Having always been a mtb rider i bought a road bike a few years ago and occassionaly venture out on the road bike but mainly in summer. I have done a few sportives and generally do rides from 30 to 60 miles long but i have never felt very comfortable on the road bike. I have tinkered with everything possible but after few hours the same aches and pains surface (hands,neck/back), researched causes but nothing obvious sticks out as being wrong. I reckon i am in the right ball park bike fit wise so could it just be the fact that i dont do this discipline long enough to build up the required strength for that type of body position. Could i be just too unfit (rubbish core) for the bike? I am now set up and ready to zwift this winter so hopefully more time on the bike may help. I dont tend to get tired in the legs or lungs on long long rides, its normally the aching in the neck,shoulders,back and hands that does me.

Poor bike setup. You don’t need incredible core strength to be able to ride a bike.

Tinkered with everything possible.

Might be worth being specific as to what you did. Its possible that you went shorter when your shoulders ached, when you should have gone longer?*

* I haven’t got a clue really, have I. But what I describe is possible

Get a proper bike fit – not some guy using a plumb line and tape measure.
Yes, it wil cost but based on my personal experience it’s money well spent.

I thought my current road frame was a touch small, fiddled with setup for ages.
Had a Retul bike fit done and they basically (lots of little tweaks done too inc cleat position & bar tape thickness etc) shifted me back on the bike. Saddle went back on the layback post already fitted, shorter stem by 10mm and raised slightly along with shifters coming further ‘up’ on bars has made it a pleasure to ride now with no back, neck or arm pain & an increase in my avg speed on my usual training loops.
Would definitely recommend it, cost £240 but 3 hours plus a 90 min update session a month later seems value to money compared to faffing around with frames, components etc with a vague idea of what should be right.
I’ve been riding road & mtb for 26 years and can’t believe the difference it’s made after all these years!

How long?

Until you accept that “I like a smaller bike ‘cos it’s more chuckable” means it’s too small?

Hora still hasn’t.

I am not entertaining a £240 bike fit as that is the same value as the bike (second hand value) and the bike i have isn’t a keeper,it will be upgraded in the next 18 months. I shortened the stem as i felt too raked out and changed the bars to slightly wider ergo bars so the drop is shallower too. Its very hard to try a bike in the shop as they all feel comfortable for the few minutes you are on them. I think more time on the road bike might get my body more accustomed to that type of body position which i am sure is a factor (havent ridden it for a few months,been on the mtb).
2017 i think will be its last year in service if it doesnt become more comfortable.

Hora still hasn’t.

He was one of two that I was think off 😉

How long till you decide a bike doesn’t fit?

about an hour into the test ride

I’ve been thinking about a bike fit.

The way I see it, you take all the advice and measurements with you – so it’s not money spent on a one-off deal.

You can use that info to advise with all future purchases.

Post a pic of your bike on here, won’t take long at all.

So. How tall are you and what’s the ETT of your bike?

the bike i have isn’t a keeper,it will be upgraded in the next 18 months

given your problems a bike fit could be a good investment before upgrading. Once you have been fitted you can measure everything then replicate on next bike

Get proper advice from someone who an see you on it. The theory is good but someone who knows what they are looking at should tell you if there is a fundermental problem or just something out or just you.

By from a shop that will swap the bike of it doesn’t fit

Evans one swap

Rutland cycles 2 swaps

Others must do it as well

But the bike fit first would seem to be the answer. All you’ll waste is a few quid on a cheap stem etc.

Never. Every bike I’ve bought has been near enough the right size. Posts go up and down, saddles back and forth, different stems, bars spacers under on top its just a bike millions of people just get on them and ride. No reason why you can’t do the same.

No reason why you can’t do the same.

Unless the frame is the wrong size, the next size up on my road bike is physically too big for me, no amount of seat forward short stem would make it work, I could probably just stretch the size down out just enough but it would have been crap.

Every bike I’ve bought has been near enough the right size.

It’s a good start buying a frame that the components will move in the right range to make it work. Either that or you are just stubbon.

Never. Every bike I’ve bought has been near enough the right size. Posts go up and down, saddles back and forth, different stems, bars spacers under on top its just a bike millions of people just get on them and ride. No reason why you can’t do the same.

This really. I’ve owned or ridden 56/57/58/59/60cm bikes. All were comfortable. The only differences were in the handling, specifically at high speed. The ones at the upper and lower ends of the sizes didn’t handle aswell as a correctly sized bike.

I’ve not touched my mtb position post bike fit. I think the riding is so much more dynamic, body constantly moving, off the saddle loads etc..that as long as I can pedal the thing I quickly adapt to whichever one I’m on.
I think the road bike is more sensitive to tiny adjustments as you’re often sat in pretty much one position for several hours at a time.
Up to you how you spend your money.
I’ve now got a massive detailed spreadsheet and diagrams showing the usual saddle height, stack, reach etc but also stuff like the angle of the hoods, saddle to bar drop, saddle angle, etc etc which meant that with a plumb line and tape measure I was able to set my gravel bike up perfectly on my own first time. That’s now £120 per bike if you look at it like that and I’m sure I’ll be buying more at some point…

I’ve been thinking about a bike fit.

