I recently built a Soma Smoothie (56cm) and chose the frame size based on closest approximation of my current Jamis Aurora (55cm) that fits great. See the table below for how they differ:
Immediately, I felt way too stretched out. I swapped the Nitto Noodle bars I was using with a Specialized Short reach bars and also reduced the stem from 100mm to 90mm and flipped it up +7 degrees. It was a huge improvement (my elbows were now bent instead of being in the superman pose) but I still have sore shoulders after just a brief 30 minute commute. The pain is cumulative and after 24 hours of no riding, I still feel tense in my neck and shoulders.
A few additional factors: the Specialized Short reach bars max out at 40mm - I was previously riding 42. Does narrower bars cause hunching of the shoulders? Also, I'm coming from using very much Mary Poppins set up with Albatross bars on my Aurora. Reckon I'm just not used to the posture of drop bars?
In any case, I'm thinking of getting a 17 degree stem and go down to 80mm. Or, should I fess up and think about getting a smaller frame? I'm not a billionare, so that is bumming me out. See below for a couple of pics of me on the bike (which, to me, don't look at that odd!) I'm hoping some of you can see something that I don't or can gauge whether my situation is hopeless.
