Craptacular8

I mostly run, but do cross train some with my bike. I currently have a 1996 Schwinn Express hybrid, 21 spreed, with Shimano Altus component group. I've had no complaints really, though I do notice arm/back pain sometimes. I typically ride on paved bike trails 20-35 miles, or around 20 miles or so if I'm on all-purpose gravel paths that are closer to my home, it can be somewhat tougher going at times. It does ok on both. I would anticipate similar riding patterns in the future as well. I couldn't get it to shift off the middle gear on the front last weekend doing 8% grades, so that sucked the life out of my legs pretty quickly over those 14 miles, so know I need to figure out why my front derailleur wasn't working correctly. but otherwise it has seemed to do an ok job for me.

Would something more upright like the Electra Townie 21D alleviate some of the arm/back issues without making it harder for me to keep up with my biking partners on their more traditional hybrids? Is something like that for rides of the length I typically do? Or, would I be able to get equally comfortable on something like the Fuji Absolute 1.3 or 1.4? Despite having had this bike, and using it for a very long time, I'm really a biking newby. Thanks for the advice.