Dismount Difficulty For Senior Road Rider
 

I'm a senior in my 70's that has enjoyed road biking ( with a road bike ) for many years - wasn't sure if this question should be in the Adaptive Cycling sub forum - I'm roughly 6"2" with long legs relative to my torso and so my seat is set pretty high ( used the method in LeMond's book to set the height ) - in my younger years I would dismount by holding the bars , left leg on ground , and then swinging the right leg backwards and over the saddle - that maneuver has become impossible - so now I either find a curb or lay the bike down between my legs and then try to get a separation between legs an bike , requires some good balance .

My wife has suggested that ,while holding each seat stay , I go on tip toes and push the bike and saddle forward so now all I have to do is lift my right leg over the rear wheel to freedom - was wondering if any other senior riders have experienced this dilemma and what their solution was or if anyone just has a thought on how to solve this problem - I've even thought about wearing a small backpack with a couple blocks of wood on straps to give me that extra few inches to get the leg back and over the saddle https://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

Thanks in advance for your time and thoughts .
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Get one of those mountain bike seats you can lower with the remote.

I ride one of those comfort bikes with sloping tubes to ease my dismount over the low top tube. My next bike will be one of those low entry style, AKA a girls bike...l ain't proud at 64.

I had to drop down one size of frame to dismount a bike. A few saddle and stem adjustments and I am back at it.

I've watched a guy in our one ride group that will rotate his crank, then while standing over the top tube lean the bike way over to that same side he moved the crank up so it doesn't hit the ground. Then he steps over/out. Lowers the top tube or step over by however long your arms can dangle the bike down at an angle.

Not sure what kind of bike you own, but if you own a bike with a round seat tube you could buy a dropper seat post like the MTB folks use. Then when you want to get off lower it down all the way.

I'm in my 80's, and I use a "cowboy" mount & dismount to help me clear the seat. That extra 6" makes such a difference that I use that mount almost exclusively. The rolling dismount takes a little more room, and practice -- but has the same advantage. If I'm stopped in a crowded area I just step a little farther away from the bike (than I.did 30 years ago), and just lean it toward me enough that I can clear the seat w/o giving away my age.

I, too, and am in my 70s. I can currently dismount OK, but wish I had bought a smaller frame. I see a step through in my future.

Mike

Lean the bike over toward the drive side and put your left leg over the bars instead of the saddle. Usually it's lower.

Maybe a little too creative, but a women’s bike frame.

I'm in my 70s and have not yet found dismounting a significant challenge; however occasionally I have to abort and retry. Leaning the bike over is very helpful.

A woman's bike with step through frame made it possible for me to keep riding a single bike.

Step-Through Frame
 

At nearly 77 with a long list of orthopedic issues, I know well the indignities of aging. Thanks to a 30 year old artificial hip that’s wearing out and a knee that’s bone on bone, mounting and safely dismounting my vintage classics is “challenging”. In 2021 I bought 3 used step-through Treks, just to get the frames. I pulled the much nicer components from 3 of my newer bikes and put them on these frames.

After 2 knee replacements, my 76 y/o wife has trouble mounting and dismounting the Reynolds 531 mixte frame I built her 43 years ago. So I bought her 2 aluminum bikes with the fat downtubes and a short "top tube" just above the cranks, just to get the frames & forks. I up[graded nearly all the components, including a Copenhagen Wheel on one. Now I think I'll start riding her mixte.
[img]https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikeforums.net-vbulletin/581x403/mixteside2_604241fd34dfc0f1fea47142ce38d694391bb630.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...aed1a1c034.jpg
Her back is so bad that a sprung Brooks B67 + a ThudBuster + 2" tires at 30 PSI is not overkill. But she's still riding!!!!!

Mark Stonich; BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
5349 Elliot Ave S. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 USA
Ph. (612) 710-9593 BikeSmith Design and Fabrication
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bikesmith/ (Mostly Wildlife)

You need to loosen your hip flexor. Any martial arts or hatha yoga class will give you results: Focus on Outside Crescent Kick. You have to warm-up before attempting this. Find a class. Sitting is the root of this problem.

Dropper post.

I second this idea.

Be happy you have long legs (and therefore, implicitly, a lot of seat post exposed). Mine are so short it won't make much of a difference.

I had the mounting problem because of bad back, so i went out and bought a trek fx2 stagger disc, i can step thru that bike.

Sounds Crazy But...
 

This might not work for you, but this is what I do ... I ride a tandem and my seat is a lot higher than my handlebars. Rather than taking the chance of kicking my wife in the head, I bring my leg up, over and around the handlebars. I've done it so long, I use it on my single as well

It may sound, but it works for me.

It can be difficult to find vintage mixte and step through frames that are large. But there are a few new production ones to look at.

The Buena Vista comes in 58cm and 62cm sizes.

https://www.somafab.com/wp-content/u...l_full_web.jpg

https://www.somafab.com/archives/product/buena-vista
https://www.somafab.com/archives/pro...disc-frame-set

Rivendell also has the Clem Smith Jr in larger sizes, with a bit more of casual styling.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/14...g?v=1681854104

https://www.rivbike.com/products/cle...noon-pacific-1

Probably more out there too. Or you could go full custom.

I'm now 49 y/o and I do see older folks riding. Given this and the fact a great many younger people do have leg disabilities where they can't raise their legs that high, I surprise that step through bikes are not that common. I'm 5' 5" and my 26" is about the largest bike I can get on. And it is a unisex or women's bike.

Many of the e-assist bikes come in both a 'stagger' or mixte frame along with the standard frame, or they are only available in step through. But I'm not ready to go mixte just yet. 65 and counting.

I was in the habit of getting one foot on the ground and then with the bike in an upright position swinging my other leg over the top of the bike. My wife after a hip replacement was having a great deal of difficulty swinging her leg over the bike and started to use a curb to gain to more height with the leg on the ground.

I realized watching her that there was no reason to have the bile upright when getting her leg over the saddle. If she leaned the bike over toward the leg she was standing on, the height of the saddle relative to the ground was reduced by more than a foot.