Hello everyone,

This is my first post in Bike Forums , it looks like a really nice place. I'm glad to be here I'll try to explain my difficulty but firstly i gotta tell you that i haven't been writing in english for really long time sorry for mistakes that i may do.

In September 2014 i did quite a research and bought a road bike according to competitive cyclist's fit calculator and wrenchscience.com's fit calculator results. Outcomes were nearly the same. You can see the results in the images below.



I tried to find the most suitable bicycle for me so appropriate frame will be the most important factor for choosing a bike for me. I went nearly all the local bicycle shops and bought KTM Strada 1000 bicycle. You can see the numbers of the frame geometry below.



After i bought this bicycle i rode it for 7 or 8 times and these rides were not more than 1 hours continously. After 30 minutes i started to feel neck pain. I thought my muscles are adjusting because i hadn't cycled for a very long time so i keep riding it but everytime i rode it, i felt neck and upperback pain during the ride and after. I haven't used a road bicycle and drop handlebars before. Holding the bars at the top were somewhat comfortable but when i hold them from under i feel really bad neck pain after a while.

Do you think i made a good choice about choosing this bike ? What do you think i can do about the pain ?

Cheers,

Baran

You might want to look at the "neck pain" portion of this page: How to deal with common cycling ailments - BikeRadar. There is a stretching/strengthening exercise for deep neck flexors recommended there that might help. You may want to see a physiotherapist or similar professional for some assessment and advice.

How large is the saddle to handlebar drop on your bike? If it puts you in a fairly aggressive race position with the handlebars fairly low, that could be an issue. You may want to think about having the stem flipped over so that the handlebars are a bit higher up. This might make using the tops even more comfortable and allow you to start using the drops. Once you get used to riding more you might be able to flip the stem again to lower the handlebars.

Thank you for your reply Igualmente. Handlebar to saddle drop on my bike is 4 cm( 1.57 inch). And stem is already flipped upwards. Before doing those exercises i want to be sure that my bike's dimensions are not the problem.

Have you look at competitive cyclist fitting recommendations charts and my bike's geometric values that i posted ? Do you think my bike fitting is not the isssue ? I guess it is hard to say just looking at those values but they say something too.


When you look at the french fit chart recommended top tube size is 56 and my top tube is 57 stem, recommended stem is 11.2 mine is 12.5. And according to my measurements i have a 73.5 cm reach length. Do you think that can cause the pain ? It is just 2-3 cm but...

Can too long a reach create problems? Sure. Do you feel really stretched out on the bike? Do you feel comfortable on the handlebar tops but have trouble reaching the hoods? When you are on the bike riding around and you put your hands on the brake hoods, is there any bend left in your arms, or are your elbows straight and your arms reaching?

Also, you may also want to notice whether your shoulders are creeping up towards your ears as your ride. You don't want to hunch up your shoulders.

One of the reasons I asked about the height of the handlebars is that you say you have more trouble in the drops than on the tops. Being in the drops may cause you to have to bend your neck back more. It could be the bending of the neck to look up, especially if you have weak deep neck flexors, that could cause your pain.

Also, if you wear glasses and have to lift your head even higher to see things through the glasses, that can be a problem.

Of course, there are also other things that can cause the problem. For example, your upper arms should make roughly a 90 degree angle to your torso, but this is hard to see without seeing you ride. One of your best bets would be to get some in-person assistance at a bike shop or from a bike fitter. They could give you a sense of whether your reach is too great.

A 59 cm bike is not typically too big for your 6'3" height. You may have to adjust the bike a bit, though. As far as reach, you could get a stem that is 110mm instead of 125mm, but someone knowledgeable who can see you on the bike would be better at deciding that.

Your 57cm ETT is about 12mm longer than the max. length French Fit, suggested by CC.

I'd say your frame is a cm or so too long, but you can work with that.

I would start with swapping the stem; perhaps look at starting with a 100mm stem.
You should be able to pickup a cheap one, to trial for a bit.

Seems to me, your pain is from reaching too far to the hoods.
Some may be coming from tilting your head up too much, when in the drops.

Note that drop bars come in different reach and drop measurements, also.

Yes, 2-3cm IMO makes a huge difference over the distance.

Lastly, from experience, going to a road bike position, your body needs time to adjust.
If you can afford it, I would definately pursue a good bike fit. Ask around in your area who people recommend.

Your fit is nothing unusual. Many people find that this advice:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...discovery.html
fixes their neck pain. Of course flexibility helps, so I recommend working on that too.

My first thought is that your neck is simply not used to holding your head stuck out horizontally , especially with 3/4 of pound of helmet strapped to it. Some simple exercises might work wonders. I don't have suggestions, but I'll guess a Google search will turn up something.

I have never gotten very far from riding my road bikes, but just being off them for a couple of months means that I will feel my neck after rides. I understand you have never ridden them. If my neck were in your shoes it would be telling me "what are you doing to me? I have to spend the next half hour holding this weight at arms length?" But with exercise, it will get used to the idea and by spring, you won't even think about it.

Ben

In my area of coastal New England we are able to ride all winter except when roads are covered with snow or ice. Consequently, winter mileage is much reduced compared to summer months. When I'm in good physical condition during the summer, I find I like the bars a bit lower than the saddle. When beginning riding during warmer months, my neck gets a bit sore so I raise the bars slightly. Surprisingly, just a cm or two up or down will make a difference to my neck. As mileage begins to ramp up for summer riding, I've found neck exercises are helpful. I suspect that as you develop your own riding and learn how your body responds, you will learn how to deal with the discomforts that can occur.

One piece of advice that is commonly given and which I've also found helpful is to learn to relax on the bike with minimal muscle tension in any part of the body except for those muscles necessary to pedal. For example, when the fit is correct, the cyclist will have some bend in the elbows with minimal effort exerted by the arms.

I guess i felt a little stretched out when reaching to handlebars. I felt more comfortable on handlebar tops , holding from hoods puts a little bit more strech and drops were killing me. When i'm on the bike holding from brake hoods if i am not leaning towards the handlebar my arms are straight but i don't usually lean on because that i am using glasses i need to look up higher and that puts more strain on my neck.

I had neck problems before this bike , i had a mtb but that was short for my height. Unfortunately i have the similar problem on this one too.

I guess getting a shorter stem and neck exercises may help. There is only 2 places that do bike fit in Turkey. I had a bike fit for my previous mtb bike it was a BG Fit that is specialized fitting method. But because my bike frame was really short for me that fit was not successful. I can't afford a bike fit right now.

If i had a roller i would post a video that can show you how my body positions on bike but i don't have one right now. Thank you for all your replies.

I had all sorts of back aches, knee aches and hand numbness on my bike that I thought was fit correctly. After fiddling with the seat height I gave up and went to my bike shop and had a bike fit done. They adjusted the saddle height higher and replaced the stem that's shorted and higher angle. Now my rides are pain free an comfortable. I still have to work on my core but other than that, I'm happy.

My Suggestion, go get a bike fit at your shop. It's worth the time and money.