stem length/fit question

Just looking for a quick 'rule' on stem length and handlebar position-

Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.

This is a new-to-me bike that I set up in the last couple of months
and have had out for longer periods than before in the last couple of
weeks. Unfortunately the road bike that I know fits fine is being
painted so I can't do a quick comparison.

I know, lots of factors here, but if you had to guess... Thanks.

Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.

Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the
saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the
symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so
you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes
stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).

But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody
actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 06:10:00 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:

Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.

Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the
saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the
symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so
you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes
stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).


I will look at this some more, but feel pretty certain that I haven't
got it leaning forward. Then again... longer rides will bring out
minor misalignments, I guess.

But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody
actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


By the way, what would your shop charge for a fitting?

Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:39:46 -0800,
,
Dan Daniel wrote:

I know, lots of factors here, but if you had to guess... Thanks.

I'd guess your elbows are locked.
--
zk

Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.

Could be lots of things, but the first item I'd look at is actually the
saddle. If it's tilted down at the nose, it will cause precisely the
symptoms you're describing, because it's shoving you towards the bars, so
you're spending the entire ride pushing back from the bars (which causes
stress in the shoulders, arms & neck).


I will look at this some more, but feel pretty certain that I haven't
got it leaning forward. Then again... longer rides will bring out
minor misalignments, I guess.

But really, a whole lot of variables involved. You need to have somebody
actually look at you while you're riding and see what's going on.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com


By the way, what would your shop charge for a fitting?

Presently the nice weather we've been having has precluded us from taking on
any more fittings (we're very busy trying to keep up with things), but when
we do open up the floodgates again, it starts at $50. That's basically a
subset of what we do with new bike sales, the primary difference being that
fit is often dynamic (something that you have to observe the effects of over
time and make alterations down the road), not static. When we sell someone
a bike, we'll continue to check positioning for years down the road.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
http://www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

In article ,
says...
Just looking for a quick 'rule' on stem length and handlebar position-

Road bike. After an hour or more of riding, primarily on the hoods, I
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in
my neck, but this new aching is lower and broader.

This is a new-to-me bike that I set up in the last couple of months
and have had out for longer periods than before in the last couple of
weeks. Unfortunately the road bike that I know fits fine is being
painted so I can't do a quick comparison.

I know, lots of factors here, but if you had to guess... Thanks.

Ok, here's one guess: too long a stem and/or too low a bar setting.


--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:39:46 -0800, Dan Daniel
wrote:
get tension and aches in my upper back and shoulders. Does this
indicate too short of a stem? Too long?

Bars too low? When I have had a setup with low bars I have had pain in

Could be any of the above. Too long or too low stem requires you to
support too much of your weight with your arms/shoulders. Too short
stem results in you fighting the short space between the saddle and
the handlebar, similar to what you'd do with a saddle pointed down.
--
Rick Onanian