So I just bought a 49cm Motobecane messanger thats 49cm. I am 5'9 and with short legs...maybe 29-30 inch inseam? I feel fine riding the bike but when I come off the saddle and ride, my chest is past the handlebars. Is this a problem or is this normal? Again, I feel fine riding this small bike on my saddle, but when I climb and ride off my saddle, I feel like my chest is too "in front of the handlebar" haha. Any comments?

49cm is too small for ya at 5'9. Short legs, long torso guy like you should get a compact sloping geometry frame. or try to get a longer stem and see if that helps.

If a 49cm frame is right for your leg length and you are 5'9", you would need one long stem to make up for a way to short top tube. How much seat post is sticking out?

got an examples? I've never heard of that before.

it's stick out around 9cm. When I stand over the top tube, it hits my crotch. Thats how short my legs are.

i really hope that I don't have to switch bikes. I'm falling in love with the orange and the way it rides.

Specialized Langster...compact geometry.

+1 Way too small. Measure your bicycle inseam, not your regular pant inseam.

At the risk of getting too graphic, do you mean that with your "twig & berries" held up by some type of supportive undergarment, they are still contacting the top tube? Or is the crotch of your pants hitting the TT?

lol my sack hanging loose hits it. i have very little room from the top tube

I fit my bike like this girl fits hers

https://farm1.static.flickr.com/52/16...a710bf59e2.jpg

legs are okay but head is over the handlebars a bit

It would feel odd for my head to be out past the bars. Especially if you feel like you're arms are back behind you when you lean down a bit. I doubt that I could tap the bars with more than the crown of my head on any of the bikes.

Seems to me that if you're short of leg and tall in torso that a women's specific frame is what you need. Your build is quite common among women and a lot of the companies produce bikes with lower standover and seat tube sizes but that have long top tubes to suit the taller upper body. And NO they are not step through frames... Check out the companies that have the separate lines for women and check out the geometry and sizes. I'll bet you can find one that is a slightly lower and longer top tube than you have at present.

I know it seems like a PITA when you're otherwise happy with your bike but when you're built a bit different from the "norm", whatever that is, you gotta shop a bit more carefully. Sure a longer stem will sort of make it fit but with extreme long stems comes slightly funky handling which would be nice to avoid. So measure up your present bike and study the frame geometry charts looking for a slightly shorter standover and a longer top tube.

Women specific frames would not be good for this guy because they have shorter top tubes since women tend to have long legs and short torsos.
The smaller women specific bikes would be good for his short legs, but then he will still have issues with the short top tubes.

As I assume you want to keep the bike, I'd try a long stem (140mm is probably about the longest you'll find) and see how that feels. It will probably add 20mm or more to your reach and that may be enough.

The best bike for you would really be a larger frame on 650c wheels. But that may be hard to find.

Do you have a setback seatpost?