cormacf

Looking for my first aero road bike. I have pretty short legs and super short femurs, so to fit on a bike without leg pain, I typically wind up on steep seat tube angles with a zero setback post and short cranks. That makes my knees feel great, but I wind up with a lot of forward weight, and barely use my drops at all when I'm headed downhill because I always feel like I'm going to endo. Bike fits help a little, but ultimately, both fitters with whom I've worked have suggested custom frames.

I feel much more comfortable going downhill on slack headtubes, and basically anything with a long front-center that works to forgive the fact that I'm leaning my weight so far forward. There are some gravel bikes out there where I might feel somewhat comfortable going down a steep hill in the drops, but most road bikes seem to have a much tighter headtube angle so they don't steer like boats. I'm also clearly not a geometry pro, so I'm sure there's other stuff at work.

Any suggestions for bikes I might want to look at for a kind of go-fast aero shape? I'm thinking something I could get by with for a couple of beginner triathlons and also take out for 50 to 100 miles and feel like I'm not on an 80s touring or mountain bike.

Random fact. I absolutely loved the fit of my old Giant Omnium track bike. The seat tube angle and reach felt great, but since I only used it on the track, I also never had to go downhill more than coming out of the bank in the turns.

GhostRider62

Have you considered a TT/Tri bike? They have steep seat tube angles and longer front centers. For instance, if handy building bikes, buy a used Cervelo P and you could use dropped bars for training and in a Tri, put full aero bars on.

A more reasonable choice might be something like a Cervelo Caledonia, it is longer front center than most road bikes. I considered buying one for endurance racing type rides.

cormacf

I'd never heard of the Caledonia! That looks like a sportier version of my current bike, with more front-center and shorter chainstays. That could be perfect, and allow me to go full upright rando-bike with my Lynskey (it already has dynamo routing, and I have a dynamo 650b wheelset built)!

Iride01 

I don't think your Omnium is much different in geometry than a Trek Emonda or a Specialized Tarmac. Which are race fit road bikes. So if you still like the low and aero position they give, then you should look at them and see if they'll let you try them out for several miles if possible. Parking lot rides just don't give the same experience.

If your legs are short, then you might try a Trek Domane in a size or two smaller than what others might typically get based on height alone. A smaller size in it will also give you a lower stack and more aero position. All of these bikes are somewhat designed with aero tubes.

cyclezen

To your Qs
Feeling 'On Top of', vs 'In/behind' is a combination of a couple of things, not just front/ctr, but also stack, stem angle and length, and bar config (compact,short/long drop, reach), Realized Reach would really work in conjunction with the other elements. A longer reach is not necessarily felt as 'too much forward'.
You don;t give info on your stem nor the bars.
Anyway, Can't get too deep, too much to write... LOL!
ALSO, are you or have you been a predominantly MTB rider? If so, the move back and forth between modern mtb spec bikes and road bikes can be a bit disconcerting - mtb = 'in', road still usually feels 'on top of'...
You also don;t give a Frame size for your Lynskey - that important to any comment/conversation!
Here's a GEO comparison of 5 bikes , Lynskey SPortive, SPec ROubaix, Spec Shiv, Spec Transtion (older TT design), Cervelo Caledonia
Key things to look at
STACK !!! compared to reach
Front-Ctr...
all else is in consideration also.
TT/Tri bikes have Long Length, low stack, and short front ctr (relatively).
Lynskey has quite Short Front/Ctr and ALSO LOW STACK, compared to most 'do-it'all' road bikes.
Compare both those measurements with either the Roubaix or Cervelo, Roubaix & Caledonia have longer Frt-Ctr, Caledonia has LOWER stack than Lynskey...
To be more 'IN' on a bike, than your Lynskey, you might look for higher stack & a bit more Frt-Ctr...
Many other bikes to review with Specs similar to Roubaix, when comes to Stack & Frt/Ctr.

Give info on your Lynskey frame size, stem info and bar info... if youo want further discussion...
Experiment: not knowing what the stem/bar config currently is - you could get/buy an inexpensive stem +16 deg, 10mm longer than current stem (given the current is a 6 or 7 turned down) mount it turned up
mount it 'up' - 10 mm long would be approx 'realized STACK' increase of 20mm (2cm). Would get you closer to what the Roubaix stack might feel... (or any other bike with more stack.
AERO - frame aero is less important that rider position/posture/setup , helmet, might be close to wheel aero...
A TT/TRI frame, in my mind, would be a considerably less pleasant 'distance road ride' machine. Metric century - TT or road bike? no comparison...
Clip-on aero bars work, if properly setup...
Aero 'Look' - that's up to you, as to importance.
a bit more, but enough for now...
Ride On
Yuri

cormacf

Had 30 minutes to kill this morning, so I popped around the corner to the local bianchi dealer and road a Sprint. It actually felt kind of great without any adjustments other than saddle height. I only wrote it a few blocks, so I would need to do more to figure out if it handles well in the downhills, but this gives me some hope that maybe sportier, racier bikes are just generally better for my body shape than the more traditional early 2000s endurance geometry I've been riding.

Also, it was the first bike I've ever ridden with wireless shifting, and as much as I thought I would hate it, it's pretty magical, especially for someone who is starting to have the beginnings of arthritis soreness in the hands.

Kontact 

I don't know why short femurs automatically means your saddle needs to be far forward. KOPs is one a way of making sure you have adequate setback, not an important biomechanical relationship that needs to be maintained. If you have atypical body dimensions you have to be smart about how you approach fit. Your femurs do not run the show.

I'd highly recommend you put your saddle height and setback in a normal place on a bike with a relatively low stack height.

Garthr

I recently purchased a Velo Orange Rando frame specifically because it has a much longer front-center that typical non-custom frames. Of course when looking at geometry you must take into account everything, and specifically for your saddle tip-to-bars you have to start with where your saddle is going to be in relation to the BB to begin with. Whether the OP would choose a medium or large, either one has a whole lot more front-center than any other frame listed here.

https://bikeinsights.com/bikes/5e668...o-orange-rando

Even then, as was noted by cyclezen, we know nothing of the OP's bike in question to begin with. Drop bars can vary wildly in both reach and drop, and same for stems. It may or may not be frame reach the OP really needs. I've found videos from John Cobb to be very helpful for myself in regards to positioning, so much so that I'm running my bars lower than I ever had or even considered, and I'm more comfortable than ever on the bike doing it.
https://speedandcomfort.com/pages/fitting-tips
https://speedandcomfort.com/blogs/comfort-issues?page=2

oldbobcat

The Felt F series geometry has a relatively long reach and low stack. I like these bikes a lot but they should fit you better.