Most comfortable, upright seating road bike?

[Darren(North East]

Hi Guys

I'm looking to purchase my first road bike for general use e.g. weekend rides, occasional commuting. I've tried a few for size in my local store however everyone was too much of a stretch to the handlebars apart from a 52 (I'm 5,9) Kona Dew Drop which had the bars angled slightly back towards me. Having a look at other bikes online the Dawes Horizon looks much more comfortable however I would never utilise the racks etc so I was just wondering what you considered the best road bikes for comfort / upright seating position?

Thank you

Darren

 

[numbnuts]

I think your best bet is to try before you buy, Thorn bikes have short and long top tubes models, but they are not cheap now, I have the Club Tour large frame, but a short top tube as I have a damaged spine and didn’t want a low down riding position.
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk

 

[Darren(North East]

Thank you for the info on the Thorn's, they look good and I'm really impressed with the number of options e.g. 10 sizes on the Club Tour.

 

[gwhite]

I would steer clear of the Horizon as these tend to have a long top tube. Thorn would have something to fit as has been said, in that they offer various lengths of top tube with each frame size, but another option would be the Surly LHT which has a long head tube making it easier to have the bars up higher. It may be wise to consider Trekking (Butterfly) bars also as they do extend further back towards the saddle offering a more upright position.

 

[WolfsBane]

I hear the Trek Pilot road bike is pretty upright and comfortable.

 

[Beardie]

Just to complicate matters, why not try a Pedersen? The seat is basically a hammock and is supposed to be wonderfully comfortable.