Is my bike too small?


Bought my first road bike recently. I'm 5'6" and a bit on a small Giant Contend. Man in the shop suggested medium but reach was way too far and was touching TT. I've flipped the stem and went down to 80mm but think I'll go back up to 90 and get compact bars. Often wonder if I could have done with the stack height on the medium?
Thoughts appreciated

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As a rough guide, keep the torso to upper arm angle at 90 degrees, which it looks like you almost have there - perhaps slightly less if actually measured? And a slight bend in the elbows will allow for a bit of shock absorption. Wrists want to remain straight (your right one is in the photo) when holding the hoods, but I see your left hand is not actually holding the hoods, rather an inch or so back from the hoods - not sure if that is because you are balancing against the van thus cocking your elbow out, or is that is where it feels comfortable. With the levers adjusted exactly the same on the bar you would ideally have your hands right in the crook of the hoods, keeping a straight wrist (which is adjusted by moving the levers around the bar).
Knee bend at the bottom of the pedal stroke looks ok, but can’t tell regarding cleat/ pedal/ foot position, or saddle fore and aft from that photo alone. Remember that a bike fit starts at the shoe/ cleat, then the saddle fore and aft/ up and down to get the correct knee bend, then you work forwards to the bars/ stem/ levers for height and reach.
Enjoy.
PP
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Enjoy!
You reckon? What sort of knee bend angle (if any) do you think he should have at the bottom of the pedal stroke?
PP
The seat height on my bike is if you have you foot like your photo at 6 oclock and you stand on the pedals you should have about half inch gap from you saddle to your bum.
I believe you should sit back on the saddle not sit up on the the saddle or sit down on the saddle?
This is just about right for me?
Good luck in getting it right because then its right you will have lots of fun.
As a rough guide, with your pedal at the bottom of the stroke, place your heel on the pedal. You should have only a very slight angle in the knee, so slight you'd struggle to see it. The position you're after is to give you as much room at the top of the stroke to allow you to get on the power without struggling for room coming over the top of the pedal stroke.
https://bikedynamics.co.uk/shop.htm
https://bikedynamics.co.uk/saddleheightformulae.htm
FWIW I'm 5'6" and I'd choose a small. I'd say it looks about right, saddle height too. If you had a bit more bend in your arms you'd be less upright. If you find you want to get a flatter back you can experiment with a longer stem and maybe nudge the saddle back a bit.
But if as you say the Medium felt too stretched out then I think you're probably close to having it set up optimally already
I couldn't believe how small the one guys bike was in relation to seeing him stood up off the bike.
All seat post and totally slammed at the bars. Don't think the position would be any good for my old bones!!
Indeed, which will equate to about 30 degrees knee bend at the bottom of the stroke with your foot clipped in with the heel in its natural position, I.e. not up high or down low. Looking at the picture of the OP I’d assess that to be roughly 30 degrees, so not a million miles off. It certainly doesn’t look too low a saddle height to me as if he raises it he will barely have any knee bend (unless we are talking just a few mm, which would be impossible to assess from a picture on a forum alone). If he unclips and puts his heel on the pedal I reckon his leg will be just about straight. Certainly impossible to ascertain that his saddle is too low from that picture alone in my opinion.
PP
I've done a bit more bike fit research, measured my inseam and raised the saddle so BB to saddle is about 69.5cm (will post a new photo soon). As for the bike fit, the fitter thought I was pretty close for saddle height just off feel and only really played with my saddle fore/ aft as well angle. We also went for compact bars and pulled the levers back. He mentioned these days if you're in between sizes you may be better going up so that you get the extra stack height to play with. Not sure if this is a new way of thinking or a reaction to changes in bike design?
All in all I think I may have been happier with the medium for stack but would have always struggled for reach even with compact bars and a shorter stem, seen as though I've put a shorter stem and compact bars on the small
Bike geometry does make a difference. My first bike (Racelight Tk) had a low stack / longer reach. They initially thought I'd need a 54, but that was too much of a stretch. I ended up with a 51 but with spacers and a flipped stem.
Second bike (CR1) has a taller front end / shorter top tube, so I have the 54 with no spacers and a normal stem.
It is amazing what a difference a few mm can make.
Current set up feels the most comfortable yet, 30+ mile rides with no discomfort. May bring the saddle froward and up a couple mil but this seems to be working.
Sorry to be pedantic, but the Aluxx Contend is not the same as the now discontinued Aluxx Defy. There are subtle differences in the geometries of the two bikes. Main difference being the shorter chain stays, hence the change of name for that model. If you want a Defy then it is carbon and disc brake only these days.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/contend-sl-1-2020
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/defy-advanced-1-2020