Sore neck/shoulders

Plastik

Gentle folk of boards, I'm new to this cycling lark! I was out yesterday for my longest spin to date - 87k and found that my neck/shoulders were getting stiff and sore. Is this a symptom of anything like handlebars being too low etc?

Alternatively, is the other answer I'm likely to get is to just man-up and get used to it!? Feel the burn ... enjoy the burn ...

hinault

Plastik wrote: »

Gentle folk of boards, I'm new to this cycling lark! I was out yesterday for my longest spin to date - 87k and found that my neck/shoulders were getting stiff and sore. Is this a symptom of anything like handlebars being too low etc?

Alternatively, is the other answer I'm likely to get is to just man-up and get used to it!? Feel the burn ... enjoy the burn ...

If you're not used to doing a long spin, then the arms/shoulders will feel a little bit sore after you do a long ride.


In terms of the bars you should have them at a height which is comfortable.

Always helps to cycle a bike which you have been fitted for at your local bike shop.

Lumen

Don't suffer this sort of pain, you'll end up causing damage.

You may need to tweak your position (e.g. simply raise the handlebars by flipping the stem) or just be patient and go out for shorter spins.

4 hours is a long ride, some people adapt quicker than others. Don't rush it.

blorg

I used to have this problem and found swimming helped a lot. I suspect there are gym exercises that may also help but I prefer swimming personally.

Of course that sets you down a dangerous path.

Murph100

Like the guys have said, it may very well be that you're not used to it, so build up to those distances gradually.

One thing you can also try is whilst cycling in a moderate gear with hands on the hoods, take your hands away slightly from the bars and see how difficult it is to maintain you body in the same position ( and dont crash ! )

If its a strain it means you're asking too much of your neck & shoulders, which could be down to poor core strength, incorrect saddle position, stem too long or bars too low.

If its no trouble at all ... HTFU !!!

murph226

Sorry about the thread hijack, I'm also new to cycling, picked up my Giant Defy 2 about 3 weeks ago and they adjusted it for me in the shop.

Its my first road bike, I've been out 4-5 times a week doing 30-40k spins and while I'm really enjoying it my neck gets fairly sore:(

I'll be bringing the bike back in a few weeks to get everything tightened up, should I mention it to the lads in the shop and see if they can adjust anything to help the situation or is it just a case of getting used to the bike?

Cheers Murph

jwshooter

Lumen wrote: »

Don't suffer this sort of pain, you'll end up causing damage.

You may need to tweak your position (e.g. simply raise the handlebars by flipping the stem) or just be patient and go out for shorter spins.

4 hours is a long ride, some people adapt quicker than others. Don't rush it.

i did the 3 peaks in wicklow a few weeks ago and suffered ,lower back shoulders neck ,never as glad to get off the bike .

the next sat i did a quick 100k run to rosslare ,no great hills on a main road ,the saddle was killing me as were my neck and shoulders .


i rang irishfit for a bike fit ,leo was not about for a few weeks ,i told him my problem and he gave me some things to try .

i did the tour de cure ,with some adjustments and was better . i turned the stem friday eve ,i did the 140k mt leinster challenge yesterday ,getting back to enniscorthy i was comfortable on the bike and im grand to day .


defo flip the stem as lumen said and move the saddle forward a bit .

im booked for a fit when he gets back ,im looking forward to it .

kennyb3

Had a bit of neck pain myself recently again prob doing a little too much too soon so backed off for couple of weeks. did 65k today and not too bad, still think i need to raise by bars a little/learn to relax my shoulders/arms a little. anyway im on a giant defy 4 and doesnt look like i can flip the stem (it pretty flat and wont raise the height from what i can make out), so what are my options?

read a few old threads and mention of stem raisers. anyone know where would be the best place to get one?

Garlic Suplmnt

Mr Skeffington might be worth dropping out to for a bike fit? I don't think he advertises that particular service in his thread, but he meausred me up for my new road bike last January and made all neccessry adjustments, job's a good un!

