Road Cycling - Newbie with neck problems.

This was my intorduction post. It was suggested that I repost it here.

About ten years ago I use to ride a Walmart special on a ten mile route five or six times a week. On weekends I could do thirty miles or so at a time. The bike was a 47 pound sort of Mountain bike with only ten speeds that was so slow, children on tricycles use to pass me. The last time I rode it was before the young ones took over.

I am a bit older now and planning on getting back into the fray. I originally wanted a road bike. But, I have a pinched nerve in my neck and though it does not hurt at the moment I am sort of afraid of aggravating it with the hunched over position of a road bike. Is there is a Road bike that have a front stem that adjust high enough to not be hunched over so much?

So I am also looking at Hybrids. My only problem with a Hybrid is whether it is enough to satisfy my ‘Inner Roadie” desires.

Price is not that important. I have been around bikes enough to know that anything less then $500 or so is more for a casual rider. But I am not going to convince the better half to go with anything much beyond $1000. $500 to about $800 would be ideal. I plan on religiously riding three or more times a week on a loop of roads around my house of at least ten miles. (This will be after a training period of course because it has been a few years.). My goal is to someday do a century and I want a bike that is up to that kind of riding.


I live in Marietta, Georgia.

Any advice for a new guy would be appreciated?
Thanks for listening.

Raise the handlebars with a longer stem.You also might want to check out recumbents they are said to be quite comfortable.Check out rivendell bicycles they are not cheap but they will custom make a bicycle for you. I think you will find their offerings quite interesting . Panasonic make custom bicycles also but you have to travel to Japan. ( Yes Virginia Panasonic make more than electronics)Apologies to miracle on 34th street.

First,you dont need to be in the drops alot and you can get different stems with different rise and they do have adjustable ones. Be carful which frame you pick as some are abit more relaxed then others. Test,test and get the right fit.

best advice I can give is to find a reputable shop and before you buy
get fitted.
Yes you can get bikes with a raised stem which will aleviate the neck
strain, and no it doesn't have to be a hybrid.
Talk to LBS, tell em what your situation is, I bet they
can help out.
You might want to look into quill stem which can be raised/lowered
much easier than threadless.

Marty

The critical dimension for bike fit is really the length of the top tube. Most modern bikes have plenty of standover clearance, so you chose a size to give the correct length. Different brands often make bikes of the same "size", but different length. Take a tape measure when checking out bikes.
Stems can usually be exchanged as part of the fitting process, at better bike shops. make sure you get a stem where the bars are front-loaded, this makes swapping stems a whole lot easier.
You can get road bikes with flat bars, like the Specialized Sirus.
Recumbent bikes are often recomended for people with neck problems. They are faster than standard design road bikes.

Have you considered flat bars? With the shifters/brakes closer than those on drop bars, you'll sit a bit more upright. Check out the Marin Highway One or REI's Novara Express. Should satisfy the roadie desires and sit up more... but if you do lean towards a hybrid... the K2 comfort bikes have quill stems and you'd sit as upright as you could ever want, but not a roadie-satisfying bike at 30-ish lbs.

-get a slightly larger bike than normal... for longer headtube
-1" threaded steerer allows you to use TALL nitto technomic stems

What about getting the right size instead of a larger bike?

A slightly larger bike will stretch you out more with a longer stem AND top tube, thus aggravating the problem further. In the olden days when road bikes all had the same length top tubes it could have worked but there is much more variance in the lengths between sizes these days.