531colin wrote:"BrianJeff"...I'm just a year older than you, and yeah, it doesn't get any easier to get comfortable.
Don't be frightened to fit a really short stem; 60mm are easily available, and Deda go down to 45mm, from memory.
They say that a short stem makes the steering twitchy, but if on your short stem your hands (on the hoods) are at the same reach as they were on the tops on a longer stem, then there is actually no difference in the weight on the front wheel, which is all you might be changing. And you can always run the front tyre 10psi less pressure. As Brucey says, the bigger frame has a taller head tube which means the bars start off higher anyway, and the "correct" frame size is likely to be only 10mm shorter anyway. Also think about a high rise stem; recreational cyclists don't need the bars lower than the saddle, particularly septuagenarian recreational cyclists!
You will need the saddle pushed pretty far back to get comfortable on a (fashionable) race-inspired bike (or even a long layback seatpost)....they aren't designing for us old gimmers!
Neck and shoulder ache can be caused by having too much weight on your hands, and the remedy for this is to move the saddle back to reach the "balance point" somebody mentioned earlier....its in my DIY bike fit linked below my signature.
Finally, do persevere and get comfortable on this bike that you have. If you give up and get a different bike without getting comfortable on this one, then you are just "buying blind" and the next bike is no more likely to fit than the current one. If you find a seventy-odd year old bike fitter do let us know here.....my recent experience suggests that anybody under seventy doesn't stand much chance of knowing what its like!
Thanks for all that ‘wise old bird’ advice. I’m not as sharp as I once was but I still enjoy pushing myself a bit on the odd Sportive and take some satisfaction in getting a Strava PB. I’m hoping I can substitute stamina for lack of speed so I need a bike that’s comfortable for a few hours in the saddle and an all weather all rounder as I don’t have enough space for n + 1 bikes.
That’s why I’d like to get the Kinesis right or chop it in for something that fits the bill better.