I've always had race bikes, and when got my Miyata 1000 I set it up the only way I know how. It just didn't feel comfortable with a low and long stem. I switched it out today with a shorter reach and longer post. It didn't look very appealing to me but I really like how it feels. Bike is so much more comfortable and such a joy to ride.

That's a bike that begs for the bars to be the same height as the saddle.

This bike lets you look around you. All around you, not just in front of you.


I know... baby steps... .

The bike is looking excellent!

Good looking bike. As I age, and having had two lower back surgeries, my stem too is getting shorter and taller.

Comfort rules, that's what matters!

+1 Touring rewards you with memorable views.

Lately I have been rescuing MTB stems and putting them on road bikes. Brings the bars up nicely.

The more comfortable you are the longer and more often you will ride... nice bike

Beautiful Miyata, room for big tires and fenders, looks comfy for many miles and years.

But what’s that object on top of the front tire?

The 1000 looks good, and proportional with that stem setup. It is a tourer after all! Those Tektro levers are super comfy to grip, and at that angle are also kind to one's wrists, elbows and shoulders. Back, too. I may still be only haflway to retirement age, but from what I have observed on BF and with friends, to say nothing of me not liking extreme racing positions, this is perfectly fine. You aren't alone by any means, and I (and many others) aren't counting this as some sort of 'surrender' or 'weakening' or whatever. It is an acknowledgement of the bike, its purpose, your age/physical condition, and the resulting thoughts and preferences from it.

There will be days you want to slay a dragon, and you have bikes for that. Bring the rain, show the carbon kids that steel still knows its way to the front of the pack, all of that. And for the rest of the time, hey, you've proven yourself over the years, let's enjoy this. The drops on that are still deep enough to evade the wind and wind up the cadence; the 1000 is no slouch. For bikes in the 63-65cm range that I ride, 120-140mm stems are somehow the standard or recommended. I say that's for the birds. I ain't racin' and I like my neck muscles not vexed. When the time comes, my Paramount will get upright bars and I will have fun. I will give up the sexiness that is drop bars and brake levers and down tube shifters, but my body will thank me.

Enjoy the new setup on that Miyata!

BTDT quite recently. My "new" 1987 Schwinn Voyageur came to me with a Nitto Tecnomic stem, pretty long and 100mm reach. My other road bikes have the bars about 2" lower than the saddle and are all day, full century comfortable. I decided to just ride this Voyageur as is (with the stem as low as it can go - looks just like a your's) to see what for. I like it this way too. It too feels all day comfortable. Bars are level with the Vetta saddle. At this point I'm planning to leave it set up this way for a year or two. Nice ride and a different feel, which I like.

That's a compromise??!?! Can't imagine that bike looking any nicer or more perfectly set-up. Beautiful.

Those bars have a lot of drop, seat looks pretty forward, it looks incomplete without a front rack. Nice ride!

In 2011, I turned 50 and decided to reward myself with a new bike. Around that time, "endurance" geometry was starting to come out, so I thought I would give it a try, since I'm not getting any younger. I bought a Jamis Quest, and it felt strange at first, but I adjusted quickly to it. After riding it exclusively for several weeks, I took a ride on my old bike, a 1984 Miyata 310 sport touring bike. I had owned it since it was new and thought I had the fit dialed in pretty well. It felt horrible! I couldn't believe I had put up with it for so long. I wanted to hang on to the 310 for sentimental reasons, but if I was to keep riding it, changes had to be made. I set it next to the Jamis and saw that the main difference was the higher and wider bars. I ordered a Technomic stem and located a used set of 42 cm bars and set the 310 up to match the Jamis in fit. Now, whenever I get a bike, I use that as the starting point. Each bike rides a little different, but at least I know I am going to be comfortable for however the long the ride ends up being.

I've got one of the "dirt drop" stems on my 620 and Technomics on the 720 and Miyata 1000... I haven't decided whether I prefer the angled rise of the dirt drop or the tall 7 of the Technomic... a horse a piece.

A while ago I acquired an MTS-100 stem and I remember a picture on the Gypsy By Trade blog-




I haven't quite gotten around to filing down the clamp area- but it's sort of half-assed put together and sitting in the garage. Kind of a cross between a bull-moose and drop bars.

Any bike with canti brakes can be set up any way the owner wants, and "qualify."

That's my rule.

And I sort of agree about looking around. I took a novice on his first 50K the other day (twice his previous distance). Once we settled in, he actually brought up the subject of being able to look around and actually see things. Things you miss when you're riding hard or in a pace line, or from a car.

I rode in a pace line on Saturday, for about 30 miles of 45. Believe me, the last 15, with another rider, side by side and talking, well, that was a lot better. I didn't miss lunch after or anything the rest of the day, so the speed was simply relative. When people start talking about their average pace, I stop listening, in most cases.

So build the tourer for comfort, enjoy the ride, and use pedals/cleats/shoes you can actually walk in. This way, you can enjoy another bonus. You can always hammer some other time.