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#11
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Base of neck pain
suzyj Wrote: Def wrote: Does this point to any obvious positioning problem? Yes, it does. There's a fundamental conflict between positioning for comfort and positioning for speed. Your neck and shoulder pain is due to riding for too long with your head tilted back, so you can see where you're going. This in turn is related to having the bars too low for comfort. That said though, I also have my bars set a lot lower than comfort would dictate, because I go faster with lower bars. Aside from raising your bars, there are two things you can do to reduce the pain. The first is to make it so you don't have to lift your head up as high to see. If you wear glasses, try contacts. If you have a peak on your helmet, remove it. The other one is stretching. Periodically on the ride, like every twenty or thirty minutes, sit up straight (no hands on bars), clasp your hands behind your back, and give your neck muscles a stretch. If you do it habitually, you'll keep your neck in good shape. I generally do this as I go over the tops of climbs. Cheers, Suzy many bike set ups (for fit ) establish your usual comfortable riding position with your hand resting on the bars, at this position you will be most comfortable, thus for long rides ( not short races or short interval training rides) if you spend most of your ride with your hands on the hoods or extended periods on the drops , your head will be lower and extra strain to lift your head to see forward then your neck will ache, and hands get numb and other things as well). If you saw Stuart O'Grady riding the Paris Roubaix this year you will note that for the most part he is riding with his hands on the bars, as relaxed as he can and for maximum shock absrobtion ( which isnt easy on a Cervélo, but that's another story)- and the bulk of the bike setups had the riders on longer wheelbases and more upright positions-(as per commentary). Stuart rarely had his hands on the hoods or the drops when he was out in front and needing to go quickly but relaxed. He wouldnt be able to do the whole ride on the hoods and drops and not have a neck ache, get tired and lose performance. It's most likely you either spend too much time too far forward or the bars need to come up . The amount of adjustment is dependant on your physiology, riding style and fitness/flexibility...not easy to resolve here. Likely you may need an adjustment to your set up which may need parts...(ouch I hear)...sometimes you can prepare for a long ride by reversing (flipping) your stem and lifting the bars before you head out. Swap them back when you get home for shorter rides. Try it out , flip the stem and see how it feels, may seem weird at first but on a long ride your neck will love you, I am sure. Make sure your cables are long enough and not strained by a more upright position. Some LBS's cut bcables too short and prevent "flipping", necessitating a visit to the shop and new parts bought (naughty eh!) One thing I found once was that my spectacle prescription placed the long focus object position in the wrong place for me and I was lifting my head a bit too much above a comfortable position set by my fit. So I had to factor that in and lift the bars, until I got new lenses with a wider field which enabled the long focus "spot" to be better placed on the lense. - no hassle after that! -- rooman |
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#12
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Base of neck pain
Parbs wrote:
Dave wrote: Could also be shifters. Could be. Finishing off a bike build yesterday it took me 6 goes to thread the right cables to the right derailleur. They were a pain in ^^^^^^^^^ the neck and I still can't get the front to shift. ^^^^^^^^ Parbs - who fixed his 1x1 this morning. Back on topic eh? :-) DeF -- e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au To reply, you'll have to remove your finger. |
#13
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Base of neck pain
DeF wrote:
I went for a long (for me) ride on ANZAC day - over 120km through the Perth hills. By the end, besides being a bit tired and having a little muscle soreness, the only persistent problem has been a bit of an ache/pain at the base of my neck. Not debilitating but annoying. One of the guys I rode with reckons he has this almost permanently. I've been getting this pain/discomfort on longer rides for as long as I can remember. Does this point to any obvious positioning problem? Otherwise, the ride felt great and the bike felt comfortable on climbs, flats and descents. I recently lowered the saddle by a few mm and that seems to have sorted some leg-ache I was getting. Any suggestions (especially ones that don't require new parts) most welcome. DeF Lots of good suggestions so ta. I'll try the options that don't require purchases - flipping the stem might be high on the list. Also, I wear sunglasses (Kuota) and notice that they perhaps sit a little low on my nose. I'll make 'em sit higher and see how I go. Cheers, DeF. -- e-mail: d.farrow@your finger.murdoch.edu.au To reply, you'll have to remove your finger. |
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