Originally Posted by
prxmid
Thanks guys, good points all.
Allegheny...I definately think he wants more than a touring bike. But I have a Synapse and the seat and bars are parallel. Not 6 inches below like many racers. Maybe mine isn't fit properly
First, most riders do not race. In fact hardly any do. We have thousands of riders on the road each weekend and only about 600 show up at USCF races. And we see the same ones at each race. So the premise that racing bikes or seat to bar drop is about racing is folly. Racing bikes are sold to non racers with the idea of them visualizing that they are racing while they are riding. I find the term misleading. Yes, TdF pros and amateurs racers ride racing bikes but the reason is for power, speed and distance efficiency. That same feature is desirable by other riders even though they will never race.
We have hundreds of very strong accomplished riders of all ages who ride in very good form and posture with bars below the seat and never race or consider racing. And some of these riders are much faster than many racers per se.
My point is not to be critical but to suggest that proper riding posture and fit is about the individual and his / her goals. Riding posture is about fitness, flexibility and core strength. If you friend wants to ride farther faster and climb hills, a lower riding posture is desirable for a number of reasons. The most important is that it takes pressure off the knees and engages the glutes yielding more power. Yes, one can start with a more relaxed geometry, but if he / she has the motivation and fitness, it may soon be the wrong choice.
One can take a more performance oriented geometry and flip the stem with larger angle and get the bars up higher. If the person wants to lower the bars in the future, one changes the stem. This opens up a lot of great choices other than the ones you mention. However, a racing geometry with a rising stem looks a little weird but who cares.
Most of the time, it comes down to hard cash. Racing bikes are generally more expensive and have better frames, components and wheels. The relaxed geometry price point will be lower than racing bikes and the bike will be heavier and less schwaggy.
My vote is that if your friend has the cash, is motivated for performance and is willing to work at it, check out some performance bikes as well as the "relaxed" geometry bikes.
BTW, I have an 11 cm bar to seat drop but I also have long arms / legs versus torso. 6 inches is a lot of drop i.e. 15 cm.
