need to change bike

Question
Hi Carl: I am a recreational biker, age 72. I generally ride on quiet streets and boardwalk on a nearby beach. About 10 miles every other day. I currently ride a Nishiki hybrid and I find the seat very uncomfortable even with a gel covering. I have problems mounting and dismounting due to a hip replacement, although I am otherwise very fit. I'm considering a ladies' bike to eliminate the horizontal bar and would like a seat made mostly for comfort. Can you recommend a suitable replacement bike for me. I do need gears because of the wind off the ocean. I do not understand the listed bike sizes; i.e. 21', 24' etc. I am 6 feet tall and weigh 200 lbs. which, I suppose, determines the bike size. I have read there is now a "comfort bike" category, which is new to me. Would that be the way to go, or if not, what is.
Appreciate any help you can offer.

Answer
Dave,
The Nishiki is a good bike and is popular in Japan. The original Hybrid was a road bike that had flat bars put on to go with wider tires to allow better riding on gravel roads. The Comfort bike is a tag put on retro style bikes like we rode as kids; the paper boy bike. A comfort bike rides a little more head up and up right than a hybrid, is not as suitable for a crouched riding position and is intended to allow both feet to be flat on the ground while still in the seat. A hybrid can be ridden pretty fast on pavement, a comfort not so fast.
I have been thinking about a step through (or drop frame) myself. The biggest problem with them is many manufacturers still refer to them as ladies bikes and only make them in smaller frame sizes. A bicycle frame is listed in the vertical inches from the crank housing to the top of the seat tube and in adult sizes run from 15 to 24? At 6??I ride a 21? You would be ok with 19 to 20? 18 綌 in some bikes. Your Nishiki is probably a 19? In S, M. L, you ride a large. Please don抰 feel that you can get a smaller one and just get a really long seat post. I don抰 know if you have seen one of these folding bikes with the 16?wheels and a tall seat post. They are hard to ride and take excellent balance to control. There are not many large step throughs?and you will need a bicycle store to find one. The Trek 7300WSD goes up to 18 綌.  WSD is Womens?Specific Design but in the larger size should have enough reach between the seat post and bars for a man. Another excellent one is the Gary Fisher Tiburon which runs from 17 ?to 20?and is NOT build to the shorter reach of women. A friend has one of these. He is diabetic and has poor circulation but is comfortable on it. These are hybrids. They have 21 or 24 speed derailleur, shock absorber forks, and no rear shocks. Schwinn doesn抰 make one in that size. Raleigh makes a beautiful 19?step through comfort bike called the Gruv2. It is a very comfortable ride, sitting at a stop light, you are in the seat with both feet flat on the ground but can still get full leg extension pedaling. Jamis makes a good one called Earth Cruiser but it only comes with three speeds. A comfort bike has solid forks, the fat tires giving plenty of cushion and 3 to 21 gears. The MSRP on all of these run from $339 to $479.
Get rid of the gel cover and buy a woman抯 seat! I have a Serfa  women抯 on my mountain bike. Riding in a road position one is tucked over and sitting on your pelvis bone, your sit bones may not even be in contact and the seat works fine. A mans seat is narrow and makes us sit on our pelvis bone even while upright. The wider woman抯 seat is designed to contact the sit bones rather than the pelvis bone and the shorter nose makes it slightly easier to slide in and out of the seat. Also, you may want to try a suspension seat post. I have one on my road bike and could care less if the roadies think it strange.
Keep riding! It is impact that tears up our knees and hips and even slow walking does that.