When I first got fitted for a road bike back in the 70's, I was taught that on a correctly-sized road bike, when you are seated with your hands down in the drops, you should be able to look straight down and have the tops of the handlebars directly above the front axle of the bike.

QUESTION: Is this method still used?

Reason I ask is that I have a hybrid that I converted into a "road bike" by adding drop bars. As many here know, hybrids have an extremely long top tube, requiring a shorter stem than you would use on a regular road bike to get the same amount of "reach".

Well, I got a shorter stem (80 mm vs. my typical 110 mm road bike stem) and it feels . . . okay, but when I'm in the drops and look straight down, the front axle is about an inch too far forward. Do I need to go back to a longer stem, or should I do something else, or just leave it alone. Here's the bike, FWIW:



Previous setup, which I think I preferred, looks-wise anyway:



Thanks in advance!

The visual of the axle being hidden by the handlebars when riding on the hoods, is one of those 'rules of thumb' for a reasonably centered position on the bike. Rules of thumb are not Rules, but starting points for a rider to hone the best position.

Disclaimer: A professional fit is your best bet.

But, Are you comfortable? If, YES, then - Are you balanced equally between the wheels? If, YES then don't worry.

Looking at the bike setup, i'd guess you are flexible, familiar with the roadie (lower) riding position, and like Celeste paint. All good.

The front axle sight thing is a fallacy. Bikes are made with a whole range of headtube angles from 69 degrees to 75 at the steepest and then fork off set (rake) can be anywhere from 25mm (an inch) to 60mm With all the possible variations the front hub could all over the place, and had no bearing in regards to reach.

On this particular bike, the front axle is just so far out there, you'd practically need a 140 mm stem to get the bars out far enough forward. And that's obviously not gonna work.

I guess I will ignore the general rule of thumb. Maybe it's the bars that are bothering me. I should go back to the old setup, thanks!

Comparing the two pics, the bars on the original build have the hoods in a higher position. Maybe rotate the bars to get that same position, or move the brake levers up (no one likes to re-wrap bars, but...)

If you are reasonably well centered fore/aft between the wheels and comfortable, why worry with the sighting of the front axle? As [MENTION=53912]Brian25[/MENTION] correctly points out, headtube angles and rake can vary, especially for different styles of bike.

My handlebars have never obscured my front axle. Maybe I'm funny-shaped. It seems useless, even as a rule of thumb.

[MENTION=470543]Colnago Mixte[/MENTION] ,
What are the new brake levers? i like.

I hesitate this guess, but they look a bit like Ergo with the shift lever removed. If that's even possible.

Worry only about the body fit since its a bodged hybrid.

The black ones? They're $20 Tektro levers:

https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-RL340-...o+brake+levers

I like 'em because they have a third hand position you can use up on top of the hoods, thanks to the curved levers.

Unfortunately, I bought them thinking that they could be switched between cantilever and linear pull mode, as one Amazon reviewer claims, but they're cantilever only. Which is pretty worthless to me since all my brifters are cantilever mode too.

So I might have to buy the Tektro linear pull model, which is around $25, but quite a bit uglier, some reviewers say they look big and clumsy on a road bike.