Originally Posted by
Phil_gretz
So, one doctor's "might be", and that's it? Why not address this concern sepatarely through diagnosis and treatment to eliminate it from the equation? Might just be a misalignment, or a knotted muscle or something about how you sleep, or simple weakness...not a permaent or chronic thing. Why not knock out?
Good luck.
I did some things to address this. I've switched jobs so my commute is shorter (20-30 minutes vs 1 hour). Got a new mattress and pillow that better supports my neck. Got some lumbar support for the office chair to help me sit up straight. I try to take breaks every hour and walk around the parking lot and up the stairs. So far, my neck and shoulder issues haven't been an issue unless I ride my Madone, which sucks. I can ride the Trek FX the whole week and not have neck/shoulder pain.
Look into a CX or a gravel bike. My CX came with 32mm knobbies, great for trails and everything not so smooth. For my smooth road exercise I swap them with 25 mm smoothies.
Originally Posted by
Craptacular8
I'd probably just go for a test ride on each of your choices to see which one feels the best. the Domane is an endurance geometry drop bar, so should be pretty comfortable on the hoods, and feel similar in position to the flatbars you've mentioned, though probably still a little more forward leaning. In the disc version, it will accommodate up to a 32 width tire, which should help in comfort as well. That said, if you were thinking drop bar, and looking for comfort, the gravel/adventure genre of road bikes tends to get you very nearly the same position as the flatbars, and take a little wider tire as well. In Trek, this would be the crossrip series.
I looked into the Diverge and CrossRip and they are interesting bikes. I did not get to test ride them last time I was at the bike store because I was out of time after doing 3 test rides. I will say that my position on the Domane, is the most amount of lean I want when riding a road bike. I might try a test ride on those two bikes the next time I'm at my LBS.
Originally Posted by
1989Pre
You may not have to buy a new bike. While riding with wider tires/lower pressure might help, it seems to me that the problem might not be the bike, itself, but the level of tension in your shoulder/neck area and body in-general. Make sure you have some nice, foam tape on your bars, use gel gloves and get a sports (or deep tissue) massage. One massage a month for a few months might get your body and bike working together.
I think that you needing to be constantly vigilant for motor traffic (and maybe other factors) may be causing some excess tension in your neck and shoulders.
You bring up a very interesting point. When riding on MUPS, where I can actually go faster without worrying about traffic, I actually don't recall dealing with neck/shoulder pain afterwards. Sure I would get sore muscles, but that's about it. I think riding at night, being already tired from work, colder temps and having to keep a constant lookout for traffic does increase tension on my neck and shoulders. Unfortunately, with a busy work schedule, a 5 month old demanding baby, the only time I can consistently ride my bikes is at night.
After riding the Trek FX for a few weeks, I've found that it is more important to be comfortable than aero on my short fitness rides. If I'm not comfortable, then I don't feel like riding and that's a losing situation for me. At this point, I just want to ride my Madone. People have suggested to find what I like and go with it. Well, on my Madone, I really like the lightweight frame, the smooth shifting Ultegra drivetrain and the way it handles speed and corners. I also really like the upright position on the Trek FX as it makes night riding easier and comfortable. So I've decided to pursue a flat bar conversion. I've made some measurements and I found that the saddle to handlebar distance on the Trek FX, is identical to the saddle to drop bar "tops" distance on my Madone when using the stock 90mm stem. Based on that info and some research I've done, I think a flat bar conversion will work out and will be a lot cheaper than getting a new bike. If it doesn't work out, then I'll save some money and get a different bike later on. I appreciate all the feedback and suggestions from everyone.