Ergonomics and comfort issues

[Mymojoe]

Hi, looking for some advice. recently bought an Ebike, however I am getting shoulder pain after every ride and sometimes during the ride.

I ride lots of dirt bikes and have no issues, only since I starting riding my new ebike. I tried different bars, however that made it worse.

Joe

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

In majority of cases installing a riser bar helps. What size is your frame? If too big you could be leaning too far forward. If so, a riser bar plus a shorter stem might help but best to have the right size frame.

 

[Mymojoe]

thanks, it is to a point I can't stand riding it... which is not cool for a $6k bike. I have put on different bars, and adjustable stem. and can't find a way to stop the neck and shoulder pain. Frame is large, i am 6ft 1 should be perfect.

bike is a Giant E Trance 1 Pro

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

Compare the geometry (wheelbase, handlebar height, saddle to stem reach, etc) to a previous bike that didn’t give you any trouble. If there’s no significant difference then it’s not the geo.

Check your fork tuning. Is the lock-out lever on? Or is the lock feature permanently stuck regardless of lever position? Is it over pressurised (not enough sag)?

Have you tried replacing the handlebar grips to your previous brand/type?

 

[Cavi]

also might want to tweak the seat angle just slightly, raise the nose like a couple of mm this will force more weight back and hence less on the shoulders, but also shorter stem and higher bars and even tilted back to yow slightly. Also the ergonomic grips that have wrist rests. Also, the adjustable stems are usually longer and push the bars forward in addition to higher, you need closer to you

 

[flash]

I assume you've done your cockpit setup properly? Have you looked at bar roll and bar width? Often shoulders are related to where your elbows are pointing while riding. 800mm wide bars don't suit everybody. Maybe move your saddle forward slightly or lower it a smidge. Adjustable stems aren't for MTB's.

Gordon

 

[slippery pete]

The problem seems so severe I would ask to get someone to observe you and the bike. Best to observe you actually in action on the bike doing the sort of riding that brings on the painful sensations. Much easier to see standout problems in person than over a forum. But not ruling out that something very subtle can have big knock-on effects.

Just one thought compared to dirt bikes... EMTBs aren't heavy like dirt bikes are. The suspended mass is dominated by the rider, not the bike. The techniques are subtly different between the two disciplines and setup is different too - even more so with even lighter non-E mountain bikes.

If you're getting pain and not just discomfort, something isn't working right. If it gets to the stage of chronic injury you have to take recovery seriously - avoid the activity that is aggravating the injury. My first ride on my 2019 enduro bike triggered tendonitis in my elbow. I reverted to the bar shape I'd used successfully for years before but still had to take time off.

Don't discount other aspects of your lifestyle predisposing you to this injury. If your eMTB riding is, say, 5 hours a week, that still means 95% of your waking time is "doing other things". If a lot of that is seated or repetitive activity, many aspects of posture and habit can build up into a latent vulnerability that the eMTB is just bringing out.

There's weird detail stuff as well. Brake levers tilted down too low can raise your elbows and pass stress onto the shoulders.

I've seen a lot of good recommendations in other responses. I'm just advising you take a big picture view as well as looking at little details.

 

[Mymojoe]

Some great responses here, thank you.

I will make some of the suggested adjustments and have gone back to standard bars and head stem. If still no success, I will track down a local cycle fitting specialist. I do have some old injuries, but they seem to have only been aggravated since I started riding my newly purchased ebike.

Joe

 

[cep32]

I found the same thing when I moved to an emtb from a standard mtb. After 12 months of physio set shoulder strengthening exercises I can now ride with no pain at all. In my case it was all to do with the muscle structure not being up to the task of managing the higher speeds and loads. It might be worth talking to your GP or physio about it.

 

[Mikerb]

Emtb and especially 29ers tend to put more strain in general on the upper body so some upper body weight training can help to prepare you. Where exactly the majority of that stress impacts does largely depend on riding style. Transfer of too much strain on the shoulders suggests to me one of 2 main causes. First an overly stiff fork and second riding with straight arms not bent at the elbow.
A lot of the brands spec their forks with factory set firm damping due to the extra weight and loads of an emtb. In my experience that tends to make it difficult to tune the fork to be plush yet progressive. There are fixes depending on the fork but an easy one is to keep the rebound setting close to full fast and low speed compression close to open.
Riding with elbows bent outward enables flex rather than shocks being transferred to your shoulders. It is a matter of style but also requires a good cockpit position in terms of bar width and rise.

 

[urastus]

Are you conscious of weight on your hands? If so your body position might be wrong. And of course, is your hand gripping hard? Try to think of those two things next time you ride. If yes to either then you can look at remedying it.

 

[OldGoatMTB]

If it's that severe you should see your doctor.

 

[B1rdie]

Ebikes really stress the upperbody much more than bikes do. Some warming up before starting to ride on rough terrain could help, I have noticed that whenever I started a ride going down the street I live, my knees hurted much more than when the ride begun with some climbing. The warm up gives a chance for the joints and ligaments to be irrigated and lubed. But streching, I only do after the ride or during the long ones.

 

[geehaw]

Ebikes really stress the upperbody much more than bikes do. Some warming up before starting to ride on rough terrain could help, I have noticed that whenever I started a ride going down the street I live, my knees hurted much more than when the ride begun with some climbing. The warm up gives a chance for the joints and ligaments to be irrigated and lubed. But streching, I only do after the ride or during the long ones.

Same issue here. Two things that helped me a lot. 1)When in downhill riding/attack position make sure your front pedal heel is down. This tends to shift the weight back giving both better control and less upper body strain. Amazing what a slight shift in heel position can do. There a few u tube vids look for MTB body position. 2) make sure the brake lever is correctly set. Mine were two high rotating my wrist and causing both hand and shoulder pain.

 

[GrandPaBrogan]

... 2) make sure the brake lever is correctly set. Mine were two high rotating my wrist and causing both hand and shoulder pain.

In addition to this, we often assume that everyone already knows how to operate brake levers properly especially in off-road downhill situations. Or may have unknowingly carried on bad/poor habits from the past prior to getting into MTBiking.

One finger braking allows us to continually hold on to our handlebars as hard as we need to, while allowing our index fingers to remain supple (and resting above the levers) in order to modulate our braking as sensitively as need be. If we habitually let go of our grip in order to apply the brakes, that creates an enormous strain to maintain control when the suspension is bobbing up and down while barreling down a hill. One may not notice the strain on lighter manual bikes, but on much heavier eMTBs this strain can eventually cause muscular pain or injury around wrists, arms, shoulders.

Not saying this is the case with the OP, but it might be beneficial for someone else. As for the too high or too low lever position, this also needs to be addressed and set for a downhill off-the-saddle braking stance where it matters most.