Changing position as I age.

[steelbikerider]

I just realized today that in the last 10 years I have moved my saddle forward almost 2 cm and decreased 1 cm in stem length on my custom steel frame of 20 years. My HB drop to the top of the bars hasn't changed and I am able to match my position on my carbon bike down to the mm. I have been racing and riding for 40+ years so my position is pretty dialed in and I have no fit or physiological issues to work around.
I'm considering a new custom road bike so I'm wondering what changes I should be considering to for my next bike to last 20 years if I do. I'm 61 now. My stems only have 5 - 10mm of spacers under them and I ride standard race bike geometry. I don't plan on gravel, still ride a century occasionally and use 25 - 28mm tires. I figure that I may need a head tube extension of a cm or 2 and maybe 1/2 - 1cm shorter top tube. I know that I will be discussing all of this with the builder( 2 years older than me and still riding) but I wanted some input from some of y'all in similar circumstances.

[Fixed]

Yes old age is a bitch
Yoga may help some

[Charles M]

Go see a QUALIFIED fitter...
You're not dialed into the same position... And nobody worth listening to would try to advise you on what to "look for"....

[Ralph]

Just a guess.....but I would say maybe you moved your seat forward because you needed a shorter reach....as you aged. When you should have used a shorter stem. Get your position over the BB correct, and get correct stem for your body, and you may not need to change drop (yet). That's what my fitter told me anyway.....at about age 70. It helped with my old man's butt also.

[Ken Robb]

Just a guess.....but I would say maybe you moved your seat forward because you needed a shorter reach....as you aged. When you should have used a shorter stem. Get your position over the BB correct, and get correct stem for your body, and you may not need to change drop (yet). That's what my fitter told me anyway.....at about age 70. It helped with my old man's butt also.

What Ralph said. I recently played around moving my saddle forward to see if that would relieve pain in my arthritic neck. It helped a little but I didn't like pedaling from the forward saddle position so I moved the saddle back where it had been. I MAY try a BIG change and swap my drop bars/brifters for Dirt Drop stem and moustache bars and barend shifters. I made this swap on my Riv Allrounder years ago and was happy with it on that bike. OTOH maybe I should just admit that I may be too old for this foolishness. :rolleyes:

[buddybikes]

Buy a frame for function not looks. Yes longer head tubes look yucky - but at our age chance of arthritis and stiffness occurs.

Other suggestion good bb drop, are you really pedaling through corners hard at this age, and reach to ground is so much better.

[John H.]

Why did you move your saddle forward? Do you think that your femurs got shorter?
You also mention stem getting 1cm shorter.

Have you changed any parts? Different saddle can require a different setback but still put the rider in the same position.
Different bars could need a different length stem for same reasons.

Shifters can affect this too- Modern brake/shift levers might sit different on a bar or be longer or otherwise different.

20 years is a long time- You could have more position drift than you think.

You might do well to consider a fit before a new frame.

Also- for someone your age. Have the frame designed so that you have at least a small margin to go higher and shorter as you age. Not to say that you will, but room to change can be nice.

[Doug Fattic]

Typically as we age the handlebars need to go up and back towards us. This necessitates that the saddle has to go back requiring a more shallow seat angle. I've had a lot of retirement age guys take my frame building class and what they have discovered after refining their old bike position on a fitting bike is that the frame they make in class has shallower angles and a lower BB drop than whatever they were riding. They always confirm after building up their class frame that they are more comfortable on their new ride. They long ago gave up their dream of winning the Tour and aren't trying to win the club sprint to the stop sign anymore either.

[steelbikerider]

The last comment about being able to go shorter and higher is what I was asking and wondering about. I always measure and adjust for different reach, saddle, sole thickness etc and keep records so I know where my position has been. The move forward was was to get my knee slightly over in front of the pedal axle, my pm showed an improvement. When my stem length is too long, I get sore triceps, too short and I get tired between my shoulder blades. My builder likes my fit last time he saw me, I just wanted some feedback on what some of you guys have experienced as you age. All of my riding buddies are much younger.

[saab2000]

Go see a QUALIFIED fitter...
You're not dialed into the same position... And nobody worth listening to would try to advise you on what to "look for"....

What makes someone a QUALIFIED fitter? What metric? What certificate?

[robt57]

OP did not state if weight was constant.

I am 63 now, and 9CM of setback and Drop on road bike. This is only since I lost 40 lb and got that spare outta the way of my breathing ability.

I'd been using less setback and more stack and getting more and more miserable for a few seasons [whilst getting to 236 lb].

2019 @ 197-8 lb and 9CM Setback and Stack I feel good on the bike again. I ride less stack on gravel bike, but not more than 1.5CM.

