Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
At 73, I still find a slammed -17° stem on my road bike to be the most comfortable for long distance riding. My bars are ~10 cm below my saddle. I also find being well stretched out to be the most comfortable both for my back and hands. Besides being more comfortable and more aero, I climb better with my bars low and well forward, which gets my torso over my legs. As I've aged, I've found most physical limitations can be overcome by staying fit. BTW, nothing to do with appearance, see my sig.
I'm sure I never developed the flexibility that Carbonfiberboy has, but when I started riding dropped bars in the 1960's I set my bars between even with the saddle and not more than an inch below. I was riding in my home neighborhood in Chicago and for errands, work, and exploration all over the city north side and north and west suburbs, and I knew I needed to see traffic without cranking my neck. Now at 65 yo I still have a similar vertical road position, but I stretch out more, and I talk in metric, liking a 2 cm drop. Sometimes I get hand pressure at that position, and it is relieved by moving the bars down a centimeter! My hands want to be a bit lower than "traditional!"
I've never gone the 10 cm / 4 inches below saddle route. It never felt like my back wanted to be there. Now with weekly (at least) 2 hours yoga, I think my lost strength due to a career driving a mouse at a desk is returning, and my flexibility if anything is better, except when I took a beginning ballet class in my early '20s. After that, I could touch my toes!
We also agree about slamming the saddle back (judiciously) to bring the body center of gravity in our cycling tucks in line with the bike center of gravity. That plus the comfortable drop leads to good comfort.