John_V 

If you decide to have a professional bike fit done, or are thinking of having one done, also check out the Retul system. It's a 3D, real time laser/LED fitting system like the GURU system and is done very similarly. It's another option in the event you don't have a GURU fitter in your area. The major difference between the two systems is that you are on your bike (mounted in a special bike trainer) when getting a Retul fit and GURU uses a bike emulator.

the engine

53 here ... I have arthritis in my neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, back and ankles ... knees have been replaced, so they're fine.

I ride year round ... once I got back on the bike from knee replacements, because I don't want to go through my joints getting used to my riding position again ... very annoying. I ride 5-6 days a week. I just did a 200k last weekend. I ride a bike with drop bars, and a road bike with straight bars/w bar ends.

I have the same issues you speak of. I found my body got used to the longer distances slowly. Over many weeks.


One other thing to know ... aluminum is the worst frame material for aching joints, because as a frame material, it is the least forgiving to road vibration. Your steel frame gives your body a much smoother ride. I gave up on aluminum years ago (for anything over 20 miles). I have both steel and titanium framed bikes, and I ride them without any residual joint pain.

Your body should get used to the position in time. Take the time to allow your body to adjust, working up to longer rides. If it's anything to do with the bike, it's likely the frame material.

JerrySTL

Saying that your knees are fine made me laugh. I've been told that I'll need a hip replacement one of these years. I hope I can say the same about it!

the engine

Made a massive difference in my life. I am back to riding 200k events, training between 100 - 200 miles a week, and climbing well (for a Clyde). Yes, I can honestly say my knees are fine ... I do take care of them, and other than cycling, I don't abuse them (no running, jumping, soccer, skiing, ect).

Check out my training at:<https://www.facebook.com/tekkneescycling>

I highly recommend joint replacement ... if needed!

nuke_diver

I heard about AL frames while researching but honestly I cannot say that I noticed any real difference, certainly not in my knees (both have had surgeries) or my back. Just the neck. How much is ride and how much is getting older I'm not really sure. The new bike seems much better to ride long distances, the ride I took which is my longest recorded ride (there may be longer ones when I was a kid but I don't know), I actually felt very good physically after the ride. I got home ate lunch went outside and played with the dog, watched some football and took the dog for a 2 mile walk.

After reading the advice here, in addition to doing a bunch more measurements, I see that (1) I probably do need some time to adjust since the bikes are not the same and (2) I need to watch my technique as I may be doing things quite differently with the shifters on the brakes than I do with my steel (like spending more time on the hoods) and on longer rides make sure I take some time to take breaks from doing that

10 Wheels

All of my bikes are aluminum.

For a softer ride lower the tire PSI.

Timtruro

Good advice. At the beginning of each season my neck bothers me, every year I think about a different stem etc. So far over time the neck feels better just following the advice above. I would give it some time and see if it doesn't improve.

likebike23

+1

nuke_diver

Weekend update

Sat I went over the 2 bikes and did my best to match things. The seat to stem was about the same but I felt that the old bike seat to ground was just a tad less maybe 1-1.5 cm (1/2 inch). So I lowered the seat to be similar. Sunday I went on 2hr ride. My neck was stiff all this week so it was stiff even at the beginning of the ride but I also tried my best to change positions etc as suggested by many here. I was really no worse (or not much worse) after the ride and this morning feels actually better than it did Sunday morning when I got up so I'm going to call it a success. Now we'll see what happens on longer rides when/if I can get to them. I should take my old bike on a longer ride too since I think some of the stiffness has nothing to do with the bike now (originally there was a problem) and it may be just me

gsa103

The correct measurement is seat to bottom-bracket, since that determines knee extension. Your seat height may be off by ~3-10 mm if the bottom brackets are at different heights.

Rowan

There are several other factors that also need to be taken into account... crank length on both bikes, and then knee over pedal spindle, which probably, above all else, will show the differences between the geometry of the two bikes. And the drop from seat to handlebars.

The crank length will determine seat height. And if the crank length is different between the two bikes, the seat height from BB-spindle will be slightly different.