I am 75, never very athletic, average speeds in the 12–15 mph range. I ride about 1,000 miles a year. I switch back and forth from the hoods to the drops. My speed always is better on the drops, but I have less pain on the hoods, and also feel safer on them when I am around cars and intersections. Shifting is painful for my hand and fingers when I am on the drops, so I am still figuring that out. But I like the power and speed of the drops. I wear street shoes, having fallen several times when wearing clipless.
All three of my bikes have been Giant, starting off with a Defy, alloy frame, 19 pounds, and 25mm tires, then going to a Toughroad gravel alloy, 24 pounds, with 38mm tires, and 1x11 gearing. This fall I finally switched to a Defy Advanced carbon, 19 pounds, with 32mm tires, and back to 2x11 gears.
The 32mm tires may disqualify my carbon Defy as a road bike, but I feel they are necessary for safety on our New England roads that are full of winter damage, and funky shoulders.
I enjoyed the versatility and safety of the 24-pound alloy gravel bike, but I really missed the lightweight road bike. I had not expected the five-pound difference to affect my ride so much. Since I wanted both the safety of wider tires, and light weight, that pushed me over the edge to buy the carbon with 32mm tires, whose 19 pounds matched my original road bike. It is perfect for the kind of non-competitive, fitness riding I enjoy.
One other point regarding age is that I have shrunk two inches, from 5-feet 11.5 inches to 5-feet 9.5 inches. My M/L gravel bike is too large for my current, diminished height, which was another reason for buying a new bike in size M.
I have a very rare, and extremely painful, neurological disorder (1 in 10,000 people) called trigeminal neuralgia, or TN. On two Facebook support groups I have learned that those of us who cycle require far less medication and surgery than those who don't exercise. For me, cycling gives me control over treating an extremely debilitating disease. Buying a $2,600 carbon bike seemed worth every penny, considering its importance to my well-being, and keeping me away from the brain surgeon's knife and saw. My frugal wife agreed. Here is the gallery—
This is my first road bike, the Defy aluminum alloy, 25mm tires, 19 pounds, size M/L.
Below is my Giant Toughroad alloy gravel bike, 24 pounds, 38mm tires, 1x11, size M/L.
My current bike the Giant Defy Advanced carbon, 19 pounds, 32mm tires, 2x11, size M.
And here I am with the carbon bike, at my favorite spot, an old marsh of native wild rice along the Merrimack River in Massachusetts.
