Thanks for all the helpful replies. Really. This forum has a great community.
A little background info. I've only ever owned one road bike (my childhood was spent on MTBs), and I bought it (Dawes Giro 300) at the start of this season. It's a very low end road bike (cost me £300 online) and I sized it on the simplest of measurements (my height to frame SS size). I bought their largest frame (58cm) which has an eTT of 58.5cm. I understand it to be standard racing road bike geometry and ride it with the seat tube aprox 9cm extended. I'm really enjoying my time on the bike (doing upto 60mile rides) and want to get a better, lighter bike and start thinking about club events.
From what I can tell I find it mostly comfortable. However as it's my only road bike it's like sitting on only one chair, after a while you're going to get used to it. Doesn't mean there aren't much better fits out there. At the moment I have one criticism in the comfort that I need to address in the new bike. After longer rides (30 miles+) the back of my neck starts to hurt. I find myself not using the drops and sitting up straight to relieve the discomfort. Doing this defeats the object of having a dropped aero position. Apart from the neck strain I enjoy the dropped bar aero position (my back seems fine with it).
I understand now I need a more sportive or 'plush' geometry (thanks). I keep trying to envision in my head how different frame dimensions will affect my riding position. I can see there are two main ways to get less stress in the back of my neck. Either the TT can be shorter which will move my arms closer to me, or the HT can be higher which will raise my arms. Both ways should sit me up more, but which is best for neck strain while keeping an aero position?
A few people have suggested I can get a shorter TT by having a smaller frame and extending the Seat Tube. The problem with this is the relative height of the head to the seat and I think it will make my neck problem worse.
Trying out frames first isn't ideal for me because 1) I'm looking to get the best value for money, so will probably buy online from somewhere like Planet-X or Ribble (UK budget online brands) and 2) I don't think a short ride would help me decide if it's comfortable or not, as I'm entirely used to my own bike I'm sure all others will initially feel less comfortable. I've included my current bike dimensions at the bottom of this post for information. What sort of changes to these dimensions should I be looking for? My current choice for a new bike is one of the Ribble Sportive bikes (they do 3-4 different sportive frames and I'm not sure which would be best.)
Thanks for any further help and advice!
My current Frame (58cm)
Last edited by bus_ter; 06-08-11 at 09:55 AM.