Hey bunchers I find that the most upright with no pressure on hands puts a lot of strain on the lower back… what’s the balance because I also suffer with bad neck pain.
Stephen Cowdrey Tallahassee Fl. On Mon, Jun 1, 2026 at 8:57 AM Ryan Mulcahy <[email protected]> wrote: > > One thing I like about alt bars is the variety among bikes: 3 bikes with > diff alt bar setups feel different (to me) much more so than 3 bikes with > diff drops. Which means in practice that though I really prefer drops -- > the hand positions -- I need only one drop-bar bike because I'm always > going to choose the one I like most. 2 alt-bar setups and I'll switch it up. > > On Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 9:38:28 PM UTC-4 Ron Mc wrote: > >> My thought is you don't strain cervical muscles/ vertebrae unless you >> lean on your hands/ wrists. >> If you support yourself with core muscles, all that should be relaxed. >> You'll also discover new spin you didn't know you had when you lean into >> your core muscles - if you need more, bend your elbows more. >> >> On Sunday, May 31, 2026 at 7:18:00 PM UTC-5 [email protected] wrote: >> >>> Hey Jay, >>> I've definitely experienced neck pain (and upper back pain) on long road >>> rides (two to eight hours) and it did improve some by raising the handlers >>> a couple inches. Interestingly, however, depending on how often I rode that >>> road bike, my activity tolerance increased. So how used I was to that bike >>> and that set-up and how time I spent in that position definitely affected >>> how much I could comfortably tolerate. So two hours after being off the >>> road bike for a few months hurt more than six or eight hours when I was >>> using it more often. >>> >>> Perhaps also talk to a PT about how you hold your head when looking >>> forward (like using your eyes more and keeping your chin down rather than >>> kinking your neck). >>> >>> Generally all these things exist as a system so tweaking one thing could >>> put more strain somewhere else. But in my experience high handlebars, on >>> avg, were more comfy. >>> >>> - gabe >>> >>> >>> Sent from my BlackBerry, the smartphone with the little keyboard and a >>> big heart. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sun, May 31, 2026, 16:51 Jason Noonievut <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> I was going to add that bit of information but decided to keep it short. >>>> >>>> What I like about drop bars are the multiple hand positions and width >>>> (40cm, straight line from my shoulders). Granola bars are 650mm wide, but >>>> I had them set up more upright and it felt okay (neck area anyway). >>>> >>>> On May 31, 2026, at 7:44 PM, Chris Lang <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> Don’t forget about the width of the bars. I find too wide of bars >>>> cause me neck and shoulder pain as well. >>>> >>>> On Sun, May 31, 2026 at 7:42 PM Jay <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> >>>>> In your personal experience, have you suffered with neck pain and >>>>> found that sitting more upright on the bike has alleviated the pain? >>>>> >>>>> Prior to getting a Roadini over two years ago, my road bikes had >>>>> 5-10cm of drop from saddle to handlebar, and after years of this plus bad >>>>> posture at work, I had an unnatural bend in my cervical spine that >>>>> sometimes causes neck pain (that general area). My current chiro helped >>>>> me >>>>> mostly resolve this so that it's only sore after really long rides, when >>>>> it's really windy, or after a lot of riding. Drop handlebars on my >>>>> Roadini >>>>> are about level with the saddle, and I can usually ride with little to no >>>>> pain in the neck area. >>>>> >>>>> I rode a lot in May, and that pain came back in a big way in the last >>>>> 45 minutes of today's long ride with my friend. I think the increased >>>>> volume in May was the main contributor. However, this year, both the >>>>> Roadini and Fargo have drop bars. Last year, I had Velo Orange Granola >>>>> bars on the Fargo. Last year, I cannot recall that pain in my neck >>>>> showing >>>>> up once with any severe or prolonged discomfort. I'm now wondering if >>>>> that's because a 1/3rd of the rides were on the Fargo with the more >>>>> upright >>>>> (and just, different) position, so it was less repetitive strain to my >>>>> neck. I'm thinking of putting the Granola bars back on the Fargo. It >>>>> could also be other factors (age - one year older, stress, or perhaps my >>>>> position on either bike has deteriorated somewhat). >>>>> >>>>> Thanks! >>>>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>>> To view this discussion visit >>>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/65d4bdb0-bd11-4058-b6f9-7a181275ecc0n%40googlegroups.com >>>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/65d4bdb0-bd11-4058-b6f9-7a181275ecc0n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/RPrjIT95_-0/unsubscribe >>>> . >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>>> [email protected]. >>>> To view this discussion visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAN3G8jQjxQ-LtMzFZoVTt6nnzgT7YwKBrQwZSpHY9w1RvSVw3g%40mail.gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CAN3G8jQjxQ-LtMzFZoVTt6nnzgT7YwKBrQwZSpHY9w1RvSVw3g%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>>> an email to [email protected]. >>>> >>> To view this discussion visit >>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1B282642-D131-47A6-94AD-2533D35E035B%40gmail.com >>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/1B282642-D131-47A6-94AD-2533D35E035B%40gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>>> . >>>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7211d01f-bd00-4696-b149-ddb9abc527f7n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/7211d01f-bd00-4696-b149-ddb9abc527f7n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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