I am 2 days shy of 5 months out from right shoulder, reverse replacement. Having been released from the surgeon's care and PT early this month, the shoulder has surpassed my goal of 80% recovery of motion, and It is still regaining strength, just slower. I have chronic neck issues, also.
I've been riding set ups with the handlebar/stem clamp area level, or a bit above, the nose of the saddle, matched with
swept back and rising handlebars.
Today, I was able to comfortably ride a bike with a handlebar
with less degree of sweep and shorter grjp area, along with a 15mm drop. For me, that meant going back to a Velo-Orange Porteur bar. The stem clamp still at saddle nose height. It felt good to be back to a more forward and aero position. My shoulder and neck did fine.
I tried a drop bar with short reach and shallow drop a couple of days ago, same bike and stem. Physically, I was not feeling all that comfortable, certainly not in the drops. It has me
convinced that they are out of my bicycle realm, permanently.
It has been a difficult and painful recovery, with a couple set
backs that had me wondering when and what level of use I
would return to. I can now state that my goal has been achieved, my shoulder continues to improve, and I am quite pleased with the results.