WheresWaldo

sheepdog84, before you jump on this, think about what your body is telling you and make sure that you are thinking in the right direction. Most of the time your body will naturally go to where it will be most efficient with regard to pedal/saddle relationship. It's all about you, not some mystic formula or the retro KOPS positioning, its where your body is comfortable. Now think about this, are you moving your ass because of discomfort where your body has placed it? If so, move your saddle in the direction your body has already moved your ass. If you find that you are always pushing yourself back to be comfortable on the saddle, the saddle is too far back. Move the saddle in small increments, you will find a spot that will be right under where your body wants to put your ass. It won't be some epiphany, just one of the longer rides will be over and you will come to the realization that you simply did not move your butt around much or at all on the whole ride. I would bet that if there was some sort of comprehensive study done, that most people ride with their saddles in the wrong spot for their body.

See what I am saying, it is just the opposite of what you said, you want to move the saddle back because you move your ass back to the comfortable part of the saddle several times on a ride. I'm suggesting that your body is telling you "I want my ass here, but you put that stinking saddle all the way back there, now move your ass so I can get some relief!"

Now as a result, once the saddle is where your body wants it, you may find that the cockpit is just a tad close and you might find you have knee/elbow overlap. Only when the Saddle/Pedal relationship is correct can you really address the reach to the handlebars. Likely you will find that you will also need a longer stem. All this considering that your torso is nearly 2 inches longer than mine and I am stretched out much further than you are.

Forget about all of this is you are so new to cycling that you don't have a good handle of where you should be on the bike. I don't get that from your posts, you are experienced, so your body is also experienced and it wants to be where it is most comfortable and efficient.

I tend to be very old school when it comes to bike fit, so please notice my bias to not have you on a bike that is on the smaller side of the scale. Not everyone is a 54 or 56 or 58 exactly, usually we are in between. Modern shops almost always favor smaller sized frames (maybe its because the guy selling you the bike is a teen or twenty something and thinks everyone is a racer), and its easier to make a smaller frame fit a bigger rider than making a too large frame fit a smaller rider. But if there is a choice and comfort exists in two sizes, I tend to favor the slightly larger frame size. Again I am biased, old and not very flexible, so comfort is my highest priority and how I look on the bike is the very lowest.