Just put new bottom bracket bearings in, regreased hub bearings. Rides great. At 62 cm the bike is probably too big but it is very comfortable to ride like this. O could probably raise the seat a bit.

robertj298

Maybe, probably, no idea. The Sequoia's were designed by two of the absolute best in the business, Tim Neenan, then Jim Merz.

Both of them knew exactly what they were doing and it shows well in these.

They had their own versions of what a touring bike should be and do regardless of and including at the same time many other rationales.

Here are two Merz touring bikes from 1978 before he went to big S.

They are legendary and amazing, period.

You don’t look too stretched out to me...

Looks great from here.

Looks awful comfortable to me.
Tim

I don't feel too stretched out but my seat is about level with the bars

i always set em up level at least. I must be a french fit guy.

French fit is a recent term and doesn't really have any historical meaning.

Handlebars level with the top of the saddle used to simply be considered correct fit. The old rule of thumb was bars were set level to one inch below the saddle. Level was considered ideal for touring, and a 1 inch drop was sporty.

This all started to change around the early 80s when it became fashionable to ride smaller frames with more drop to the bars.

Being tallish, 6'1" back in the day and still having a 38in inseam, level is "sporty" and a no go for me, getting more so by the day, still gotta have drop bars while also being more upright.

The horror!

You look right at home. Does it feel right? Then don't sweat it.

Yours is french fit. Mine is dork fit.

My bars are the same height as my saddle because I can't bend as far as I used to.

What matters most is how the bike feels when riding. I am not a fan of the modern tendency to go with a small frame and a huge seat post and stem. It looks like that bike fits you fine!

The seat is perfect. The bars look too close and too low, IMO.
Or maybe try moving the seat back. A pic of the empty bike would help.
My swept comfort bar has been going up lately. Far more comfortable and actually NO worse for aero either.
My first tour was a suffer fest for nothing.

It's interesting, you go back even further, and look at some old photos of Coppi and he was often riding with the bars level with the saddle or maybe a hair below. Some photos, you'd think Grant Petersen was his soigneur. Meanwhile a lot of the cyclotourists of the day rode those very early randonneur bikes from the late '40s and early '50s that had the stems really slammed. Herse had a clamp-on-to-the-steerer "ahead" style stem and the steerer didn't extend more than an inch above the locknut of the headset! You couldn't get the bars level with the saddle if you tried! And this was on a bike called "camping" that came with racks and fenders. The Routens version was a bit less extreme, but still.

I postulate that the wisdom of the time was that randonneurs would be riding alone, and needed to be more aero, while racers were in a peloton and therefore wouldn't care as much about wind resistance and might benefit from arriving to the final sprint feeling more well-rested from a more upright position.

Plus ça change ... plus c'est la même

Judging from the pic and the smile on your face, I would say it's a perfect fit. Ride on!

That bike looks comfy, and it doesn't look too big from where I'm sitting.

I like big. Just got in from another test ride on my latest attempt at building the ultimate touring bike. 35" inseam and still got some room left on this 65cm frame: