Velo Mellow

It is clearly set up for the geometry of the person riding it ... looking at that set up I'd suggest the person was very short in the arms and torso, probably a great set up for them. Look at the image of the Humber ad I posted above, not very different ... short stem and tall bars too! These bikes were ridden all over the place ... certainly beyond the block ... most were commuters and tourers.

jyl

That looks like a rather upright riding position. To get low, the rider has to deeply bend his elbows, a position that is hard to hold for very long.

Velo Mellow

This is how they were back in the day - they were Path Racers and distance bikes both, the individuals geometry was factored the same today as it was then. People traveled incredible distances off road with flat bar road bikes back then on skinny tyres too. See the 1912 Imperial Road Racer as sold below ... tall bars, short stem - same set up as the bikes on page 1.

Velo Mellow

How's this for racing position!

jyl

Here is a famous rider on a similar bike ( with a shaft drive?)



In the side-on picture, he is in an aero position, but it doesn't look like one that would be comfortable to hold for hours, and his chest looks kind of compressed.

Compare to a rider in an equally aero position on a drop bar bike with saddle further to the rear, greater reach between saddle and bars, and lower bars (the drop portion).



Given sufficient flexibility, you can ride in this position for hours, comfortably.

As I was browsing through pictures of Major Taylor, I see that his path bars were sometimes extended so low that they were virtually track drop bars. I also learned that he sometimes rode a shaft drive bike with two gears, 88 and 106 gear inches. Wow.

jyl

Looks like he is fighting the wind (aero drag). Would be toast against a equivalent rider in the drops.

Velo Mellow

Ah but it's the Keating!

Clem von Jones

jyl's post above is good. Excessive hand pressure can be caused by having your saddle too far forward with the bars too close and too high. It's counter-intuitive because it seems like this lower position would increase weight on your hands, but in fact it transfers more weight to your core spine and legs. The black guy in that photo would fall forward if he let go of the bars, the guy in the photo below would remain upright because he has little or no weight on his hands.

ofgit

Velo Mellow, please post some pictures of yourself and your bike. Preferably with at least one shot of you standing near or straddlng the top tube or even a side shot of you while mounted in your riding position.

fietsbob

The style of bike chosen is pretty casual.. the rider seems to want to sit up more , so by all means go find a taller stem

Example: Nitto Periscopa stem .. seen here in US sellers page. https://www.benscycle.com/p-2514-nit...-80mm-ext.aspx

Australia undoubtedly gets Japan made parts directly ..