Originally Posted by
Wjulaxer13
I have gotten older, near 70, and can no longer handle the drop down bars on my roadbike. It is a bridgestone rb2 from around 1992 and i would hate to get rid of it if i could find a way to keep it. I would have to adapt it to straight mountain/rec bars to continue riding it but dont know if it possible or worth it. Any thoughts?
Get your handlebars up to a comfortable position.
1992, probably a quill stem. Get a Nitto Technomic (very tall) or Technomic Deluxe (is it now called NTC DX?...slightly less tall, but more gorgeous like their Pearl stem... look at Ben's Cycle for options and info). You can compare the available height with what you currently have and figure out what you need to get your bars up.
Maybe change the bars for ones with less reach and drop. I have several of that type, for example, the Soma HWY 1 has something like a 75mm reach and 125mm drop and it's a nice looking bar that has a comfortable bend. But there's many similar.
I'm 70 and have been able to maintain a very comfortable position on all of my road and gravel bikes by simply adjusting the position. My bars are an inch or less down from my saddle. Close, or, even with the saddle depending on the bike. I haven't had to shorten the reach though.
When I'm looking at getting a new modern frameset with a threadless headset, I look at the head tube length to make sure I can get the handlebars up with the normal acceptable spacers under the stem. With a vintage threaded headset frame, I don't worry as much because I can use a Technomic Deluxe to get the bars up and it looks great.
You might also, try some new brake levers (I'm assuming you don't have brake/shift levers?). Some of the current brake lever options are much more comfortable than vintage ones for riding on the hoods with modern bars.
I would try that stuff first as it would be relatively cheap-ish and still give you the position options of drop bars.