Is it possible to make a larger bike fit a smaller person? I bought a used road bike to commute into school each day (only about 4 miles roundtrip) and to go on casual rides for fun. I've only had it for about 3 weeks and prior to that have not had a bike since I was a kid. Anyway, I went to a bike store for the first time in this area and as I was getting a replacement tire for a flat, I was fitted. According the salesperson there, the bike I own is for a person 3" taller than me.

He suggested I test ride some bikes from the store and buy a new one, but I'm not able to do that right now. Is there anything I can do in the meantime to adjust the bike to better fit my body, besides buying a different bike?
A couple of things to tide you over:


Obviously, put the seat down as far as you can. If the post can't go any lower, you might see if you can get a shorter post, or have the current post "chopped" to a shorter length (although that will probably cost you).
Move the seat as far forward as possible. To do this, you loosen the seat from the post using a hex-wrench; move the seat up, and then tighten back up. To really get the most possible, you can even try tilting the seat forward, although this might leave you feeling like you're sliding off of the bike (this is what my wife did to fit into her antique 3-speed).
You can loosen the handlebars and turn them upward, so you're not as stretched over the frame. To take it one step further, you can remove the handlebars, turn them around, and put them back on backwards ("bull horn" handlebars), but that will require re-taping and doing some more serious cable adjustments. It sounds like you just want to make a quick fix without too much work.


In general, being 3" too short for a bike probably isn't too bad. All of these fixes will lead to the overall fit changing. Stay on the lookout for someone who looks a tad too small for their own bike, and maybe you can engineer a trade at some point!