Getting rid of neck&shoulder pain without raising the bar? Would like to hear from tall riders.

[Deleted member 121159]

I am a fairly tall rider at 6'2 and ride a 59cm frame (stack: 597, reach: 403). Now I have chronic neck and shoulder pain even when I'm not cycling. Cycling for even for a few hours used to worsen it, so I lowered the saddle height and raised the handlebar using an adjustable stem. Before, the saddle-to-bar-drop was about 5-6cm, now it's about 1cm. I find that the position is much more comfortable and it really helps with the pain . The downside is that I am slower due to more drag and the bike feels somewhat less stable as the centre of gravity is higher. My priority is not being in pain, but this makes me wonder if there are other ways of reducing pain while compromising less on speed and stability. Would love to hear from fellow tall riders about how to deal with this problem. Cheers

 

[Hacienda71]

How long have you been riding for and how much do you ride?
I am 6'3 and ride in a fairly aggressive position. When I got back into cycling about 15 years ago I used to get shoulder and neck pain but I am now fairly pain free even on longer rides. I actually find being on the drops or low on the hoods to be quite relaxing. I suspect this is due to time in the saddle and maintaining a reasonably good core.

 

[curzons246]

I'm same height. My frames are 62 and 65cm. I too have my bars below my seat height and enjoy riding the drops. Sorry it's no help but that's comfy for me short and long rides.

 

[Sharky]

What you are doing is probably the right strategy. That is, making slight tweaks to your position to see if it makes it better or worse. Not sure if lowering the saddle is a good idea. If it was at the correct height before, lowering could agrivate other issues - thigh/knee pains. But minor tweaks should be fine.

You could experiment with a longer stem. If too short, you could be hunched up and this could put a strain on your arms etc.

Hope it gets better.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If your priority is comfort, then set up the bike for comfort and forget about any increase in aerodynamic drag. Deliberately running a bike with a sub-optimally low saddle is really not a good idea for reasons already mentioned. As well as possible knee pain, a low saddle results in less efficient pedalling and increased leg fatigue. When setting up the fit on a bike the saddle height should be the first thing done, then everything else set to work as well as possible with the correct height saddle.
Percieved instability on a bike probably has more to do with the rider's head being too far forward over the front wheel if the frame is a bit small than having the saddle high. I have high saddles due to having long legs and I don't feel unstable if i'm riding a large enough frame. It's trying to "stretch" a too-small bike to fit a too-large rider that feels dodgy.

 

[PpPete]

Somewhat counterintuitive, but try a set of clip-on aero bars? With weight supported on forearms instead of hands, it seems to put the shoulder joint in a different orientation. On longer rides, even with only a small saddle-to-bars drop, I do sometimes get some shoulder/neck discomfort, and having another position to drop into, even if only for a few minutes, seems to help.

 

[Punkawallah]

I’d look into why you have chronic neck & shoulder pain before you worry about fettling the bike.

While I would not disagree with anything suggested above, if you have the pain when -not- cycling, anything you do with the bike is only sticking a plaster on the problem.

Have a word with a good physio - worth every penny just to find out what the problem is :-)

 

[vickster]

This ^^

what are your neck and shoulders like when off the bike, when does the pain manifest? What do you do work wise? Do you sit at a desk all day? Spend your days looking down at screens? How flexible is your neck and shoulders? Stiffness?

Tall folk tend to have more issues with posture which affect neck/shoulders/back

 

[JtB]

I’d look into why you have chronic neck & shoulder pain before you worry about fettling the bike.

While I would not disagree with anything suggested above, if you have the pain when -not- cycling, anything you do with the bike is only sticking a plaster on the problem.

Have a word with a good physio - worth every penny just to find out what the problem is :-)

Cycling was just making my neck pain worse but there were other factors at play such as sitting at a computer screen throughout the working day. I saw a physiotherapist a while back and he gave me a number of neck exercises that I do regularly. Nothing will ever fully reverse the effects of ageing, but the regular exercises have improved my mobility and reduced very significantly the pain.

 

[Punkawallah]

Shoulders?

 

[Punkawallah]

Pain in the shoulders was mentioned - was this dealt with by the physio also, or new?

 

[Deleted member 121159]

So to clarify, cycling isn't really the cause of my pain here, it just makes it a bit worse sometimes. The bike fit I've got isn't anything extreme. Lowering the saddle wasn't really a problem as it was quite high anyway. I've seen an NHS physio a while back but I felt somewhat dismissed by him back then. Felt like his attitude was that there wasn't much he can do about it other than showing me some exercises I could do. But I think he's probably right, there's nothing much anyone could really do about it. I'm still in my 20s though, so I feel like it is something a little unusual. I don't have constant pain, it's more like constant tension and stiffness which become pain when I'm in an uncomfortable position for a while. I will continue experimenting with different positions. For now the adjustable stem is working magic on the pain but as said I do miss a more aerodynamic position.

 

[Punkawallah]

OK, thanks for that. Without wishing to sound as if I keep banging on about this, ask around and see if anyone can recommend a private physio. The local athletics club or football/rugby club might be a start. Your NHS physio gave you exercises, but apparently did not give a reason for the pain? And you are still experiencing problems doing cycling? If this is the case, I’d suggest that the exercises given are a ‘general’ remedy for the pain you described, rather than a ‘specific’ set for what ails you.

My experience of a private physio was different. Had a knee problem. Lots of questions on what I was doing and how I was doing it. Examination to check range of movement and points at which the pain kicked in. Took a while, but at the finish he gave the opinion thatthe way my foot sat on the pedal was causing stresses in various places, recommended a particular foot position on the pedal, and gave a set of exercises to help between then and a return visit. Problem solved.

 

[vickster]

So to clarify, cycling isn't really the cause of my pain here, it just makes it a bit worse sometimes. The bike fit I've got isn't anything extreme. Lowering the saddle wasn't really a problem as it was quite high anyway. I've seen an NHS physio a while back but I felt somewhat dismissed by him back then. Felt like his attitude was that there wasn't much he can do about it other than showing me some exercises I could do. But I think he's probably right, there's nothing much anyone could really do about it. I'm still in my 20s though, so I feel like it is something a little unusual. I don't have constant pain, it's more like constant tension and stiffness which become pain when I'm in an uncomfortable position for a while. I will continue experimenting with different positions. For now the adjustable stem is working magic on the pain but as said I do miss a more aerodynamic position.

Did you do the exercises regularly (ie daily) and for a sustained period (at least a month)? If not… you need to persevere. Get hold of a tennis or spiky massage ball and work out the knots (especially trapezius muscles) against a wall for a few minutes a day minimum…it will hurt!
A sports massage or acupuncture may help but you need to work regularly on the rehab yourself.

Oh and see a private physio, probably £50-60 a session.
Neck and shoulder issues are astonishingly common especially in people with desk jobs and who use hand held devices (especially if there’s stress or anxiety on top)!
Assuming you have a desk job, sort your set

 

[Deleted member 121159]

Thanks for the replies...I was busy and forgot to check this thread. I changed my bike in the meantime to Cube SL Road Race, a flat bar road/gravel bike. It's got a flat bar geometry rather than just a flat bar on a drop bar geometry. Surprisingly no discomfort after a 50 mile ride despite the saddle to bar drop being substantial. So it seems I was too stretched out on my drop bar bike. I'll still look into private physios, though.