general, I think you can't solve this problem w/o fitting help, preferably a professional or medical bike fit. This is worth paying for.
The seat height and fore/aft position needs to be set up relative to the bottom bracket. Don't try to adjust reach to the bars and relative bar height by altering seat position, you're just asking for knee problems. For seat height look to the amount of bend in your knee, for fore/aft, look to "Knee over Pedal Spindle." You may be able to make minor comfort adjustments for your hands with saddle angle or saddle selection, if you are compensating for an uncomfortable butt by putting too much weight on your hands.
Adjust reach/height of bars by adjusting stem length & angle.
valygrl, I have to disagree with your disagreement. I apologize upfront for being disagreeable. First, I disagree that professional help is necessary in this case, helpful certainly, but not necessary. Many many people are able to follow a few rules of thumb, experiment with their fit, listen to their bodies and discover an improved fit that better suits their body and riding style.
Speaking of "rules of thumb" I think it may be inappropriate to invoke "knee over pedal spindle" in this case. Without getting into it, (see Bontrager's article
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/kops.html) KOPS is most appropriate with a more aggressive powerful position. The OP shouldn't let KOPS keep them from finding a saddle position that works for them. Afterall, adjusting the saddle is a great first attempt at resolving their fit issues, as it is quick and free, unlike the process of swapping stems and handlebars.
As a peace offering, I second your mention that the OP may be compensating for an uncomfortable butt by putting too much weight on their hands.