Originally Posted by
Sojodave
I'm baffled, I have a 104 mile ride on Saturday and I'm not 100% confident in having my stem flipped up is the best strategy to solve my neck pain.
I've been on two rides with my stem flipped up and I've been more comfortable, but they were only 20 mile rides. Over 104 miles, I may regret having a more upright position with more saddle pain and I will fight the wind more. I know you shouldn't play around with your fit just before a long ride, but I've got a 140 mile ride on June 15th and I've got to get dialed in before that.
Any suggestions on stem flat or stem up? (Yes, I'm asking strangers on the internet...desperate man) I'm using a 130mm stem with a -6/+6 degree angle.
I've never really struggled with neck pain but in researching other areas have found numerous threads saying it's often caused by your head being too low, one of my regular cycling buddies was having bad neck pain and told him what I'd seen and he bought a riser stem and it cured him overnight.
I guess it depends what you think may give you the most discomfort but I wouldn't have thought it'd cause much saddle pain if you're used to riding long distances anyway, make sure you've got the right size hex keys with you for your stem an if you think it's causing a problem it's only really 5/10 mins to flip it back again (unless of course it's a race you may not want to) but don't leave it too late that you've gone beyond a point of no return.
Just my thoughts.