Back pain on Aero Bars

Possibly, but another possibility is that you're straining your neck too much by trying to look far up the road. On aerobars, I typically take a look up the road once every few seconds (out the tops of my eyes and keeping my head as low as possible), and let my neck relax the rest of the time by looking at the road 10-15 feet in front of my wheel. FWIW, I'm not one of those people you'll see riding aerobars through town, because of the limited visibility and access to brakes. I only do it when the roads are pretty wide open.

I'm not sure I'd recommend aero bars for a newbie. Just riding for hours at a time takes a bit of adaptation from the body (learning to relax the arms, shoulders and neck, etc.), and doing it in aerobars is another step to make as well. Have you at least been riding long enough that you can do ~2-3 hours rides comfortably (without aero bars)?

frenchyge said:

Possibly, but another possibility is that you're straining your neck too much by trying to look far up the road. On aerobars, I typically take a look up the road once every few seconds (out the tops of my eyes and keeping my head as low as possible), and let my neck relax the rest of the time by looking at the road 10-15 feet in front of my wheel. FWIW, I'm not one of those people you'll see riding aerobars through town, because of the limited visibility and access to brakes. I only do it when the roads are pretty wide open.

I'm not sure I'd recommend aero bars for a newbie. Just riding for hours at a time takes a bit of adaptation from the body (learning to relax the arms, shoulders and neck, etc.), and doing it in aerobars is another step to make as well. Have you at least been riding long enough that you can do ~2-3 hours rides comfortably (without aero bars)?

No, I haven't, and your probably right. I'll take the advice. I can give up the extra 1 - 1.5 mph for a while. Thanks for the advice.