LastGasp

I did 430kms on Easter Friday/Sat in 24hrs, no pains at all. Didn't get out much since. Did hilly 149kms yesterday - Feet, Arse, Shoulders, Neck all bloody killing me afterwards ! First long spin in new Assos Shorts, so I'm wondering if the thicker, firmer chamois pad has effectively raised my seat height a few mms. I've dropped it a bit to see how that goes.

jwshooter

LastGasp wrote: »

I did 430kms on Easter Friday/Sat in 24hrs, no pains at all. Didn't get out much since. Did hilly 149kms yesterday - Feet, Arse, Shoulders, Neck all bloody killing me afterwards ! First long spin in new Assos Shorts, so I'm wondering if the thicker, firmer chamois pad has effectively raised my seat height a few mms. I've dropped it a bit to see how that goes.

what assos did u get ,?

easter is a good few dinners ago

iregk

A lot of shoulder and neck pain can be down to position, stretch, height of your body off the bike i.e. are you stretching too much that you have to look up too much.

As others have suggested maybe look at your position and maybe tweak it. Longer spins will mean more stress on muscles, not just your legs but back, arms, soulders etc... some of this will just take time to adapt.

Two more simple things I'd suggest. Don't lock your elbows. A lot of inexperienced riders lock their elbows as its comfortable and you relax. That much is true however rigid arms send the vibrations of the road up to your shoulders and neck and will cause pain.

Another one is hand position. Most people new to the sport will look at others and pros and ride solid with their hands on the brakes. Result is your body is slight more forward causing you to crane your neck a bit more. On long spins I tend to hold the top of the bars a lot, unless in a tight pack where I may need my brakes at any moment. This means your sitting up more and your neck can relax a touch.

iregk

kennyb3 wrote: »

anyway im on a giant defy 4 and doesnt look like i can flip the stem (it pretty flat and wont raise the height from what i can make out), so what are my options?

Trust me you can flip it. It may look pretty flat but it will lift your bars a bit. Take the face plat off it (4 screws) and take the bars out. Loosen the two stem screws and then take the top screw out completely that. Flip it and obviously reverse process.

One pointer to note when doing this. Don't do like most and tighten the two stem screws all the way then put on your top cover screw. This with its lovely Giant ring is not just decorative. Changes are if you do this you will leave things slightly loose and produce a head wrecking clicking sound. Tighten the two stem screws reasonably then tighten the top screw. This pushes everything down thus tightening things up. Obviously don't over tighten this as you want to be able to turn your bars.

dave2pvd

iregk wrote: »

Two more simple things I'd suggest. Don't lock your elbows. A lot of inexperienced riders lock their elbows as its comfortable and you relax. That much is true however rigid arms send the vibrations of the road up to your shoulders and neck and will cause pain.

Good advice there. Religiously practice a relaxed elbow angle. Working on core strength can help also - your arms don't need to be doing all the work.

Lumen

It's impossible to sort out someone's bike fit over the internet, unless you want to go posting pictures/videos of you riding the bike.

The main thing is to make sure each body part is not at the extreme end of its range of motion, so you can lift your head a good bit from the horizontal, arch your back a little more/less, move your shoulders back and forth etc.

Bear in mind that sore arms/shoulders are an almost inevitable part of the first year of cycling, even if you have the correct bike fit. Keep the distances down and the intensity up.

I suffered a lot until I started doing a bit of running, swimming and gym work over the winter.

kennyb3

Just an update/bit of information in case anyone is doing a search re this again, as mentioned above i had some neck issues within first 3-4 weeks starting back on the bike but as lumen and others mention it just takes time to adjust.

I simply did as suggested and, did 2-3 hard one hour spins a week for couple of weeks, minded the neck and a couple of weeks ago was able to re intorduce longer spins. I did move my saddle down slightly also for a couple of weeks but it has since gone back up with no issues. Neck never gives me any bother now and did 350km over 8 days last week.

Hope this helps

Beasty

kennyb3 wrote: »

did 350km over 8 days last week.

Brings back memories of the 60s when 8 days a week was fairly common:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs5qsk0pc6Y

kennyb3

ha ha i actually thought about it when i wrote it but sure said id leave it anyway!