Giving my diaphragm room to drop made all the difference.

I have 10CM bar drop on one bike, but my back does not like more than 30 miles of that very much...


OP BB drop not specified, more is better. Free stack pretty much. ;)

[parris]

One of the flags that is raised and probably why posters are saying to get a fit is your original post where you moved the saddle 2cm forward. That's a very large adjustment by any measure.

Did you change out saddles around the time you moved the saddle? That may account for some of the reason for that large a change.

[Fixed]

We should all be thankful to still be riding
in our older years many of my friends From the old days are not so lucky

[Fixed]

At 65 My position is the same but I weigh 20 pounds less than I did 30 years ago
And I have continued to work on keeping or increasing my flexibility over the years even when I was injured.
i do not push big gears Now it is The spin to win mantra
Cheers

[Upcountry]

I just have to chime in and say that as I near 40, I'm thrilled to see so many of the elder statesmen still ticking off the miles, it gives me hope!

[cmbicycles]

One of the flags that is raised and probably why posters are saying to get a fit is your original post where you moved the saddle 2cm forward. That's a very large adjustment by any measure.



Did you change out saddles around the time you moved the saddle? That may account for some of the reason for that large a change.

My read was that he moved it 2cm forward over the course of ten years, not all at once. Fit isnt necessarily a static number, so changing over the course of a decade isnt outside the norm. Fitness, flexibility, health, posture all change for most people based on a host of factors so bike fit will change with any or all of them. If your builder likes your current fit, and is a good/qualified judge of fit, I'd go with what he suggests as he can see you on the bike and can tweak some adjustability into the frame design... but of course cant forsee every possible contingency that may affect your fit over the next 20 years.
Although I dont keep track of numbers anymore, I havent changed much on my basic fit over the last 15 years, other than shifting spacers around for less drop after a riding hiatus, then shifting them back down over the course of getting miles in and getting comfortable with the normal position. My different bikes are slightly different in terms of how they are setup, but they are all relatively close... kudos to you for tracking the numbers. I did that with my Serotta comparing it to my prior bike of 10 years, 6-7 years ago when I got the Serotta. Now I just set saddle height, reach and drop off that bike and tune the rest by how I feel on the bike.

[Frankwurst]

Yes old age is a bitch

Damn sure beats the alternative. I'm kinda digging the aging process and changing my cycling position, not caring how fast or far I go and not really caring about much of anything. It's a stone cold groove.:beer:

[OtayBW]

What makes someone a QUALIFIED fitter? What metric? What certificate?
That's a good point. The last time I got fitted (some years ago), I went to a very well-established - and from all I have read, a very well-respected - fitter, and I basically came away scratching my head.....:rolleyes:
For me now, I need to reduce the drop on my No. 1 by ~1cm and, unfortunately, I'll need to buy another fork to make that happen. I should have cut the steerer tube a skosh taller when I got it....:eek:

[bob_in_pa]

Damn sure beats the alternative. I'm kinda digging the aging process and changing my cycling position, not caring how fast or far I go and not really caring about much of anything. It's a stone cold groove.:beer:

I couldn't agree more. I've happily made compromises to position to compensate for loss of flexibility and past injury. At some point it starts to become maintaining the ability to keep doing "it", whatever it happens to be.

[steelbikerider]

OP here. Half of the change was due to saddle changes over a year's time, the other changes were a 1/2 cm change about 5 years apart. BB drop on both bikes is at 7.5cm and st is 72.5 so I already have some of the old man features. I'm pretty well versed in bike fit and do experiment with equipment changes but only change 1 factor at a time. My flex is ok, I still do core work and if I would lose 10 lbs, I could remove a spacer and slam that stem. As some of the other posters said, fit is constantly changing. Since I tend to keep bikes for awhile and there will probably more changes In the next ten years, I want my bike to be adaptable. Thanks all for the input.

[flying]

edit: Ooops just saw OP 2nd post above mine states his flex ok

[xlbs]

has unique impacts of each person. In my case (I am 62) I have shrunk about 1.5 inches in the past 5 years. Does this affect my position? Of course it does.

Each person is different. I have friends who have not lost a cm over their maturing years, while quite a number of others have complained about similar experiences to mine. My mother claims that she has shrunk by almost 4.5 inches (she's 87) over the past 25 years, while my father is still the same height (he's 89)---go figure.

So, I purchased a smaller frame, lowered my saddle, and reduced my reach as well. My flexibility hasn't changed a whole lot, but my body is different now from what it was when I was 50. This new setup lets me ride in comfort, and I am just fine with aging as others have said.

YMMV!

[dancinkozmo]

What makes someone a QUALIFIED fitter? What metric? What certificate?

must be a trump university graduate