My girlfriend got me into biking. We were both 47 when we did. She had a Trek 7700--a nice hybrid with a triple chain. I had a 25 yr. old steel frame road bike that weighed 24 lbs. (61 cm Panasonic sport touring model) that rides like a dream and which was given to me. I still have it and will keep it for baggage touring--it has loops for tieing on luggage bags, the friction shifters work great, and the ride is very, very comfortable.

30 miles was about the effective range for a comfortable ride for her. After that, sitting upright the whole time jolted her back and the lack of different hand positions left her stiff and cranky. (I lucked out incredibily when an acquaintance gave me a Trek 5500 that I outfitted with a compact double, mtn. bike gearing, and a mtn. bike rear derailleur. All told, its a little over 18 lbs. My bike shop advisor is a serious racer/bi-athlete and liked my idea of the altered gearing setup for the Hudson Valley which has some significant hills.) The Trek is super--more bike than I deserve but now I have no excuses--good enough for Lance in the 2002 Tour gives me no right to complain. Finally, long rides on a road bike leave my back feeling warmed up, stretched out, and feeling better than I did starting out. BTW, I also ruptured 2 disks in a car accident 4 mos. ago, and have almost completed chiropractic treatment--the DRX 9000 which is basically a motorized version of the Medieval rack. That treatment is great--and riding helps me.

I've fixed up an old Japanese steel road bike for her which has friction Suntour shifters, and drops. She's tried it and is excited about its responsiveness, lighter weight, and greater speed and less rolling resistance. Total investment was about $30 for new tubes and new 27 1/4 inch tires. The gearing is reasonable--if she needs more range, I'll drop on a wider range 7-speed 14-34 sprocket, with the same model 2d hand Shimano mtn. bike derailleur that I have on my Trek. I'll need to spread the rear forks to accomodate the wider axle of a 7-speed versus its current 5-speed sprocket but this is no problem with this type of steel frame.

Bottom line--see if you can ride both, maybe try a demo road bike for a day. The road bike=back pain issue is a false argument, at least in my experience. The road bike is a thoroughbred--the hybrid is a quarter horse--pretty good at everything, but not the best at anything. If you go the road bike route, there are many ways to do it without breaking the bank. (Its funny that many of the "touring" models offered now are steel frame bikes that are not significantly different from a lot of the 1980's Japanese models that are still out there.) On the other hand, maybe you can ride a hybrid for long distances without it bothering you--if so, your present hybrid seems fine.

One final note: consider investing in clipless pedals. There are many Shimano SPD models available for 2d hand for almost nothing. Buy, or borrow, a 9/16 pedal wrench, go get yourself measured for shoes and have the shop install the cleats. The added efficiency you'll get on your pedaling stroke is probably more significant that an upgrade from a hybrid to a road bike, should you go that route, plus you can keep the shoes, pedals and cleats for future bikes of whatever sort--until those finally wear out. Figure $75 for shoes, $20 for cleats and installation, and maybe $20-$30 for a 2d-hand pair of SPD clipless pedals.

Good luck--the biking/cycling world is full of conspicous consumption which is mostly meaningless for the recreational rider. (On the other hand, I love being able to pick up bargains, hee-hee, as compulsive fetishists fall over themselves buying the latest/greatest/newest super-duper accessory/technology.) Can't wait until ceramic bearings become standard--should be a lot of good deals as people jettison their steel-bearing wheelsets!)