Road Bike Fit...Seeing the Hub While on the Hoods

[Heifzilla]

So I have this new project bike and I have noticed that when I am on it, with my hands on the hoods, I think I am way too far over the handlebars. I look down and I totally can see the hub, and I think the handlebars are supposed to block the hub if the thing is fitting properly, right? I have my saddle as far back as it can go, so can I adjust/change out the stem or something to change this?

And this is the first road bike I have been on in years and years and years. I usually ride a hybrid, so I don't know all that much about road bikes.

TIA!

[indysteel]

Most fitters don't put much stock in whether the bars obscure the hub. There are much better things to look for to figure out whether the bike fits or doesn't fit you, pain and discomfort being the most obvious. And don't use saddle setback to alter your reach. You saddle's fore/aft position is a function of both the position of your knees relative to the pedals and your balance relative to the bottom bracket. Once you get that, along with saddle height, adjusted correctly, then you can start to fine tune your upper body via the bars, stem and spacers.

[Andrea]

I'm with Indy... that is just sort of a basic starting point, kinda like "knee over the pedal spindle." What's best for you may not be in that exact spot, but it's probably gonna be close.

[lunacycles]

The obscure-the-hub-with-the-bars approach to fit depends entirely on bicycles having identical head tube angle and fork offset throughout the whole range of sizes, which any modern quality bicycle will NOT have. It also depends on a very uncreative fitting technique. Especially smaller frames you are likely to see the hub in front of the handlebar.