does anyone else feel more comfortable (read less back discomfort) riding on the hoods of their tri bike than on the hoods of their road bike? it’s been a couple of years now, but when i made the switch from my road bike to a smaller tri bike with considerably more handlebar drop, i experienced a significant increase in comfort. i am not sure what to attribute this to, though, bu until now i have been thinking it was that my tri bike is more compliant ride and that i am more “on top” of my tri bars (closer to a 90 degree shoulder angle).
so, i am trying to find out if this is a common observance among tri bike owners. i am not currently in the market for a road bike, but when the time comes i would hate to make that large of mistake… (read $$). another thought has been that this could be a biomechanical issue. years ago i was diagnosed with a herniated disc, two bulging, and spondolytheses (sp??).
I am under the impression that tri bikes usually have a shorter top tube as compared to road bikes (I think Tom Demerly can better answer this statement). If so, then u are seated more upright in the hoods of the tri-bike. Therefore, less stress on the back.
Maybe your flexibility & fitness has improved over the years. I think that a road bike is more comfortable in the long run as that are so many different hand positions that u can switch up during the ride that u don’t tax a certain muscle too much unlike tri-bikes with only 2 viable options (hoods or in the aero position).
Maybe your road bike didnt fit that well? Also if you are on Shimano shifters and you measure your drop from top of seat to top of bars, there can be a difference in the actual drops (where your hands end up) between a flat base bar and Shimano road shifters. I was never that comfortable on my tri bike hoods compared to being on my road hoods. Another factor is you get use to what you ride most often.
I would imagine that a couple of things are happening.
shorter top tube and you have rotated down and forward on the smaller tri bike- you are closing the obtuse and that is created between your back and your torso and arms. as your arms come back toward your torso your go from stretching out and resting on musculature of your back shoulders neck to skeletal with a direct line from your hands to shoulders.
2.are you hands wider on your tri bike? I imagine that the hoods on your road bike are narrow and tri bike much wider-that being said the support structure on a wide stance is bigger stronger muscles (chest shoulders) narrow is traps and neck they fatigue faster.
i do about 75% of my training on my road bike, rest on my tri bike (which is set up pretty aggressively). road bike is far more comfortable for training in my opinion especially if it’s hilly like my area, unless i guess you had really slack angles set up on a real comfy tri bike. i do move the road bike seat forward a few cm’s though so that the muscles used aren’t much different between setups
as your arms come back toward your torso your go from stretching out and resting on musculature of your back shoulders neck to skeletal with a direct line from your hands to shoulders.
i think this hit it spot on. perhaps it is one of my biomechanical issues that cause my higher levels of discomfort when slightly more stretched out on the road bike. admittedly, the road bike was not a good fit, but the question was posed due to concern that even a bike well fit to me would also be uncomfortable. the question is most likely outside of the scope of even the best online advice and could only be answered by a long test ride (which is usually hard to come by), but i thought i would ask if this experience was common to others in an attempt of getting a better idea if the problem is indeed mainly biomechanical. probably too many variables for a concrete answer, but i thought i would pose the question anyway and at worst recieve a slight indication. so far, looks like most people find their road bikes more comfortable.