Hi,
I am 53. I found a typical road bike bent me too far forward.
Gave me some real interesting pain. I have the longest, steepest
stem they make on my bike.
In the last couple years. the bike manu****urers have discovered our wallets. They make bikes that are fun, but more forgiving, and less bent over. So you have a ton of choices.
1) Hybrid (IMHO- bleecchhh)
2) Traditional sporty bike..
http://www.gunnarbikes.com/sport.php (sweet)
3) Noveau sport bike... Specialized Sequoia and it's hundred imitators
4) 'Plush' high performance road bike.. Specialized Roubaix, trek Pilot, Litespeed Classic, Habanero (
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/habanero.html -really nice bike- ) etc
5) Other possiblities include touring bikes and cyclocross but their
not a perfect fit unless you plan on camping or getting muddy.
You can see there's a lot to chose between. Try a bunch of bikes, remember that adjust for inflation a '69 Schwinn varsity would be about a grand. Bikes get interesting (again, my opinion) around a grand. $2K is where you start seeing really nice frames and components. There are some great deals on leftover 2004 models. And if you want my real opinion, call Waterford, they'll make one just for you. I don't own one, I work on the other side of the country from them. I just like their bikes.