Back pain, drop bar

[shrew]

good plan ) or the specialized secteur which has a slightly higher head angle for a more back friendly ride )

 

[DavieB]

Spent on lot of time on the bottom bars today managed 20 miles and was getting sore hands leaning on the sora set, so done a lot of swapping positions. Actually quite liked the bottom bars today.

On a negative side, I wear a baseball cap to catch the sweat before it gets to my face, when Im on the bottom bars I get poor vision because of it and put it on back to front Must look like a right tard.

 

[hotmetal]

Spent on lot of time on the bottom bars today managed 20 miles and was getting sore hands leaning on the sora set, so done a lot of swapping positions. Actually quite liked the bottom bars today.

The bunch I go riding with on a Saturday tend to ride up on the hoods most of the time. We usually do a 45-50 miler at an average of 19.5, so not hanging about. I agree with you that the hoods can be a bit sore on the hands, but personally (maybe cos I'm a relative noob) I find the bike a bit unstable when I'm down on the drops, and tend to only ride down there if we're on a steep (down) hill so I can grab maximum brakes. I also get a sore lower back from riding on the drops too long (2 hrs). Subtle adjustment of cleats and seats (and bar angle) can help a lot though, as I recently learnt from one of the 'old hands'. For info I'm anout 5'9" and ride a 54.

On a negative side, I wear a baseball cap to catch the sweat before it gets to my face, when Im on the bottom bars I get poor vision because of it and put it on back to front Must look like a right tard.

^

Don't want to start the whole helmet/no helmet thing, but I'd be scared riding in a baseball cap – on some of the hills we hit 40+. Mind you, my lycra isn't going to save the rest of me either I suppose, but I'd still want my bonce to work ok.

 

[MacB]

A variety of factors can be in play here but working out the correct setup should be a start, this site is good:-

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO&INTRO_LINK=NOREDIR

you'll need someone to help you with the measurements and you'll get a table of results, covering 3 riding postures. I tabulated mine to give me a range for each measurement and my final bike setup is a mixture of the Eddy and French fits. I start with the saddle position so, for me, I know that my saddle should be:-

68 - 84 mm - saddle nose to centre of bottom bracket measured vertically - I actually use 80mm on all my bikes

765 - 810mm - this is the range for centre of BB to top of saddle, bearing in mind that as you lift/lower the saddle this effects the first measurement

Once you have these two squared away, assuming the bike can accomodate what you need, then next is saddle nose to start of handlebars. I have a range of 539 to 570mm for this, to save buying loads of stems you can use this online tool to check what results different stems would give you:-

http://alex.phred.org/stemchart/Default.aspx

I'd be very surprised if a 58cm couldn't be made to fit you as long as you can get the saddle to BB relationship correct. After that it's just the bars and you can get some very short stems if need be. For the above measurement you're taking the distance from saddle nose to the nearside of the bars next to the stem. This will impact on handling but not enough to matter unless you're racing etc. Note that it doesn't mention height of handlebars, nothing to stop you having them really high/low. The norm would be to start with them higher and then lower them as you get fitter/stronger/more flexible. A lot of the modern race bikes are designed around a low bar position. One way of working around this is to buy a larger size bike.

I'd say that a lot of this is fluid as you ride more and get fitter but the saddle to BB relationship is pretty much set.

 

[potsy]

good plan ) or the specialized secteur which has a slightly higher head angle for a more back friendly ride )

Oi shrew stop encroaching on norms patch,he is the official Secteur 'pusher' in these parts

 

[hotmetal]

Oi shrew stop encroaching on norms patch,he is the official Secteur 'pusher' in these parts

Mind you he let me have a go on his and there's a lot to be said for the Secteur. Nice comfy bike with a reasonable turn of speed for the dough. While we were out we got some sarky comments from a copper with a speed gun. I'd be surprised if I made much more than 30 on the flat though.

 

[potsy]

Mind you he let me have a go on his and there's a lot to be said for the Secteur. Nice comfy bike with a reasonable turn of speed for the dough. While we were out we got some sarky comments from a copper with a speed gun. I'd be surprised if I made much more than 30 on the flat though.

Was it you or norm riding at the time? Must have been downhill if norm got a turn of speed

 

[bauldbairn]

Oi shrew stop encroaching on norms patch,he is the official Secteur 'pusher' in these parts

Yeah!! He'll send his boys round or somefink!! -