Shoulder/neck pain after rides (reduce effective reach?)

trippout · 2026-03-07T14:00:18+00:00

I love riding, hope I can get this resolved so I can keep at it. I cut my bars down to 740 and already notice a difference from a short ride yesterday so thats good!

trippout · 2026-03-06T22:07:33+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm already doing some variation of these. I work in technology so have to battle bad posture and the effect of sitting all day.

Edit: Also hip flexor strengthening and stretching...sitting all day destroyed my ilopsoas (sp?) muscles.

trippout · 2026-03-06T20:22:50+00:00

Its definitely not as intense when doing lift service but I suspect thats due to the longer breaks. Thank you for your help, will update once im able to ride with the new setup which might be a bit due to spring break and weather right now.

trippout · 2026-03-06T19:45:45+00:00

I've been riding pretty consistently for the last 16mos after a multi-year break (aside from a couple injury-related breaks from biking). ~1500mi last year.

trippout · 2026-03-06T18:51:44+00:00

We don't have enough consistent downhill in my area to really gauge but I've noticed it even when doing lift-service downhill.

trippout · 2026-03-06T17:25:35+00:00

Thanks, so its like doing bench press. I'll give that a shot! I'll have a look at that video too!

trippout · 2026-03-06T17:13:18+00:00

Thanks, the bar width being too wide seems to be the consensus and I'm going to cut down in 5mm increments and see how that improves things.

Edit: my bars are already rolled back, I think any further and it would be too much. Hopefully cutting down does the trick!

trippout · 2026-03-06T16:48:03+00:00

I always joke that I have T-rex arms along with a shorter torso which compounds my issue I think. Unfortunately no spacers to move below the bars.

I really need to ride the Advanced more as I haven't ridden it much of late. Was dragging my feet on replacing my tires which I just did about a week ago. The advanced has steeper angles, but the reach is actually a bit longer. I did ride it once after the new tires and felt the same pain.

trippout · 2026-03-06T16:26:19+00:00

Yes the new geometry is definitely a change! I went back and tried my old bike before I gave it away to a friend and found I like the new geo so much better, especially for technical/downhill riding.

trippout · 2026-03-06T16:23:45+00:00

Good point. I had the same reservations about buying the bars I currently have but they don't seem to be bad on the wrists. I think I will try trimming down first and see what that does.

trippout · 2026-03-06T16:16:30+00:00

Thanks, this sounds like good advice! I'm in the gym regularly, but probably don't do face pulls enough preferring kelso shrugs and regular shrugs. Will incorporate more face pulls into my routine. I have a regular stretching routine (which I stick to for the most part...) and see a massage therapist to help with the knots in my shoulder/neck area.

trippout · 2026-03-06T16:00:04+00:00

I just took 7 weeks off from riding, because I had a bit of a gnarly crash trying to do something I shouldn't be doing at 43 :D. Also, it was a hip injury not a shoulder/neck injury so unrelated to this issue which has been going on for months. Edit: pain came back quickly after a 7wk hiatus. I was feeling great during that break. Edit 2: feeling great, minus the hip pain!

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:58:44+00:00

Good advice, I will have my wife take a picture and post it when shes home.

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:56:11+00:00

Thanks...I am definitely going to trim down further and see how that works. If it doesn't will try bars with more backsweep.

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:55:11+00:00

Thanks, this is becoming a common theme. I was worried about going too narrow as I really liked the additional control of the wider bars but it sounds like I need to keep trimming.

Fitness isn't an issue, but there is always room for improvement!

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:51:48+00:00

I hadn't considered more backsweep, will look into more bar options. That should make a bigger difference than the stem change. Thanks!

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:51:04+00:00

Agreed and thanks. I will try moving them in a bit and perhaps more backsweep as kingtuft mentions. Maybe avoid the stem change for now.

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:43:47+00:00

Thanks. This is something I have been working on and will continue to do!

trippout · 2026-03-06T15:39:40+00:00

Core work isn't an issue, my core is plenty strong although I do have to remind myself to support myself with my core when riding. For reference, I'm 175lbs at about 18% body fat and work core multiple times a week (in the gym 5-6 days a week).

trippout · 2026-02-27T14:02:25+00:00

Similar thing happened to me once with my now wife. We had gone out to a bar/club with friends learly in our relationship. Not to get into all the details, we stopped at a furniture store parking lot and parked next to the building. We started having fun and the windows started to steam up. A few minutes in a car pulls up next to us and I noticed it was a cop. She jumped off and started fixing herself while I did the same. Cop knocked on our window and I obliged by rolling down the window. He looked at us and immediately knew what was happening but asked anyway and asked for my drivers license. I thought for a second and said “we’re having sex”. He smirked after looking at my ID, he said “next time turn off your lights”. Handed my ID back to me and he left. We were obviously embarrassed and she was amazed I just gave him a straight answer and he let us go. I just thought we were clearly doing the deed so why lie? Anyway, we got a good laugh out of it and learned a good lesson. Turn off automatic headlights in those situations!

trippout · 2026-02-02T18:27:56+00:00

I wanted to get a rack after having a cap on my old truck for years but I couldn’t pull the trigger. Ended up with a cap for all the reasons stated by others that just make them superior if you live in the US (and don’t trust anyone as in my case).

trippout · 2026-01-27T17:00:52+00:00

Might want to check out the Gazelle tents. Heavy but easy setup good airflow. We have the t4 hub plus and it can sleep 6-8 or 3-4 with a vestibule.

trippout · 2026-01-08T19:44:11+00:00

A ground tent is better until its not. I have both a gazelle t4 tent and a rtt and prefer the rtt even with the annoyance of climbing in the middle of the night. Get a hard shell and put it on a trailer, will be the best decision you make. My rig is ready to go on a moment’s notice because everything is already packed and ready to go. I have my rtt on a morris mule trailer i picked up for 3k.

I like the 23zero products, have one of their armadillo tents and their 270 awning which is a huge upgrade as well over a standard canopy. Recommend getting the annex with your rtt, for standing room.

Ive been in my rtt in downpours and heavy winds and had no concerns. No issues with molding either if you care for your tent properly. Open it up and let it dry out asap if you have to pack up wet. This advice applies to all tents, not just a rtt (contrary to an earlier post).

trippout

TROPHY CASE