Is it worth trying to get a lower riding position?

Father Faff

I first started road riding when I was about 45 and initially only as a poor relative to mountain biking. I got an original race-framed Scott CR1 but had to stack and flip the stem to get comfy. When I want to get more aerodynamic I'll get on the drops or use tri bars but can't do this for long without suffering. Now I'm doing a lot more road riding but am now 55. It would be handy to be more aerodynamic but attempts to stay low get me. Is it worth even trying to get lower or should I just stick to the position I'm comfy with now? If it's worth trying to get lower what's the best way to go about it - is it a matter of persevering for a few months or can a more scientific approach be used?

TakeTurns

Presumably you have spacers below your stem. You can try removing a spacer every week or so and see how you go. If it's a few large spacers then go to your LBS and ask for several 2-3mm ones.

monkimark

I was wondering this myself on the way home (into a lovely drizzly headwind) - I have a reasonably low stack on the stem and ride the drops a fair bit, I could slam the stem but it'd probably mean I rode on the hoods more often and I like to switch position a fair bit.

In real life, how much difference does 10mm of spacers really make anyway? I can't imagine it significantly reduces my frontal area. I suspect that being a bit more comfortable is probably of more benefit for most of us.

simon_masterson

If your goal is to go faster, then maybe.

Father Faff

It's my back that suffers from a lower position. I definitely go at the same speed easier (or go faster for the same effort) when lower as I'm sure we all do. Perhaps pilates/yoga would help?

StillGoing

If you haven't already, go for a proper fitting with a specialist and not a LBS. I was originally set up by a LBS and suffered with back pain spending virtually no time on the drops. Did the usual thing of lowering saddle or raising bars thinking it was the right thing to do. A fitting saw my saddle go up and back and the bars down to the point where there is now just the one 5mm spacer. I can now spend hours in the drops making me more aerodynamic. As for age; i'm fast approaching my 53rd birthday and have been riding 3 years.

ride_whenever

If you can't currently ride in the drops for protracted periods then getting lower will almost certainly just result in pain.

Get more flexible if you want to go faster.

markhewitt1978

Gradually is the key! Ok I'm 35 not 55 (although I feel 65 most of the time!), to start with this time last year I had a 17 degree upward stem as the leaning over was too much, then later in the year I went 7 degrees and at the start of this year flipped it to -7 degrees and now I'm considering taking a spacer out to go lower. But every time I did a change the first couple of lengthy rides after it I would get a little bit of lower back pain, then after that fine.

kajjal

It depends how your current bike setup suits you are what you are looking for. Any adjustments would need to be gradual.

littledove44

The interesting question would be how much does it make you go faster?

I have pretty much the same issue. My drop from saddle to stem is about 3cm.

I know I can go lower over time by putting up with the pain and gradually gritting used to the position.

But, if it is only going to save me two minutes over 100k (which I don't not care about) what's the point????

On the other hand if it's 10 minutes over 100k my headset spacers are toast.

ai_1

When I started I had 30mm spacers and +8 degrees. Over the space of about 18 months I gradually removed the spacers, put them back in and flipped the stem and then removed most of them again to gradually bring the bar down. I ended up with a saddle bar drop of about 70mm which I'm very comfortable with. I didn't do this because I was determined to get lower for performance or appearance reasons, I wasn't too bothered really. However, I found that I felt I wanted a progressively lower position to feel comfortable, stable and fast when pushing hard either for sprints or longer periods. For cruising the higher position was fine but I'm equally happy with the lower position I have now.

For me the limiting factor on going lower was originally my back but now my back would be fine with a lower position if the bike would allow it. However I'm not sure if my neck will be happy with a lower position and I'm not sure there's any need. I might try going a little further down when I get my new bike shortly but if I'm not comfortable I'll revert to my current position.

Whatever you do make the change gradually and don't torture yourself unnecessarily!

slowbike

littledove44 wrote:

The interesting question would be how much does it make you go faster?

The thing is, the faster you go, the more aerodynamics come into play.

If you're averaging 10mph then tucking in isn't going to save you a lot ...
Double that to 20mph and it'll make a big difference ...
I doubt you'd get to average 30mph without a good aerodynamic position (unless you're drafting!)

So whilst at 15mph you're not going to see huge improvements, if your overall goal is to get faster then you'll benefit from being able to be more aero - so you may as well practice it.

kajjal

littledove44 wrote:

The interesting question would be how much does it make you go faster?

I have pretty much the same issue. My drop from saddle to stem is about 3cm.

I know I can go lower over time by putting up with the pain and gradually gritting used to the position.

But, if it is only going to save me two minutes over 100k (which I don't not care about) what's the point????

On the other hand if it's 10 minutes over 100k my headset spacers are toast.

I am the same, about an inch of drop and my bike setup suits me with no injury / pain even on very long rides. I have no interest in torturing myself to save a couple of minutes. For others it is a challenge they enjoy taking on to gain better performance which is fair enough.

styxd

If you use a good saddle, set it up correctly in terms of angle and setback, and then rotate your pelvis forwards, you can pretty much go as low as you want. With no back or neck pains since you won't be arching your back to reach the bars and then bending your neck to look up, your back and neck will be in a nice straight line. If the reach to your bars is too short or your bars are too high then it can be quite difficult to do this though, as you won't have the space.

ai_1

styxd wrote:

If you use a good saddle, set it up correctly in terms of angle and setback, and then rotate your pelvis forwards, you can pretty much go as low as you want. With no back or neck pains since you won't be arching your back to reach the bars and then bending your neck to look up, your back and neck will be in a nice straight line. If the reach to your bars is too short or your bars are too high then it can be quite difficult to do this though, as you won't have the space.

I disagree somewhat. Having a flat rather than convex back would reduce the angle my neck needs to achieve to let me see forward but that doesn't mean I could just keep going lower. My back is already in a sensible position that relieves stress on my neck as much as I'll be able to achieve regardless of saddle (and I use a Specialised Romin EVO which does facilitate a rotated pelvis position for me - have also tried the Adamo saddles).
Many, probably most, people will not be able to comfortably adopt a very low pro-like position regardless of saddle choice. Nor should they necessarily aspire to do so.

Mikey23

if your hands are touching the tarmac then youve probably gone too far...

kayakerchris

One of the big problems for cyclists is hamstring tightness. A tight hamstring will effectively hold your pelvis in one position and stop the pelvis rotating. This means that all the movement when you go lower is having to come from the lumbar spine. This leads to pain in the back and around the posterior rim of the pelvis as the muscles try to pull your pelvis in to different directions simultaneously.

Also note that the tightest hamstring is the one on the opposite side to the maximum pain. This is because the tightest hamstring is the most limiting factor on pelvic position.

So before doing anything try some hamstring stretches. You may well need to do these for 6 weeks or more before seeing a major improvement.

Father Faff

Some interesting replies thanks. And I probably do have tight hamstrings because I am not good at stretching or indeed any "formal" exercises/training/turbos/spinning! I think I need a personal trainer with a whip probably...