billc
02-19-2013, 12:34 PM
So I figured something out that has worked wonders for me so thought it might help others of you as well. I hope this isn't redundant but I did look for this topic and found only other complaints of the pain that developed between the shoulder blades and up into the neck when riding for any distance at all on a Spyder.
I've owned and ridden a number of trikes in my time (and too many bikes to number) and I found that I could avoid similar pains by locking the outside elbow and using my whole body to lean on that arm. By locking that elbow, it reduced muscle use and that made it feel like I had power-steering when riding. But I tried that with my Spyder and it worsened the situation.
So I tried a bunch of other things and eventually found that the following wiped out all of the pain without having to resort to risers or special handlebars (including the new adjustable one by BRP):
Instead of pushing on the handlebars at all, pull with the inside arm but lock that elbow against your hip, thus leaning forward into the turn and toward the front of the machine.
So, to turn right, PULL on the right handgrip while keeping your right elbow tight to your right side and lean forward a bit to maintain that position throughout the turn.
To turn left, PULL on the left handgrip, keeping your left elbow at your left side, and lean forward and to the left a bit.
That's it! But CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!
Using this steering method creates VERY responsive steering. Even a slight pull with the fingers will make the machine swerve slightly and pulling too hard with the inside hand could cause you to oversteer and crash so BE CAREFUL! But you'll get used to the pull-instead-of-push very quickly and you won't have any problems after you've familiarized yourself with it.
Here's what will get you even with this method if you aren't aware: You'll typically ride on concave surfaces with the right side of the road (in the U.S.) sloping to the right. That means that your machine will want to move toward the right (the lowest side of the road). That means that you'll need to keep a very gentle but nearly constant pressure pulling on the left hand grip to keep your machine going straight down the road. If you forget to do that, your body will do it for you but it will do so by pushing on the right hand grip and you'll end up getting the pain again.
Of course, you keep your outside hand on the grip even though you are totally avoiding the push to be able to maintain control of the steering. All of the pressure, however, is done entirely by pulling; never pushing.
I hope that's a clear explanation and that it helps you as it has me to eliminate the pains that I always used to get between the shoulder blades and up into the back of my neck.
bc
I've owned and ridden a number of trikes in my time (and too many bikes to number) and I found that I could avoid similar pains by locking the outside elbow and using my whole body to lean on that arm. By locking that elbow, it reduced muscle use and that made it feel like I had power-steering when riding. But I tried that with my Spyder and it worsened the situation.
So I tried a bunch of other things and eventually found that the following wiped out all of the pain without having to resort to risers or special handlebars (including the new adjustable one by BRP):
Instead of pushing on the handlebars at all, pull with the inside arm but lock that elbow against your hip, thus leaning forward into the turn and toward the front of the machine.
So, to turn right, PULL on the right handgrip while keeping your right elbow tight to your right side and lean forward a bit to maintain that position throughout the turn.
To turn left, PULL on the left handgrip, keeping your left elbow at your left side, and lean forward and to the left a bit.
That's it! But CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!CAUTION!!! CAUTION!!!
Using this steering method creates VERY responsive steering. Even a slight pull with the fingers will make the machine swerve slightly and pulling too hard with the inside hand could cause you to oversteer and crash so BE CAREFUL! But you'll get used to the pull-instead-of-push very quickly and you won't have any problems after you've familiarized yourself with it.
Here's what will get you even with this method if you aren't aware: You'll typically ride on concave surfaces with the right side of the road (in the U.S.) sloping to the right. That means that your machine will want to move toward the right (the lowest side of the road). That means that you'll need to keep a very gentle but nearly constant pressure pulling on the left hand grip to keep your machine going straight down the road. If you forget to do that, your body will do it for you but it will do so by pushing on the right hand grip and you'll end up getting the pain again.
Of course, you keep your outside hand on the grip even though you are totally avoiding the push to be able to maintain control of the steering. All of the pressure, however, is done entirely by pulling; never pushing.
I hope that's a clear explanation and that it helps you as it has me to eliminate the pains that I always used to get between the shoulder blades and up into the back of my neck.
bc