Sit Up and Beg

velomaniac

MacRetro Rider
What retro mtb's have a particularly sit up and beg riding position ?

I ask this because I'm very tall and skinny and as expected for years, have developed neck pain made worse by the oldschool XC racer positioning. Consequently i'm ridding myself of bikes that force a stretched out ride.

My first dedicated retro steed which I no longer possess was a 1987 Schwinn Mesa Runner which was quite upright with slack geometry. I think this might be the kind of bike to aim for so what are your recommendations ;)
 
I'm starting to get regular neck pain too, particularly with my Stumpy. Rather than changing the whole frame etc, I thought I might go down this route:

A shorter and/or steeper stem (although not sure if there are many decent options for 1" quill)

On-One Mary bars

A nice in-line seatpost to bring the saddle further forward

Or am I barking up another tree altogether?
 
What are you riding now.

Maybe you're riding too small a frame, causing you to drop to far at the front so having to crick your kneck up more EVEN if the top tube is shorter. The arse to handlebar drop is causing the problem.


Try a larger frame say 20/21" Kona, fit 70/80mm forks and bring the length in with a shorter 100/120 stem, whatever's comfy for you.
The Kona's have a long headtube so placing the front end higher up.

or convert a Grandad-bike
 
All my bikes are gates, cant get any bigger, I'm 6'6".

What I need I think is something with a shorter top tube that forces a more upright position.

I can convert anybike to something comfy but it'll look fugly.

Just wondering if any proper retro mtb's had a more upright position ;)
 
Cleland ?


I don't think a short top tube is the real answer, you could test by putting in a short stem (ignore the handling for now).
The front end doesn't rise at all which gives the sit up beg position it just slightly raises your head and problem just causes cramping in the cockpit. But it's an easy test with the stem swap.

Orange run shorter tubes than others seem to for their size BUT doubt they did them big enough in a none racey style

Look for the lower end models as these tend to be aimed more towards the comfort sector, with slightly slacker angles and shorter top tubes, compared to the high end types.

Modern bikes of course and 29er would do the job more than likely with the high front end you get on them, but they aint retro.

Unfortunately when it comes the the 80's I don't have a clue :D
 
velomaniac":1shy0c9q said:
All my bikes are gates, cant get any bigger, I'm 6'6".

how much more fuglier can they get? as you said, they are already "gates". :LOL:
 
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