You may have made too much change all at once - too much change in the handlebars, and it might have been better to do lots of smaller rides to allow your back to get used to it. Baby steps are the key when making changes like this.
For now it seems like you've sorted things out, which is great, but as you get older and the body changes more, remember the baby step priciple. Modify every aspect in small increments. And stretch/yoga every day - especially backward stretches like the sphinx posture are important because, as odd as it may seem, the body needs to be able to move backward in order to be able to move forward. Kathryn Eugene, OR On May 13, 7:36 am, Curtis Schmitt <curtisrschm...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am just realizing the exact same thing, so glad you posted about > this. After a few years of riding road and track bikes where the > handlebars were generally lower than the saddle, I decided to build my > brevet bike for comfort: extra tall Technomic stem with Noodles. I > figured this would eliminate the neck pain I would sometimes > experience towards the end of longer rides and centuries. I completed > a 50 mile with the new set up (about a month ago) and experienced > quite a bit of back pain from that ride. I figured I was just out of > shape. I did a brevet the following weekend and DNF'd after 40 miles. > I was exhausted and my back was killing me (and the weather was > absolutely dreadful on top of everything else). > > Since then, I've lowered the bars about two inches, just about even > with the saddle height now and as of this morning's commute, my back > pain is almost completely gone. I think I've found a height that will > help eliminate neck pain as well. I really like how the Technomic > offers so much range to dial in the correct handlebar height. And I > love the Noodles. > > On Wed, May 13, 2009 at 1:44 AM, Dustin Sharp <dsh...@runbox.com> wrote: > > I’d say that as an added bonus, the bike looks a lot better (to my eye at > > least) with the current fit. But I’m with you: for me, slightly lower bars > > let me stretch out the lower back and take some of the pressure off it. > > > Dustin “Rules of thumb are great, but nothing beats experimentation” Sharp > > San Diego, CA > > > On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:13 PM, John Ferguson <rfj1...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > As some of you may remember, I recently built up a Saluki with your > > generous help in selecting components. > > > I have an on-and-off bad back, and thought it would be a great idea to > > raise the handlebars substantially above the level of the seat. Didn't > > solve the problem, so I ended up lowering the bars to seat level. > > Magically, my back pain disappeared. > > > The lesson for me is that high bars aren't a magic solution to back > > problems. I think in my case, the bars when raised were just at the > > right height to put a lot of stress on my back. > > > In any case, if you're suffering like I was, give it a shot. You never > > know. > > > Raised bars:http://www.flickr.com/photos/36397...@n06/3357251749/ > > Current fit:http://www.flickr.com/photos/36397...@n06/3513513651/ > > > John Ferguson > > New York, NY > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