The way I see it, you take all the advice and measurements with you – so it’s not money spent on a one-off deal.

You can use that info to advise with all future purchases.
This is very true. I’ve transferred the measurements from one bike fit to 2 other bikes, it’s easy enough to do. One of those bikes was bought as I knew I would replicate a fit that I know works for me.

Bikefit all day long- its worth it’d weight in gold.

I don’t understand why people won’t pay for a bike fit especially for the road bike where you are potentially sat in the same position for hours on end.

Because most folk don’t need one.

He obviously does

I was answering your question, not his.

Bike fit really isn’t that hard unless you have some obvious problems like an imbalance in leg length. Get your position right with regards to saddle and bottom bracket, then set the bars to comfort. Some people are very sensitive to changes, but the body adapts. I rode my cross bike 105km the other evenings knowing that the saddle was a full cm lower than my road position (for jumping on and off during races). Barely noticed after 30 minutes.

The real issue is when position leads to injury. A saddle too high and/or too far back will over extend the illiotibial band leading to knee pan pretty rapidly. Get the saddle position right and everything else follows.

The other rookie fitting mistake is to move the saddle to accommodate frame fit, either back for a too small frame or forwards for too big. Stems are for fitting frames. Set the saddle, then reach. A small frame can fit a rider quite easily and will often handle better than a bigger frame because more weight is placed on the front wheel. Pros Ride frames a size or two down for the low front end. I rode a Small Defy all last winter with a 130mm stem just to see how it rode (fine actually).

And how do you set the saddle? Lots of ideas, and I like the Lemond 0.883 tImes inseam, then knee over pedal spindle. This puts most riders in a good starting position. As I said, most people do not have ridiculously long femurs or size 15 feet, so it is a decent starting place. Depending on saddle, that will put the nose about 5 cm behind the bottom bracket for an average sized male (it’s also the UCI limit for this reason and smaller riders can get exemptions).

A good fit feels effortless, like a nice pair of shoes. Once you find it, or someone else does, you are set.

I have the saddle set at a comfortable height and my knee is bang on the pedal spindle like all my other bikes. I think my issue is more neck/triceps/wrists/shoulders but only after a couple of hours riding. This is why i think its to do with my lack of road riding although i reckon something in the set up is not quite right. I dont have my bars slammed in fact i have four spacers underneath stem and a 9 degree rise stem although this still leaves the bars a few inches lower than the saddle. TTL is 555mm and i have a 90mm (i think) which is as short as i reckon it can go. I am a shade under 5ft 10.

TTL is 555mm and i have a 90mm (i think) which is as short as i reckon it can go. I am a shade under 5ft 10.

sounds like you’re on the right size frame at any rate. I’m ~5’10 and ride a 550mm effective top tube with a 100mm stem.

I dont have my bars slammed in fact i have four spacers underneath stem and a 9 degree rise stem although this still leaves the bars a few inches lower than the saddle.

A few inches? How short is your headtube?! I’ve got my stem in the ‘negative rise’ position with one 10mm spacer underneath it, and from memory my saddle to bar drop is around 60mm (so around 2 and a half inches?). Four spacers and the stem in the rise position would probably put my bars level with my saddle!

Crashtest i would have to check the saddle to bar drop but thinking about it i think its less than a few inches possible similar to yours i guess. I cant find the geometry for my bike (Moda Intro 2013 large.) but the headtube seems fairly standard so i wonder if it has a more race geometry frame.

mine’s a Lapierre Xelius which is their ‘race’ frame, from memory the HT is 150mm which is pretty standard for bikes of that style in that size, I’d be surprised if the Moda is shorter by more than a few mm.

Sounds like the bars are way too high and the saddle is probably also too high.

To me, this looks like a perfect road fit. Notice there;s quite a bit of saddle to bar drop. The position would be unachievable if the bars were level with the saddle.

Don’t listen to DT, he’s all lanky arms and legs ;-). Actually his point isn’t wrong. Rest assured, for your height, your frame is the correct size.

Assuming saddle is in the right place, and too high is quite common, an easy way to test for reach is to rest your hands on the hoods. Lean over as if into the wind. Elbows should be bent to about 90-100 degrees. In hood cruising mode, there should always be a little elbow bend, your arms are not trusses taking weigh through your hands. Drop is really about flexibility, and lowering the bars will move them away. Bar width also has an effect. Wider bars need a shorter stem.

I suspect it is just just matter of small adjustment, but try dropping the saddle (which also reduces reach) by 0.25 cm at a time.

And weight is not taken through the arms. If you get numb hands, your saddle and bar position is not correct. The saddle takes the weight.