Do you cycle for transportation or leisure? If so, you'd probably be the most comfortable with a fairly upright position. Yeah, it's a little slower...but better to enjoy the trip!

Yet the heavy sport emphasis in the North American cycling market means too many folks end up on bikes that are too aggressively forward-leaning for their casual intent.

If your bike is the right size yet you never feel quite at ease on it, then this may be part of the problem.

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🚲 PRIORITY BICYCLES (belt-drive bikes with hub gears): https://twowheelsbetter.net/go/priority
🚲 BROMPTON (reigning champ of folding bikes): https://twowheelsbetter.net/go/brompton
✅ BROOKS B67 (favorite saddle for upright riding): https://amzn.to/44JFQ2A
✅ BROOKS B17 (favorite saddle for hybrid & touring posture): https://amzn.to/3DE2nSc

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There are several ways to get more comfortable. Most of them focus on hand position, since placing your hands high/low, forward/backward, or rotated in/out has a huge effect on how you sit.

The easiest way to start is by adjusting stem height. Sometimes just raising your hands an inch takes your posture from a little uncomfortable to just right.

If your stem can't move quite far enough, then it's straightforward and not too expensive to buy a different stem. This can give a couple inches' additional change in reach and/or height.

There are also two cases where it's worth considering new handlebars.

- The first is to let your hands rotate to a more natural angle, almost like they're dangling by your side. Look for "swept-back" handlebars.
- The second is to get a even larger change in reach or height. Some swept-back bars also shorten the reach a great deal, but not all.

If you're riding drop bars, like on a road/touring/cyclocross bike, then you already have plenty of hand positions available. It's possible to convert drop bars to upright, if that's more comfortable for you, but such a dramatic posture change make the bike handles differently (since it moves your center of mass so much).

Once you find a bar/stem set-up that creates comfortable riding posture, then it's time to tweak your saddle. Tilting it a few degree may suffice, but if you're drastically more upright than before, then it's probably best to buy a wider saddle that will support your new position more comfortably.

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0:00 Intro
0:42 Forward-Leaning Riding Posture
1:46 Upright Riding Posture
2:26 Preventing Posture Problems
3:02 Hand Position Is Everything
3:43 Stem Adjustment
4:40 Stem Replacement
5:12 Handlebar Replacement
6:46 Drop-to-Upright Conversion
7:49 Saddle Changes
8:54 Recap

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LINKS

Handlebar selection: https://twowheelsbetter.net/swept-dro...
Saddle comfort: https://twowheelsbetter.net/bike-seat...