Shearwater Missile
Veteran
Firstly I will start saying that I had been riding quite happily with 100mm stems on both of my bikes until about a year ago. I started to get a lot of lower back problems which may not have been due to cycling I hasten to add. It just seemed to get worse after each ride and then the ache would subside until the next ride or perhaps after bending gardening. I decided to measure my height wondering if I had altered due to age (59 at the time) I had ! measuring 5`8. I`d always been 5`9 or so I thought. Anyway I decided to buy a new stem, 90mm. Low and behold the bike felt better and the lower back pain seemed to be addressed. I bought another 90mm stem for the other bike. All seemed well from last April.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago when suddenly I started getting neck and shoulder pain after about 15 miles and on both bikes. When I was on the bike if I moved my hands forward on the hoods the neck and shoulder pain eased. I tried the same thing holding the sink in the bathroom and moving my body into a similar position as to that on the bike (don`t laugh). The neck and shoulder pain was induced. So, I have now gone back to the 100mm stem and guess what ? Harmony has been restored. The 90mm may have been good at the time in as far as the back was concerned but felt too cramped for the neck. The moral of the tale is 1, Don`t disgard anything that you may want to use again later and 2, The body and a bike are not a permanent fixture. Hope this may be of use to others.
Fast forward to about two weeks ago when suddenly I started getting neck and shoulder pain after about 15 miles and on both bikes. When I was on the bike if I moved my hands forward on the hoods the neck and shoulder pain eased. I tried the same thing holding the sink in the bathroom and moving my body into a similar position as to that on the bike (don`t laugh). The neck and shoulder pain was induced. So, I have now gone back to the 100mm stem and guess what ? Harmony has been restored. The 90mm may have been good at the time in as far as the back was concerned but felt too cramped for the neck. The moral of the tale is 1, Don`t disgard anything that you may want to use again later and 2, The body and a bike are not a permanent fixture. Hope this may be of use to others.