Originally Posted by
Doug5150
It's mostly because the classic road bike "hunched over forward" position is not comfortable to ride in. It's good for power output, good for racing but lousy for riding comfort.
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Regarding making an extracycle: if it's possible for you to do, I would suggest getting a cheaper steel frame and cutting off the rear triangle and re-welding/brazing it all with longer tubes. You could even shift the bottom-bracket forward a few inches, for a Townie-like ride.
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> hmm. It's been a long time since I rode anything with handlebars higher than the saddle. When I did, it felt everso strange and like I had very little strength on the pedals. Sure, it's nice to sit upright when doing a long ride (as I can do on my drop handlebars, of course), but at least with my body proportions the change in power is dramatic.
> Unfortunately I have no way of welding, so it will have to be an entirely bolt-based solution, which should be possible. That's a good idea, though, to just make the whole frame longer. I think I can get hold of one or two old road-bike frames that my friend just mentioned, perhaps I could think about doing that and paying for some welding. It would certainly look good for business use, like a custom-built bike.
Thanks for the reply.