I ride XC on a 26" Redline Monocog. after a long ride, my shoulders and neck are sore, presumably from reaching too far for my bars. i have heard it said that your handlebar should obstruct viewing your axle from a normal riding position, but after carefully setting my saddle position, this is my view looking down:


I can clearly see my axle behind my handlebar, by quite a bit. should that rule apply to my riding style? would changing my setup to a traditional proper fit help alleviate my shoulder ache? I have a 100mm stem and 27" riser bars now, and I suspect that a much shorter stem or some bars with a lot of backsweep would benefit me. I don't have a budget to try a dozen different kinds of handlebars and stem, so where should I start?

Does it hurt?

Yes

Change it


I ride like my road bike, seat equal to handlebar height. Seat long enough for legs, stretched over naturally for back.