Cycling UK Forum

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Hi
Apart from changing the levers, I have kept everything original and would love to keep it that way but would gladly change the seat.
Cheers for the idea

I am 5'' 11' with long arms but following a major refurb of my old Peugeot 1988 Triathlon, which involved replacing the old brake levers with new brake + shifter combination, I have been unable to place my hands on the hoods without feeling like I am overstretching.
My seat is as far forward as it will go and I have also tinkered with the handlebar height and the tilt but this didn't improve things.

This might be an unfortunate design limitation for an old bike.

Is there saddles with extra-long rails that will allow me to adjust the forward position more?

As we all know. In the 1960s the Beeching report lead to the closure of about one third of Britain's rail network. As a result there are now hundreds of disused railway lines which now make fabulous, safe walking and cycle routes.
All well and good but we have missed a trick. Rather than the mindset (as great as it is) of making use of old railway lines, why have we never made use of current railway lines?
This would involve having a 'parallel' track, separated by the current fencing but running alongside our railways. This could also be used as a service line.
We would then have an extensive off road cycle network, reasonably flat and linking all major cities as well as many towns and villages.
As I say, we may have missed this opportunity with regards to our current rail network but current legislation which includes cycle lanes for some of our new roads (which can end up poorly connected and just as dangerous) could be created for new railway lines and who's to say, if it is popular then other rail networks may add cycle tracks as budgets become available.