sore neck and shoulders?

7448stewart

ok so after every ride later on that night and the next day I have a sore neck and shoulders, I know this is from putting strain on them from my body position but is there anything that I need to change on my bike that would help reduce the strain, rise on my handlebars, lenghth of stem, seatpost hight?

I have 15mm rise on my bars and 70mm stem at the mo.

Cheers!

Cqc

I get that often, thought it was just the biking, and it improved slightly when I started running the forks at. 20% sag instead of 12% and riding smoother. However, now I think that it's the way I sleep; on my stomach with my head twisted to the side which obviously strains that area. So of you sleep like that, it may be that

rockmonkeysc

Have you ever had any muscular or skeletal injuries in that area or your back?

7448stewart

Cqc i sleep on my back an run my forks at 20% too so dont think its that but thanks an RMSC iv not had any of the above would a higher rise not help?

kajjal

Try this and also read up on general bike position setup. Unless you have a pre existing condition or injury it is likely your bikes setup causing the problem. When my MTB's saddle was too far back it gave me pains in the back of my ankles. Moved the saddle forward and now ride pain free even on long rides.

http://sheldonbrown.com/pain.html#neck

rockmonkeysc

Higher rise could help or could make it worse so could longer or shorter stem. It's going to need experimentation.

7448stewart

and could become exspensive cheers

rockmonkeysc

Can you raise or lower the bars using the stem spacers?
Could try rolling the bars back or forwards.

cooldad

Use your body more to support your weight. Arms are for steering.

sofaboy73

when i get sore neck & shoulders it's usally indicative of running my froks too hard. now i've got no idea what type of riding you do or what your bike set up is, but might be worth experiment with the sag at 25% or even 30% before you start buyingg new stems & bars - costs nothing and if you don't like it change it back

JMcP92

I occasionally get that, but usually after riding the roadie, more forward body position and such like.
As said above, could be as simple as the way you sleep, or if you have any previous back/neck injuries, however I can't much comment on that side of things as I've both a cracked spine and a damaged neck
If not, first thing to do before changing bars and stems and things that cost money is saddle positioning. Check the saddle rails, if you can, try and move it forward on the rails so the saddle is closer to the front of the bike, moving your whole body position forward. If that fails, then maybe try a 50mm stem and different riser bars swept slightly back if absolutely necessary.

7448stewart

cheers for the advice peeps! ill try all this stuff an hopefully one of them works