Hi Everyone!

I'm a new poster and a new rider. I have a Raleigh Supercourse road bike that I've been riding for about two and a half months now. Unfortunately, I bought it from a bike store that doesn't seem to know much about road bikes. They're nice guys and all, and gave me a great deal, but when I asked them to help me with fit, they didn't really seem to know what they were doing.

Problem #1 has been the saddle - it has been really uncomfortable for me. I finally figured out the other day that I have been sitting too far forward on the saddle. When I sit in the right place, I seem to slide forward. Also, I can't achieve "Knee Over Pedal" (even though I know some people don't believe in this measure of fit) even with my saddle all the way foward.

Problem #2 - reach. All this sliding forward made me think maybe my bike was too long for my reach. Not really knowing what to do, I flipped my -7 degree stem so now it's +7 degrees (making the handlebars both closer and higher). This was in the right direction (reach felt better) but definitely too much (all squished up with too much weight on my arms now).

So I think I need a new stem, but I'm not even sure what length my current stem is, so I have no idea what I should get. Is this something I can figure out on my own, or should I go to a roadie bike shop and pay for a fitting? I'm afraid they'll just be out to sell me more stuff.

Thanks for the great forums!