llevitt

I know I'm wading into controversial territory, but hoping for some helpful guidance.

I've been riding my Trek 2200 for about 20 years. It's served me well, through many thousands of miles and centuries. These days I generally do regular rides of about 30 miles, sometimes 50+. I'm in the SF Bay Area, so it's all hills. Lately, with age (late 50s), I've been encountering a few challenges:

** I get a lot of neck pain after a while, which is the main limiting factor for how long I can ride. I can't find much info about the Trek's geometry, but it seems pretty aggressive.

** I have increasing trouble dealing with the brakes on the drop handlebars, with sore fingers on long downhills.

** I'm fine on climbs with gradients of 8-10%, but climbs with 12% are definitely getting tougher. I think my lowest gear has a ratio of 1.2.

I've considered trying to adapt my Trek (e.g., raising the handlebars with a new stem, maybe a new cassette). But, it feels like that could add up and not be money well spent.

Would I be better off with a performance hybrid to solve my issues (more upright riding, easier braking, and an easier lower gear)?

Thanks for the advice.

fietsbob

Go to a bike shop and test ride some, why seek an opinion here ? form one for yourself from experience.

I'm using a very nice Bike Friday & folding Brompton... liking the step thru like convenience @ my age ..

yea, you could change the bars & shifters on your road bike . bike shop will help you sort out that option, too..

jpescatore

You can go to the website 99spokes.com and compare bikes gearing ration and geometry. Just for grins, I went there and entered Trek 2200 and the oldest one they show is a 2003 model - look here.

These days there is a class of bikes often called endurance bikes that still have drop bars but have more upright geometries and come in many levels of components and frame materials which drive cost. But, most of them will have a lower low gear than your 2200, which will help on hills. I added my old Trek 520 touring bike and my 2017 Trek Domane "endurance bike" (really my midlife crisis bike...) and you can see the comparison to that Trek 2200 here.

Doing comparisons on that site (there are others, too) may help narrow things down for you.

llevitt

Thanks. It's a little tricky to go to a bike store these days, so was just looking to narrow my options a bit before.

llevitt

Very helpful! Thanks.

Ogsarg

Given the kind of riding you do, I think you might be disappointed with a hybrid. Might help your neck, but being more upright can be hard on the back and the aero penalty you pay will make the rides seem longer than they are. There is also the problem of essentially having only one hand position, which can be hard on longer rides.

I think you deserve an upgrade. As has been mentioned, there are great endurance bikes now that will have better gearing for climbing, wider tires for comfort, disk brakes for confident descents, and geometry that will give your neck a break without killing you aerodynamically. I would see if you can test ride a few and see how you like them. If you decide to buy, get a fit thrown in.

Paul Barnard

DO NOT assume a hybrid will have more relaxed geometry. Some of them have harsher ergos than endurance style road bikes. You may find the inability to shift hand positions uncomfortable as well. If you go to flat bars, I strongly recommend bar ends. The make a huge difference to me.

llevitt

Definitely giving me pause re: hybrids, and causing me to look towards endurance bikes instead. Thanks.

llevitt

Thanks. Helpful to realize I should be looking closely at the geometry of different bikes (and bar ends if I do go with flat bars).