KonaRider125

Here is the deal, I have been cycling a year and a half, one year of which has been on my Nashbar Carbon road bike. When I first got the road bike I put a Ritchey 30 degree stem on it, which put the handlebars even in height with the saddle. Had no comfort issues on the bike, but the handling and aerodynamics are obviously poorly effected not to mention it looks dorky.

I recently put the stock stem back on, puts me in a normal road bike position, I've researched fit and I am spot on from the photos and videos I've looked at. The handling of the bike is much better, however I start experiencing neck pain and soreness about one hour into my rides. My question is does your neck get used to being in a "aerodynamic position"? Should I keep riding and hope for the best or put my 30 degree stem back on?


Thanks

Campag4life

Some here will tell you the neck will acclimate but I would say in general not. The hope for you and all of is...neck pain is the no. 1 issue with riding a road bike...a head weighs the same as a bowling ball and holding up against gravity when bent over unless genetically blessed with uber strong neck and trap muscles induces neck pain in many including me.

You have already experienced why your neck doesn't hurt. Geometry and fit. If your bike won't handle or perform correctly with a riser stem and you need to get your handlebar level with your saddle, then purchase an endurance geometry bike that is designed to meet this end.

Other thing to work on is...posture on the bike is big...google it. You need to rotate your pelvis to take pressure off the neck...the back and neck are a chain and pelvis position affects neck comfort.

Core strengthening. For me, its swimming. I generally ride and swim everyday...what I do. Swimming creates upper body strength...through shoulders and traps which helps support the neck.

Do not repetitively hurt your neck with too aggressive position as it will take a long time to reverse. Put the riser stem back on. You are not a TdF rider. Most can't ride this aggressively including me and I have been working on my position for decades. Btw, pro riders also suffer with neck pain...including top 5 riders at times. Difference is...your life doesn't depend on tenths of a second. Ride the fit that doesn't hurt or you are defeating the whole purpose of riding...for fitness and fun. If you are 85 years old, this may mean a hybrid if you don't have the strength to hold your head up against gravity when bent over.

Good luck.

KonaRider125

Campag4life, thank you very much for the advise.

I am a relatively fit and flexible 28 year old M, with no neck or back pain issues previously.

Your advice about getting a endurance geometry bike is likely what I need to do, but I would still like to hear what others have to say.

San Pedro

Have you tried reversing the stem your using now to reduce the drop a little? Are you tensing your shoulders and arms while riding? Flipping my stem and relaxing my arms really help to relieve the neck problems I had when I first got my bike, as well as posture like mentioned above.

Tiglath

All my bikes have angled-up stems to raise the bar. I don't race but I go for long, intense rides three or more hours long usually, and find riding in the typically low racing position an unnecessary discomfort. If you don't race it makes no difference to catch a bit more wind, and it pays off in comfort.

As to the bike looking dorky, well... I don't ride to please others, I ride to have fun and for my benefit primarily, it's your choice, but I don't put a lot of weight on what other people think of my bike's looks.

Handling requires a small adjustment, that's all. A good frame will not lose its good handling nature because you raise the bar a little. I've ridden my bikes with a normal stem and with 30 and 40 degree stems and for non-racing use the change is completely manageable and any degradation in handling negligible.

When I had neck issues my orthopedist recommended that I exercise my neck by SLOWLY: (1) turning the head to one side then the other, (2) bending the head forward/backward and sides, and (3) do calisthenics pressing the head against the hand that stops it from moving forward backward and sideways, about ten reps each, for a few days. It really helped me.

Willbird

For me two things have helped. Focusing on relaxing upper body. And lower tire pressure, I am running 700x25 right now and worked my way down to a little over 90 psi front and rear. That is with a 178-180 lb rider. Voilates the advice of most tire pressure calculator but I have quite a few miles in with zero issues, I do not run into potholes and stuff like that though. Once I finish wearing out the 700x25 on rear I have 700x28s to rotate in, will run the 700x25 up front til it is used up :-). The lower tire pressure is easier on the whole body really. Bibs and saddle can come into it too IMHO....your whole body needs to feel it's best IMHO or you will adopt an un natural posture on the bike due to discomfort somewhere else.

tangerineowl

It could be that the switch to the normal stem has increased your reach a bit also.
Which may be adding to the neck discomfort.

