Saddle/Post Woes - Please help me!
 

Uh. First I want to say a sheepish hello, since I haven't been around in about 10 months. I'm here! I still ride! I was just very very busy with my last year of school. I was lucky to do any riding that wasn't to a grocery store.
So hey guys, or hey anyone who remembers me.

This might jog your memory:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5303/5...743b40c3_z.jpg

SO WHATS MY PROBLEM EH?

Well, I can't get comfortable. It's tolerable but try as I might I've never felt that I can get my saddle either tilted up high enough or pushed back far enough. I'm maxed out but I aways feel like I'm trying to scoot back and sit on the back metal bridge of my poor saddle.
I know this leads to the inevitable "your bike is probably to small" answer but hell if I'm ready to part with this bike, and hell if it's easy to find a mixte with an ample length.

I can't find my papers on the components but I'm damn near positive the post is 25.4
The obvious choice here is to buy an Uno SP-248 and see if it's more comfortable, which gives me the bonus of looking much nicer then the Sugino SP-H, but I want to know what you lovely people think.

How bout a picture of you riding the bike? Straddling the bike? From the side please?

You may want to try raising and moving the seat forward and a longer reach handlebar stem.

Since you argue that you are not prepared to accept the possibility, or reality, that the bicycle does not fit, I guess I have nothing constructive to say. That said:-)

Like you, there have been bikes that I loved but did not love me, and the problem was not always fit. But, the more I learn about vintage bicycles, or bicycles, in general, for that matter, the more I realize that, like shoes, they must fit you properly. There is no way to get around that and, believe me, I did everything sensible to fit the early seventies Masi Gran Criterium I found. Finally, I had to admit that the bike did not fit me...

http://www.mytenspeeds.com/My_TenSpe...Full_TQF_4.jpg

Because of the poor fit, I was risking damage to my knees. Because of the poor fit, I found my comfort factor to be unacceptable. And, because of the poor fit, the bike was starting to look stupid, in my opinion, with its too long stem and too high seat post.

So, though I loved the bicycle, in that foolish mechanical way, I let it go to someone who would better use it. But I felt like fresh poo-poo doing so.

Bye the way, the Fuji is a beautiful bicycle to behold. Why not do what I intend to do with my 1939 CCM "Road Racer"? Once built, I will ride the bicycle once, to ensure it is capable of being ridden and with no handling issues. That done, the bike goes on display. Why?

It will fit me, I hope, but the sucker will not stop. The clamp on rear brake, the only one possible to fit, is can be expected to be miserably inadequate to instill any sense of confidence in. Riding the bicycle will be dangerous, not to mention stupid for me to do, considering the risk factors involved.

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...7&d=1330777661

Have you considered drop bars instead? Those bars you are using look cool, but they compress the cockpit quite a bit. Sounds like you need more room, not less. That might also allow you to return the saddle to a more typical location.

That's exactly where I was going...get a stem with some length, use drops and try a seatpost with more setback.

Banana seat.

Seatposts with more set back is not the solution to the problem, its simply a compromise.

1. Properly adjust the seat. Set it for proper leg extenstion (height) and get the front of your tibia over the center line of the pedal (set back).

After getting the proper seat postion look at it in compariosn to your handlebars. Is the seat height above or below the bars?

I'm going to guess and say the bikes too small. I know those bars are trendy/hip/cliche or whatever but they're forcing you back on the saddle.

2. Select a proper bar/stem combination to get optimal upper body psition and arm extension.

Keep in mind that this is a mixte frame, they do NOT have mens frame geometry. You'll find many mixte's with sloping effective top tubes (if it had one it'd be sloped down). Ride around with your hands next to the stem and I think you'll find that the seat will need to come forward and down.

On a frame like that, the fact that you feel the need to push back the saddle that much is a pretty sure sign that the frame is too small. A longer stem, and/or drop bars may help you to be more comfortable, but you'll probably end up being very poorly balanced on the bike.

If you don't like the drop bar idea, a mustache bar will give you a lot more reach without much drop.