I was looking at a couple Marins, the Larkspur and San Rafael, to be specific. The SR is about $50 more and includes upgraded rear derailler (Acera vs Alivio), upgraded shifters (Shimano EZ fire vs Alivio), a suspension fork on the SR, and possibly upgraded rims WTB on the SR and Alex on the Larkspur.

Does the extra $50 seem worth it for the San Rafael instead of the Larkspur?

I was helping my dad fix the fence and he took my Trek 7.5FX for a spin and said the riding position made his back uncomfortable. I was going to buy him one of these as a birthday gift.

Would these bikes have an upright riding position? I noticed that they have adjustable stems. Are there other bikes I should consider?

Marin San Rafael: https://www.marinbikes.com/2010/bike_...&serialnum=202

Marin Larkspur: https://www.marinbikes.com/2010/bike_...&serialnum=200

Those bikes are the epitome of comfort bikes if they were to hurt someones back they should'nt ride and 50 bucks aint worth mentioning, the San Rafael looked a little more upright in the pic's.

The San Rafael is the more upright of the two, and the Larkspur is more like your Fx.... I would go with the San Rafael if your dad was not comfortable on your FX.

I test rode a similar bike, Marin Kentfield FS today in 19" and a San Rafael in 17". The Kentfield is basically the same as the San Rafael but with 50mm rise bars compared to 32mm on the San Rafael, fixed stem, and lower end components. Price wise, I think the San Rafael is better buy -- if my dad gets strong and maybe develops better flexibility along with the need for speed (because faster is often more fun), the adjustable stem will come in handy.

I like the riding position on the Kentfield 19" more because the larger frame and higher rise brings the bars a bit higher; however while standing, I don't have much clearance to the frame; the jewels are almost scraping the top tube. The 17" gives me a bit more clearance, but it feels a bit awkward because I'm leaning slightly forward.

As far as the Larkspur, it does feel more like my FX than the San Rafael; the suspension fork brings the bars higher.