I'd have a play around with an online stem calculator; comparing the stack and reach differences between when the 30degree stem was on, to your setup at the moment.
You could then figure out some positions inbetween, and work your way slowly into a new position by purchasing a multi-stem like the Specialized CLP.

Maybe you'd also consider a cheap handlebar with a shorter reach, to experiment with at the same time.

Now that you are seeking to go lower, think about dropping your head/looking up and forward with your eyes.

RR3

Don't overlook handlebar shape and width.

My neckpain pretty much went away when I changed from 44cm width bars to 40cm.

A 28 year old should not have neck pain from a 1 hour ride.

Bah Humbug

Are you rolling your eyes upward when you look forward? Or are you trying to keep your head vertical to see?

Wheever

The neck pain will get better as your body and muscles adapt. When I started riding last year, the neck aching started after mile 1, and got worse from there. It got better as time progressed, and now the ache doesn't start until mile 25 or so, and it's just a matter of sitting up every so often and doing neck rolls to keep it under control. Totally dealable. Note, that I'm 54. You're 28 and should adapt even more quickly. Just keep riding!

ColaJacket

While this may be true. I'd suggest that the OP try go get a stem that is somewhere between the 30 and the original stem. Don't go too far at one time. After he gets used to the intermediate stem, and it isn't causing any discomfort, then go back to the original stem.

GH

jimincalif

+1

I started having neck pain a month ago right at the end of a century ride, next couple of rides I started having pain around 30 miles and at 50 I could hardly hold my head up. Last week I started doing these exercises, plus reverse shrugs and raising my arms til elbows are at shoulder height and pressing them backwards holding for 5 seconds. This weekend I rode 16, 54 and 42 miles respectively with no major pain. I'm pretty pleased to see such immediate results and will keep doing them.

Hypno Toad

I'm 46 years old and ride 5,000 miles a year. I started having bad neck pain this year after a gravel century ride. With another gravel century coming up in a month, I need to focus on recovering from this pain. I found the stretches below helped A LOT. It took about a week of doing these stretches daily to really notice the difference. Additionally, it's been posted above, core strength, like planking (my go-to).

Source - Exercises to Treat Shoulder and Neck Pain From Cycling | ACTIVE

KonaRider125

Your absolutely right, I don't race and ride for fun/fitness so putting myself in a less comfortable position is dumb. I put the 30 degree stem back on my bike, and I'll keep riding it until I save up some money for a nice endurance geometry road bike.

KonaRider125

Thanks I'll give this a try.

Tiglath

Actually I thought likewise, but after riding aggressive road geometries I did not like anything else. I miss the responsiveness. By raising the bar you pretty much keep all racing characteristics but give the body a position to endure longer rides; within the rides though you have both options, roll easy on the tops or crouch and sprint, pretty much the best of both worlds.

rekon

Stretching regularly helped my neck pain tremendously. Also, as @Campag4life mentioned, core strengthening is important.

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, exercise is good. Also having good position or posture on the bike is very important:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...discovery.html

Gyrine

Treating pain is not preventing it. Tolerizing yourself, as in "gettting used to it" seems nonsensical and possibly dangerous. Many academic studies have looked at stretching asking if it prevents sports injury and the answer is it does not; although it generally helps with recovery. The real answer is correct riding posture with a compatible bike setup: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...discovery.html

CliffordK

Many "classic" bikes were configured with the bars and seat about the same height.

This winter I put a little more aggressive stance on my Litespeed.... after about 30 years of riding with the bars level to the seat.

WHEW.... it took a while to get used to. Primarily the back, I think. But, I broke it in with 2 century rides and over 600 miles in the first 3 weeks I was riding it.

Eventually I got used to it, more or less. Although I still ride the old ride a bit.

jimincalif

Thanks CFB and Gyrine for the link to the riding position thread. I tried it out this morning. I think it will help - requires some practice to change my bike posture and I can feel I need to work on core strength as well. May also have to tweak my saddle angle. But I could feel the difference when I changed my back angle.