Originally Posted by
diddlydoo
The bike is just too too small. I decided to give it one more try. I took it out on the paved bike trails and rode it about an hour and a half. I felt squinched the total trip. I kept wanting to stretch my arms and legs and I found myself many times putting my butt back on the seat as far as I could go. My legs when at down stroke on pedal were maybe 45 degrees and not 8 or 10 or however many they should be.
In your first picture above, your right foot is flat on the ground. Is your butt on the saddle in that picture? if so, you should probably raise your seat post. Because of the angle of the seat tube, extending the seat post will push the saddle further away from the handlebars. Also, there should be a way to slide the saddle back from it's mounted position on the seat post (generally this is adjusted based on your leg's reach to the pedals, not to adjust your reach to the handlebars).
When raising the seat post, just be sure you don't extend it past the minimum insertion point. There should be a line or mark towards the lower portion of the post that indicates that point.
I'm 5'6" and ride a 15" mountain bike. Your bike may just need some tweaking.