Too small mtn bike = shoulder/back issues...?

[limewave]

I agree that a too small of a bike can cause back problems, having a bike that fits properly--as you already know--is very important.

Also take in consideration that mountain biking uses your muscles differently than road riding. Whenever I take newbies out for trail rides they often complain about back and shoulder pain--usually from using those muscles in a new way. Part of that is their core muscles aren't conditioned to that style of riding. It's typical for new riders to use the death grip on the handlebars—nerves causing them to tense up. That tension causes stress on the muscles (especially shoulders and back).

Another cause of back pain is a bad pedal stroke--pulling too much on the upswing. It's common for a lot of us that use clipless pedals to adapt that type of pedal stroke. How many times have I been told to pull up on the the pedal! when climbing? A million times. But that can actually be really bad for your back. Here is a good blog post on pedal stroke.

One more common cause for back pain: tight hips and leg muscles. Here are some stretching tips.

Welcome to the world of trail riding!!!

[zoom-zoom]

All good things to know and think about, thanks LW! I didn't know about the pedaling thing...I'll definitely want to keep that in mind in the future. I've thought about the benefits of flat pedals off-road. I need to learn to keep my feet from flying off the pedals when I hit bumps, though.

I'm thinking it's probably the bike size, though. Last week when we went out and I was on my larger Cdale I didn't have any unreasonable pains (rode 65 miles on my road bike the following day), aside from my bruises.

Sat. was a MUCH easier ride (mostly on the rail trail, just a little bit of easy and really slow singletrack), but my back was angry for 3 days after that. That's the longest time I've been on that bike, so I suspect that that's the issue. The pain was concentrated in the middle of my back, not my lower back or arms (though it started to sort of radiate outwards after a day or so). Until Sat. I never did more than 4-5 miles on the weds. night rides, so I was never on that teeny bike long enough to really stress those mid-back/shoulderblade muscles.

I think we are going to try DS on the tiny Salsa. It will probably be a really perfect fit for him, since I think he's right around 5'.