Slow or quick loss of tolerance for discomfort?

[belgiangoth]

10 years ago a rode a flat bar Alu hybrid with Marathon+ tyres - 28/25 and a massive overpadded saddle, I was happy to ride that without any niggles or pain. I then moved to a steel frame, Kojaks, drop bars and a Fizik saddle, after riding that bike for a few years I found the flat bar Alu bike a thing of torture. I thought it was just a case of getting used to something better, but just in this past year I am starting to find myself constantly wondering whether I can make my bike more comfortable, the occasional wrist or back pain (even though my handlebars are in no way racer height). I'm feeling the urgency to learn to ride my recumbent for comfort reasons - something I had never considered before.
So my question is - has anyone else experienced a developing dependency on comfort? Did you have sudden (like over a couple of months) drop/s in your ability to find your bike comfortable?

[LollyKat]

It's called getting older...

[belgiangoth]

I'd expect that to be more gradual though.

[531colin]

How old are you, how much do you ride, and what else do you do? (as in responsible job, looking after kids/parents, extensive DIY?)
When I was 20 and commuting 10 miles each way, I did all the CTC standard rides on the sort of bike people wouldn't look at now.
When I was 40 I stopped commuting to work by bike for a few months, when I re-started I thought I would die.
At 65 I was still chasing 100 mile days and big hills, but I had a good bike that fitted, and I rode lots.
At 70 I still ride lots, but the speed and distance are coming down, and this spring I got a few aches and pains building the mileage up.
The DIY bike-fitting guide in my sig. strip is aimed at recreational cyclists, I see very many people on the road who would benefit from applying it.

[Vorpal]

It's called getting older...

10 years ago a rode a flat bar Alu hybrid ...
So my question is - has anyone else experienced a developing dependency on comfort? Did you have sudden (like over a couple of months) drop/s in your ability to find your bike comfortable?

Yes. When I was a teenager, I could ride all day on a borrowed bike and never experience discomfort. I will say that I had a gradual increase in dependency upon comfort over my adult life, but I have aslo had a couple of fairly abrupt changes.

After having my first baby, a saddle on my hybrid which had been comfortable for more than 10 years suddenly wasn't, and I had some trial and error to find a new saddle type and position that worked for me. I bought a new bike when I was pregnant with my second, and that went a lot better, and was still okay after having the baby.

The second time was when I bought a new bike a couple of years ago, and that has been more work to get right than any other bike I've owned. Furthermore, it has made me realise that my position wasn't quite right on my other bikes. I am quite certain that I am more sensitive to getting a good setup than I was, even a few years ago. My road bike (bought almost 10 years ago when I was pregnant with Littlest) is my regular commuter, and has some thousands of miles on it. I don't keep track of the miles on each bike, but it's on its second set of wheels and third drive train. I have ridden up to 70 miles on it without discomfort, but I am now struggling to get the position perfect on that bike. I need to measure the tourer (which is now comfortable) and the road bike and compare the two. I suspect that the saddle needs to go back on the road bike, but it's already past the max on the saddle rails, so that probably means a new seat pin.

[531colin]

Yup, the majority of modern "road" frames have too steep a seat tube angle for "real world" riding.......the smaller the frame, the worse the seat tube angle, generally.
My "Planet X" seatpost is still working....https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=104331&hilit=layback
....my saddles have gone back over the years

[Vorpal]

Yup, the majority of modern "road" frames have too steep a seat tube angle for "real world" riding.......the smaller the frame, the worse the seat tube angle, generally.
My "Planet X" seatpost is still working....https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=104331&hilit=layback
....my saddles have gone back over the years

I tried getting one of those for myself at Christmas a year and a half ago viewtopic.php?f=18&t=75587&p=1231282&hilit=planet#p1080522

I ended up with viewtopic.php?f=5&t=118258 instead and so far, so good. I'm taking my first mini tour on it in a couple of weeks, and I will add a review to the thread after that.

If I'm still happy, I will get another one for the road bike.

[531colin]

I completely missed that thread......I must have more of a social life than I thought!
Its a beast of a seatpost, isn't it?

Oddly enough, we were having a conversation on to-day's ride, along the lines that the bike industry in general is missing a trick by not making stuff that people begin to want over the age of (say) 50.
One of the guys had been to a bike try-out day, there were more than 100 expensive bikes there, but none with any decently low gears, and none where you could get the bars high enough and the saddle far enough back.
Theres lots of retired people out there with disposable income, why not make bikes or triple changers for us to use? Theres no shortage of expensive bikes for wannabee racers, and no shortage of expensive E bikes for people who don't want to pedal too hard.....
Where are the comfortable bikes with low gears for the older generation(s) of club cyclists?

[Vorpal]

I completely missed that thread......I must have more of a social life than I thought!
Its a beast of a seatpost, isn't it?

Yes, but it's nicely adjustable.

[gregoryoftours]

Every time I go back to flat bar after drop or fairly extreme sweep I notice how bloody uncomfortable and unnatural it seems for my wrists.