Just looking for a quick 'rule' on stem length and handlebar position-
Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.
This is a new-to-me bike that I set up in the last couple of months and have had out for longer periods than before in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately the road bike that I know fits fine is being painted so I can't do a quick comparison.
I know, lots of factors here, but if you had to guess... Thanks.
Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.
Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).
But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.
Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.
Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).
I will look at this some more, but feel pretty certain that I haven't got it leaning forward. Then again... longer rides will bring out minor misalignments, I guess.
Quoted message said:
But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.
Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.
Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).
I will look at this some more, but feel pretty certain that I haven't got it leaning forward. Then again... longer rides will bring out minor misalignments, I guess.
Quoted message said:
But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.
By the way, what would your shop charge for a fitting?
Presently the nice weather we've been having has precluded us from taking on any more fittings (we're very busy trying to keep up with things), but when we do open up the floodgates again, it starts at $50. That's basically a subset of what we do with new bike sales, the primary difference being that fit is often dynamic (something that you have to observe the effects of over time and make alterations down the road), not static. When we sell someone a bike, we'll continue to check positioning for years down the road.
In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
Just looking for a quick 'rule' on stem length and handlebar position-
Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.
This is a new-to-me bike that I set up in the last couple of months and have had out for longer periods than before in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately the road bike that I know fits fine is being painted so I can't do a quick comparison.
I know, lots of factors here, but if you had to guess... Thanks.
Ok, here's one guess: too long a stem and/or too low a bar setting.
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get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this indicate too short of a stem? Too long?
Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
Could be any of the above. Too long or too low stem requires you to support too much of your weight with your arms/shoulders. Too short stem results in you fighting the short space between the saddle and the handlebar, similar to what you'd do with a saddle pointed down. -- Rick Onanian
