Originally Posted by
txvintage
Your problem may be that the seat is too low.
Your seat needs to be adjusted in relation to your pedals, not whether or not you can touch the ground while seated. In fact, you shouldn't be able to touch the ground while seated, at least on a road bike. You want your knee to be just about in perfect line with your foot on the pedal with the cranks at the 9:00 and 3:00 positions. Adjust your seat accordingly, then use a sharpie to mark 1/8 or 1/4 increments, and raise and lower as you ride to find the sweet spot.
There are a lot of Hard Rock riders here, so hopefully some of the more taller folks can chime in on frame size. I'm just not that knowledgeable on MTB sizing.
Welcome to the herd! There is a lot of help and support here. You will enjoy the group.
+1 tx, the seat is definatly too low if he can touch the ground when seated.
Measure how far from the ground your pedal is when it's in the 6:00 position. Subtract an inch then raise your seat that much from where it is now. When your foot is on the pedal in the 6:00 your knee should almost be locked out. This seems very counter intuitive but trust us, your knees will thank you.
Regarding the frame, stand over the frame between the seat and handlebars with both feet flat on the ground while facing forward. Grab the stem with your left hand and the nose of your saddle with your right hand (still facing forward) and pick it up until it bumps your tender bits. You should have about 1.5 to 2 inches of clearance. If you have considerably more then the bike frame is too small. If you can't stand over it at all without the top tube being in your package then the bike is too big.
Bau