Little help with bike fitting
 

So from what I gather the handlebars should block the view of the hub...
take a look at the attachments. i have a stem that is adjustable. the attachment is what i see now with my hands on the hoods.

I can block the view of the hub by:
- lowering the stem, making it longer to strech me out.
- raise the stem, bringing the handle bars to me to block the view instead of option 1.
-combination of both and tilting the handle bars to change the angle of the hoods.

I am not sure which is the correct way.

Might be best to have some side pics with the rider on the bike.

FAIL

The handlebars should be at a reach and height that allow you to use the hoods and drops comfortably.

Edit: Your reach also has a direct influence on your saddle comfort, so if you have to tilt your saddle to get comfortable this can indicate incorrect reach, bar height depends in part on your flexability. Ignor your front hub, it doesnt care if you can see it or not.

You didn't mention if you were comfortable or not riding it. If you are, you could #1, just leave it where it is or #2, lower it little by little until your back hurts, then move it back up again.

Your choice really.

that angle is pretty extreme

looks like you can't reach the brakes at all in the drops... also looks pretty uncomfortable (at least to me )

um it feels comfortable to me for the first 2.5-3 hrs on the bike. My lower back feels uncomfortable after that, i wasnt sure if that was normal because of the time on the bike. Ill get a pic tomorrow with me on the bike.

With the posture you have set up on the bike, I wonder if you would be better off with a "Hybrid" bike instead of a road bike. If you really want to stick with the road bike, then perhaps you should invest a little time & money to get a fitting at your LBS. Aside from that, with time in the saddle and increased core strength you will eventually begin to feel more comfortable.... but a good fitting goes a long way toward accomplishing this.

Im looking to "fix" my set up right now which would affect my posture. I dont have the money to take to a LBS right now. Just looking to get the best set up i can on my own with what i have now.

I can certainly sympathize with that... however, the alignment of hub to handlebar to your eye is just one measurement of many; and it's not even a significant one at that. And helping you adjust your bike to your comfort and your skill level is near impossible without physical access to both you and your bike to gain some sort of actual physical feedback from you. If a full fitting isn't in your budget right now, you should visit your LBS anyway for some assistance. If they're worth their weight in dog poo, which ain't worth very much at all, they'll be happy to spend a few minutes with you to help get you going.

That said.... for whatever it's worth... and this is assuming that your seat height is such that you already get decent leg extension, do not have the saddle to far forward or back, and have some degree of drop to the bars, I would start by rotating the handlebars so that the bottom of the drops is near vertical to the deck. The way your hoods are tilted up and towards you look like they could wreck havoc on your wrists when riding on them or in the drops.

It also looks like maybe the bike is too small for you. Like, unless your arms are pointing straight out in front of you, you must be pretty tall to be reaching down to those bars. A bigger frame wouldn't necessitate such so much rise on the stem and bar/hood angle.

If you can't afford to go to the shop, a website like this might be worth checking out http://bikedynamics.co.uk/guidelines.htm

That is one of those adjustable stems. (I went that route foolishly thinking best to have something to make adjustments until I got more riding time)
Anyway my hunch is that you are way too long (like 30-40mm/1.5in too long) and trying to compensate for reach by moving the hoods to that angle which then makes riding in the drops unsafe due to almost an unusable brake access). BTW those handlebars have a very long reach and the bend design is "clunky" (no offense, mine have a similar shape and looking to get a compact bar)

If you don't have much cash, see if a friendly LBS would sell you an 80mm stem from their used parts bin, cheap after first giving you a quick once over to at least get your fit in the right ball park. (I think they will forgive that you are riding a mailorder bike) Or maybe someone you ride with (group riders) has one to spot you.

Is this the probem you're trying to solve? Sounds more like a fitness issue than a bike fit issue. That's not too bad, actually, unless your riding typically extends beyond three hours at a time.

IMO, overal comfort depends on a combination of bike fit (including all the contact points), fitness (stength, flexibility, endurance), type/duration of riding.

We need more info to help you.

The "rule" about obscuring the hub with your handlebars is a good starting point, not gospel....kinda like KOPS for your foot position.

If you really want some decent pointers, you should probably give us a pic with you on the bike....on tops, hoods, and drops.

Ultimately, your comfort on the bike and control of the bike are the main objectives. If you are interested in better performance you may have to sacrifice just a bit on comfort, but not much.

How much riding have you been doing? How many rides/week and what duration? And how long have you had that routine?

As stated above, if you're comfortable for 2+ hours, your fit can't be *horrible*.

While it might not be perfect, you can certainly help things by doing two things:
1) Try to increase your flexibility in your hamstrings. Tight hamstrings reduces your ability to rotate your pelvis forward, which will result in extra curvature of your lower back.
2) Increase your core strength. After a couple hours on the bike, if your core muscles are fatiguing, you'll slouch, again, putting extra curvature in your lower back.

thanks everyone for the help and info, ill try to get a pic up tonight of me on the bike. this is my 3rd year riding, i took a year off last year. for the past 2 months my time on the bike consists of:
-25 minutes to the gym and back 5 days a week (if no rain)
-2-2.5 hrs on bike 2 days a week
-3-5 hrs on bike 1 day a week (weekend ride)

I mean the set up i had wasnt killing me or anything, I went with a friend to buy a bike at the LBS the other day and watched them fit him (which i was not impressed and what i would call a poor job) but that in turn made me want to make sure i have my bike set up properly. Im pretty sure i have my lower body set up properly, not so sure about my upper body. the way I have it set up in the pics is not how i usually have it. i stopped 3 hrs into my last ride and messed around with stem and bars to see how it felt.

The idea that the bars should obscure your view of the hub is worthless, but occurs quite often. That recommendation also falls along the lines of a racy fit, with a saddle to bar drop in the 5-10cm range. Your stem angle and bar angle looks very recreational, probably producing very little saddle to bar drop, unless your frame is way too small.

This may get you on the right track.
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

I think your stem looks a little too high!!!!

Why? What if any lower stem is not comfortable?