I have a nice 56cm bike with 56cm top and seat tube. Traditional geometry and steel (not a compact or sloping tube - just a traditional lugged steel bike).

I am 5'11" with normal proportions - not a long torso or long legs. I wear 32" inseam jeans and can straddle a 33" top bar.

I feel "cramped" when riding, and when climbing out of saddle my legs feel too close to the bars. The seat tube is fine - it's my upper torso and riding position - feel too close to bars. Even my sister said I looked kinda cramped in my riding position - not quite stretched out enough.

If I measure c-c the stem is about 3.5" or 88.90mm - I would guess it's a 90mm Ritchey stem? So I figure if I order a longer stem like a 110 that will give me an effective increase of 2cm of reach, making it more like a 57cm top tube with a 100mm stem. I could go to a 120 and get 3cm more, but may try the .8 inches increase first, as 3cm is over an inch increase in reach.

Is this common - to increase stem length in order to get more reach and a little more stretching out "room" and eliminate that cramped up feeling? If I do this will this put my head and shoulders too far forward?