[OldAndInTheWay]

I have a Felt F5 that I dreamt about and bought after earning a work promotion a few years ago. I was mainly doing bike path rides with my husband in the country, and triathlons. A few years later, I unfortunately had a cervical fusion after a rear-end collision from a distracted teen driver. Like most, it didn't fully "fix" my neck, but it helped. My neurosurgeon didn't give me restrictions except things like roller coasters and such, but also didn't give me a lot of hope for improvement. It's been 5 years since my surgery with modest improvement. What I have is likely the best I'll get, while at the same time, I'm getting older and less flexible (age 52).

I have a 10% disability, permanent nerve damage, chronic migraines, and cervical neuropathy. Despite lots of different PT, my neck cannot remain in a flexed state for any extended period of time, and if I push it, triggers the migraines and neuropathy. I've tried to ride my bike (and my Trek hybrid) but it's just too painful unless I never look up - not a great option!

I've googled with little success but there must be a way I can modify my Felt (new raised handlebars? Lower seat?) so that I can sit upright. Or is there a decent upright bike (not recumbent) that is a sweet road bike and not a mommy bike? I really miss the speed, the smoothness, the experience of riding my Felt. Budget is unlimited because I really, really want to ride again. No worries about doing tri's again... I can't swim like that anymore, though I just started running a smidge again

 

[Coolhand]

For what its worth, an more upright eBike can give you a heads up position while being quite fast. I know several people that have Trek version and love it: E-Bike Overview | Trek Bikes

Honestly the F5 is a nice bike, but cannot be modified to be truly upright without making it much much worse, and probably a bit unsafe (e.g. steerer height, front handling ect). Maybe move it on to a new loving home.

 

[Lombard]

Hi @OldAndInTheWay , and welcome!

I too have neck issues. Not as serious as yours, but I have bulging C6 and C7 discs and cannot ride an aggressive race position.

I ride more relaxed "endurance" road frames, but in addition to that, I changed out stems to more upright 40° stems and tilt the road bars up slightly. That gets me an even saddle and handlebar hight. There are also "riser" road bars which can get you up even higher, but try the first two items here first as they are the least expensive. Avoid steerer extensions - especially if you have a carbon steerer, they aren't safe.

I have to disagree with @Coolhand about handling issues. Being more upright does not change your handling by much unless you are used to doing stupid stuff like 50 mph downhills, then it might.

Good luck!

 

[duriel]

If you have problems with a standard hybrid, it would be impossible to get a race bike to a more relaxed geometry than that. I would put an adj stem on the hybrid and see where your limit of range is that you can ride.
Then you will know what you need and can get an upgraded hybrid to ride, 'e' or not.

 

[Finx]

Lowering your seat with just bring other problems (knees?). You can put the maximum number of spacers as the fork steerer will allow and a max angle (18degree) stem, and see if that helps.

Otherwise, you are probably looking at finding a bike with a very high stack number. You can review frame geometry specs for most bikes online.

Stack and Reach are the two most important numbers. Try to find one that has a similar, or slightly lower Reach value, and a significantly higher stack. You'll be looking at 'Endurance' models. Trek is a good brand for this as they have very short top tubes compared to their stack height. Compare the numbers for a Domane to your Felt and see how they compare.

Ebikes are a blast. I have a Trek Domane HP9+ that i commute to/from work on. That or one of their SuperCommuter models might be worth looking in to. The problem with Ebikes is, I don't think they'll let you run Triathlons on them

 

[Lombard]

Ebikes are a blast. I have a Trek Domane HP9+ that i commute to/from work on. That or one of their SuperCommuter models might be worth looking in to. The problem with Ebikes is, I don't think they'll let you run Triathlons on them

The other problem with e-bikes is that they weigh a ton. By the time I'm too old to pedal on my own, I will be too old to lift an e-bike!

@OldAndInTheWay , not all hybrids are upright. Yes, they do have straight bars, but I've seen some hybrids that are pretty low in front. The Trek Domane is a good suggestion as it's one of the most upright endurance road bikes there is. As @Finx said, look online at bike dimensions and pay special attention to STACK and REACH. Longer stack and shorter reach is what you want. Some gravel bikes are also more upright. I belive the GT Grade is one of the most upright gravel bikes. And aa I mentioned before, stems come in different angles as high as 40 degrees which will get you up higher.[/QUOTE]