I'm not a competitive cyclist. I used to ride that way, hunched over, all aerodynamic. Then I got older, that position hurt more, and I cared less about sacrificing comfort for speed.

The PBH system works just fine.

Would it be helpful to post pictures of me on my bike?

It's counterintuitive, but do experiment with moving the saddle backward, probably a lot. Costs nothing and can totally change the feel of things.

yes.

I've always (since age 13) been a road bike cyclist. I've long been arthritic and have experienced poor flexibility and back pain. I find the sit-up-and-beg riding position to be particularly painful. I think because the jarring of the bike transfers easily to my back.

I do ride a 56cm bike even though I am slightly more than 6 foot tall. The shorter top tube reduces the needed reach. That works well for my old stiff back and neck.

Then my other "tip" or secret or whatever... to pain-free older cyclist riding... is simply remembering the basics. I keep an eye on my form and remember to perch myself on the bike. Not too much pressure on feet, hands, and certainly not the saddle.

I use a mirror which helps a lot with my neck. But sometimes I still get a little neck stiffness after long rides. A hot shower, a baby aspirin, and a little blue emu fixes me up.

This is how I find myself about %50 of the time

Part of the problem is fit, the secondary problem is strength of the core muscles. You should ride with bent elbows and your core muscles should control your body position, not just the arms.

I would try lowering the saddle a few centimeters, not much, but the saddle could be marginally high.

Also change to a shorter stem, try a stem 20mm shorter than what you have now.

The final modification to this bike fit is to use the short reach handlebars from Soma or Velo Orange.

It's really hard to tell based on still photographs, but to my eye without seeing you positioned on a fit bike adjusted to have the same contact points as your bike and seeing you pedaling with different hands positions (tops, hoods, drops), it appears to me there's enough adjustability (saddle height and setback, and bar height and stem forward extension) for you to get comfortable. Is your seat level?

If you can manage it, a session with an experienced fitter would probably be a great help.

Just from the picture, the frame looks ballpark. You should definitely be able to make it work for you. If you were a racer I'd say get used the set up as is. For recreational riding, it looks like the bars a rather long reach for you. It would probably be a good idea to swap the stem for one a couple cm shorter as well. CAVEAT: like Scooper says, getting someone to fit you in person is more helpful than eyeballin it over the internet.

In the C&V pre-brifter days the hoods position was not a default rest position. No one seems to believe this. ?? Tops or the corners were the rest/comfort position. Drops and hoods were for going fast and climbing. IF you want to ride on the hoods all the time a modern short reach bar and different levers would be better.

That's a great chart. It's pretty spot on for me being nearly 6'3 with 37"- 38" inseam. I have to constantly size my stems shorter, but the wonderful thing about vintage bicycles is the top tube measurement maxes out at around 59-60 cm. I've been able to ride a 66 cm and 68 cm (great theft deterrent) pretty darn comfortably because they had 58 cm top tubes. This also means I generally don't have to worry about getting long stems because the head tubes are tall. Gotta love being somewhat tall with vintage bikes.

You have to go with what's comfortable but that's a long leg extension, mine's nowhere near that. If you look at many professional cyclists you'll see they have more knee bend. There's alot of formulas and stuff, most put the saddle too high for me, but one rule of thumb is having your leg totally extended with your heel on the pedal at 6 o'clock. Having the saddle lower takes pressure off the crotch and sitbones on the downstroke as well, at least for me.

Mine is about like this.

That rule of thumb method is in the fit section of Schwinn catalogs from the 1970s.

Lots of good advice here already. Like others have said, I don't see any obvious signs that the bike is way outside your size range. I think your saddle looks a bit high, and possibly too far forward. The last pic looks like a position caused by fatigue in your core muscles. Hopefully you can adjust your position on this bike for just a bit more comfort, and then as you ride more your body will get stronger in the right places.


You can put small pieces tape on the saddle rails and seatpost to help you keep track of changes you make to your position. Try small changes, maybe lower the saddle 1cm and push it back 5mm to start.


Next time you go for a ride, try riding with a bit of flex in your arms. Pedal harder and you should notice your arms/hands will need to do less work to support the upper body.

It looks like you prefer to be pretty upright. Have you considered a flat-bar bike? As it is, it looks like lack of flexibility/core strength is an issue - more core strength = more comfort, in any case anyway, so you might invest in Tom Danielson's Core Advantage. It's a lot cheaper than a new bike, and a lot better for your body, too.

I'd try this. Maybe a shorter /lower stem as well. The angle of your back is a no-mans-land for me, I need my stomach muscles to take some load and allow a little more elbow flex.

Like this guy

Thanks for the advice everyone. As far as my saddle height is concerned It is set roughly like the above pic indicates. With my heel on the pedal my leg is nearly straight. These shoes have less height than my riding shoes by maybe 1/4 inch.

So my main source of discomfort is my neck/traps. This has improved over time, but after my century I was pretty sore. Maybe I just need to put some more miles on?

As others have stated, try moving your saddle back. A sore neck is in my experience almost always caused by having the saddle too far forward relative to the pedals which causes you to lean forward and put too much weight on your hands (the force being transmitted through your neck and shoulders). When fitting the bike, the first step is saddle height, but the second step is always saddle fore-aft position to minimize the weight on your hands. Only after that is set should you adjust the reach by varying the stem length. It's pretty obvious to me that your butt is too far forward and your combined top tube/stem length is too long.