Too much neck flexion

ratz

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
ReklinedRider said:
That may ultimately be the case here too.
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That can be a sign of two things. Either to much forward reach bringing shoulders in forward and staring neck. Or having the head rest too far out. Best tested on a trainer but bring the neck rest in at 5mm increments takes for ever but there is a big difference between correct and almost correct, falls into the when you get it right you will know and until then you don't know what you don't know. Took me ½ the first season to figure that out and now it is easy to repeat.....lbut there is still room for a better solution so by all means keep tweaking
 
ReklinedRider

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
Wish there was any room to tweak :(. The neck rest is in as far as it will go, so the only choice I could see was to add bulk to the front of the neck rest to help get my head a bit more vertical while cushioning the vertebral spines. I considered following Eric Winn's approach of cutting off the top end of the seat along with cutting the ends of the neck rest bars off so it could go in further but decided not to. If I did that, I bet you're right, I could bring it forward and down in increments and find the sweet spot. I just want to explore every option before I go cutting up any parts of a perfectly good Vendetta!

I intentionally positioned the bars so that with my reach fully extended my shoulders are all the way back and not rounded forward at all. I wasn't thinking along the lines you pointed out though; I was just trying to keep from limiting chest excursion and lung volumes. I need all the oxygen I can get.
Any other suggestions are welcome, or if my logic (such as it is) is unsound I'm all ears!
 
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ratz

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
How tall are you again? If you are an average 5'6"+ the neck rest should come all the way down and work. Shorter and Eric's approach is about the only way to use the stock stuff. If you are in that 5'6-5'7" range you might have the entire boom too far forward by 5-10mm; that would push your feet out and cause you to slide forward on the seat. Cruising there is usually a gap at the neck between the head rest; when you grab the bars, bare down and drive the pedals the head and neck press back into the head rest nice and solid. So either you are below that height; or have a short torso if it you can't bring it that far down. My mistake initially was always scooting too far forward on the seat; after looking at Larry's position and his ability to keep his feet vertical when pedaling I realized that I the boom the right length but too far out. Brough it back and moved back on the seat. at 5'9" I've got the headrest out about 3.5" inches, plucky-blond is 5'7" and I have her's out about 1 inch that's pretty much the scale I use 5'6" flush and add 1 inch for each inch of height; Breathing use to be hard but long hours on the trainer seem to have made that a non issue or I don't notice any more.
 
ReklinedRider

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
5'6" short torso. Ex-seam 41.5".

I very well could be too low in the seat; I started out higher but have crept down a bit as I got more relaxed on the bike. Maybe too relaxed? And as i slid further down i let the boom/slider combination out a total of 1.8cm. I do *think* my toes are pointing straight up at the bottom of the pedal stroke but i can't tell for sure, could be still toe-pointing a little. Will see if the Boss will shoot a video from the side as i pedal and if too far out will move the boom alone in.

Even when i was pushed up in the seat i felt like i needed my head more vertical but again you are right in that i have noticed more gap while cruising as my neck muscles get used to the 20degree seat. I have to keep telling myself "patience, Grasshopper, patience...".
 
ratz

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
ReklinedRider said:
5'6" short torso. Ex-seam 41.5".

I very well could be too low in the seat; I started out higher but have crept down a bit as I got more relaxed on the bike. Maybe too relaxed? And as i slid further down i let the boom/slider combination out a total of 1.8cm. I do *think* my toes are pointing straight up at the bottom of the pedal stroke but i can't tell for sure, could be still toe-pointing a little. Will see if the Boss will shoot a video from the side as i pedal and if too far out will move the boom alone in.

Even when i was pushed up in the seat i felt like i needed my head more vertical but again you are right in that i have noticed more gap while cruising as my neck muscles get used to the 20degree seat. I have to keep telling myself "patience, Grasshopper, patience...".
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nothing wrong with creating new and better stuff either; just trying to keep the topic informative for those that lack your home-econmics sewing skills :)
 
joy

joy

Well-Known Member
I was having neck pain too, so I kept sliding down thinking this would help. What eventually fixed it pretty much was cutting the headrest tubes height about 2" per Maria, and then actually backing it further out. Both Silvio and Vendetta were done, and with several padding changes, they are working well and my head/neck pain is gone. Also, just another note, I have a Ventisit on the Silvio and a Bacchetta foam with a cover on the Vendetta, and I think the foam gives a more comfortable ride.
 
ReklinedRider

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
qajaqdennis said:
I was having neck pain too, so I kept sliding down thinking this would help. What eventually fixed it pretty much was cutting the headrest tubes height about 2" per Maria, and then actually backing it further out. Both Silvio and Vendetta were done, and with several padding changes, they are working well and my head/neck pain is gone. Also, just another note, I have a Ventisit on the Silvio and a Bacchetta foam with a cover on the Vendetta, and I think the foam gives a more comfortable ride.
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qajaq may i ask your overall height vs ex-seam, and if you could post any photos of your set up with you on the bike(s)?

Or do you already have some pics on the forum?

Thanks
 
ReklinedRider

ReklinedRider

Zen MBB Master
joy said:
I was having neck pain too, so I kept sliding down thinking this would help. What eventually fixed it pretty much was cutting the headrest tubes height about 2" per Maria, and then actually backing it further out. Both Silvio and Vendetta were done, and with several padding changes, they are working well and my head/neck pain is gone. Also, just another note, I have a Ventisit on the Silvio and a Bacchetta foam with a cover on the Vendetta, and I think the foam gives a more comfortable ride.
Click to expand...
Hello again, touching on an old topic…after cutting the headrest tubes, how did you piece them back together?
Thanks in advance
 
joy

joy

Well-Known Member
Trying to remember. I think we took the pieces we cut out, sliced them and squeezed them to fit back into the original tubes, piecing them together. I will look tomorrow.
 
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