So I'm experiencing hip discomfort when riding my road bike in the drops. is this normal? I don't spend enough time in the drops when trying to push myself. just wanted to know if it was related to bike fit.

Thread moved from General Cycling to Fitting Your Bike.

I understand. About 15 years ago I started suffering severe low back pain after riding in the drops. Those drops were so inviting I just could not help getting down into them even though I knew I would suffer the next day. Eventually I just went to Bull Horn bars. And then again a few years latter had to raise my stem as well. And Rats... Now days my bikes with stem shifters are preferred. Its pitiful.

We do what we have to do, to ride...

Depends on if you have your bar height correct for the position you want to be in. Or whether or not you are new to cycling and just need to gain some fitness Or you have bars that give more drop from the hoods than you need. Which is common with old style drop bar made before and even soon after the advent of STI's.

There could be all sorts of reasons. One solution might be the answer, but we'd have to know your unique circumstances to even get in the ballpark.

You bend more at the hips and lower back to get into the drops, so of course it is fit related.

The real question is whether your current fit is ill positioned for saddle height, saddle setback, bar reach or bar drop. If you general fit could be improved, this may get fixed along with it.


Feel free to post a pic of you on the bike in profile.

Tight hip flexors, arthritis, poor fit, weak glutes, weak hamstrings, sacro-iliac joint instability, weak abs ... I know the possible reasons from dealing with my own lower back pain. All I can do is make a guess about your hip pain - and a bad guess could be worsen your pain. My reco is to get a 'script for PT and find someone with a good reputation for back and hip rehab. Or experiment with adjustments to your bike and your routines for lower back and hip muscles.
If you search facebook on hip pain, you'll see all sorts of ads on hip exercises. I hate social media that feeds ads via algorithms, but FB has this one good use.

My advice would be to absolutely not give up on being more comfortable in the drops until you've at least explored fit based solutions fairly comprehensively.

I've been cycling seriously for about five years now and I feel that I only really got my fit dialed in this spring. And one of the benefits of getting my fit dialed in has been that I am vastly more comfortable in the drops than I used to be.

In the past, the drops were a crampy, unnatural feeling position that I only got into when I was desperate for aerodynamic gain (descending, headwind, pulling, etc). I doubt that I spent even 5% of my rides in the drops. Now, I spend upwards of 30% of my time in the drops and, in some respects, prefer my drops position over my hoods position . In addition to a modest aerodynamic benefit, the drops position now affords me better glute recruitment and less weight on my hands (related I'm sure).

Granted, with long arms and a saddle to bar drop of only 1", none of my positions is particularly aggressive. Aerodynamics and power generation are priorities for me but only to the extent that those things don't significantly compromise comfort and back / joint health.

I my case, my major fit issues were a saddle height that was way too high and bike frames with too much reach. Based on my proportions and the usual sizing charts and algorithms, I was riding bikes with effective top tubes in the 58 cm -60 cm range. I now feel that I'm at my best with a 56 cm top tube and could probably be perfectly happy on a 54 cm.

So, yes, please do consider exploring fit as a solution. For me, when I got my fit sorted, it was like the clouds parted and the angels sang (and not just for the drop position improvement). With regard to the drops position specifically, it was analogous to having one's first orgasm. Wow, so THAT'S what all of the fuss is about!

One caveat that I'll add is that, with my new setup, I do feel my hip flexors a lot more when not riding. My impression currently is that this is a function of the more closed hip angle that my new position creates and that, to an extent, this is just a compromise that one has to make in order to ride in a moderately aggressive position when one does not have the flexibility to ride with a very open knee / hip angle. I am very inflexible. Who knows though, maybe even this could be fixed with 125 mm cranks or something.

I still have not had a professional bike fit and I am in no hurry to get one as I'm feeling pretty great on my bike these days and feel that I've watched and read pretty much everything available on the topic. That said, if I could travel back in time five years and convince 2020 Harold to get a professional bike fit, I absolutely would. A bike fit where I'm at is probably a $450 CAD affair and that may well have spared me a repetitive strain injury, lots of discomfort, and gobs of wasted power had I sought bike fit help at the outset of my cycling journey.

And don't forget saddles. The perfect touring saddle for riding on the bars or on the hoods may not be so perfect for a racier position.

A wild guess as yo hip pain is poor fit, likely is saddle position/height. But again as others have mentioned without seeing, any suggested adjustments could increase pain.
as for lower back pain, one likely causes (assuming no injuries—recent or even years ago) is weak core. Again assuming injury free, consider core strengthening exercises. You might add some upper body strengthening as well. Neither of these areas are really addressed in cycling.
Hip pain may indicate an underlying issue that mat need to be medically evaluated.

You don't say anything about your riding experience. Conditioning to the cycling position is everything. Don't change the bike to fit you, change you to fit the bike. That said, one assumes that your general fit including saddle height is correct. If not, I have a you-fit routine here: Bike Forums - View Single Post - How can I fitting my bike

A very big thing for bike comfort is flexibility. I stretch every morning after I get dressed.

There's also this discussion: Riding Position Discovery - Bike Forums