Sore lower back with new stem fitted

unixnerd

When I bought my latest road bike at the end of last year I found it's 110mm stem gave me a bit of a sore back so I put on a 90mm with a slight up angle. Weather was so bad over the winter I went cross country skiing most days for four months then mountain biking as the weather improved. I've not had this bike out nearly as much as I'd have liked. Any long road runs have been on my tourer. Didn't help that I got a new mtb last month and have been using it at the expense of the road bike.

Anyway, I've maybe clocked up 200 miles on it and thought it'd be time to try putting the old 110mm stem on, it has a slight down angle too. I feel a lot happier with it when I'm down on the drops and my riding position is lower. Seems to work much better.

Trouble is I'm getting a bit of lower back pain after maybe 20 miles. Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of the time is on the drops. Will my 42 year old body learn to stretch out a bit as time goes by or do I need to change something?

Will tilting the saddle slightly forwards help? (for the record the saddle gets pretty uncomfortable at about the same time and I end up moving around on it trying to ease the pain).

I hope the good weather stays, mountain biking is all very well but it's nothing like as hard a workout as the road bike. My fitness is nowhere near where it should be for this time of year.

JimmyK

my 2007 trek 1000 had a bontrager 100mm stem and i was getting a sore neck, i got a ritchey 90mm stem and fitted the bike with it. im 40 and 5 ft 9 inches in height, the difference between the two stems in terms of rider comfort has been a revelation for me. id say your issue may be to do with your seat position, as far tilting the seat up, sore knackers will follow . i buy udderly smooth chamois cream from wiggle and i also got a charge spoon saddle ..............no more sore @rse for me !! also, check the fore / aft position of your saddle too.

ut_och_cykla

Go back to your shorter stem - you needed it when you bought it and you most likely need it more now. What you lose in aero back flatness you will gain in being able to pedal longer and more comfortably.

sandbag

You don't endure pain with a new position, hoping it improve as fitness improves. You need to be naturally comfortable full stop. The more naturally comfortable you are, the more you ride your bike. This means getting correct bike fit, from the start.

Can't understand why you went back to the 110mm stem when it gave you much discomfort. Sounds like your over reaching, too long top tube, stem too long, handlebars too low etc. and getting back ache as a result. You end up riding your bike less or in your case, you choose another bike!

Back ache is a sign of a weak back. Muscles that are in pain around the spine shut down. You need to do some core strenghing exercises. The best 1 exercise i know for stenghing all of back is the "The Swing" with a 12KG or 16KG kettlebell.

Some say a really short stem is too twitchy steering. That is crap. You just get used to it and is more responsive. I have used 80mm 45 deg(60mm) stems and is fine.

Tilting your saddle down will do nothing for better reach. It will only alleviate pain from nether regions. Sliding saddle forward and back is bad idea, it directly affects the amount of pedal torque and power.

It comes down to 4 things. Right size frame - top tube length, head tube length, stem length and stem height. A short head tube length ie.smaller frame can be compensated with a raised or adjustable stem.

You can see how shorter a adjustable stem gets, as it gets higher here.
http://www.habcycles.com/fitting.html

unixnerd

Main reason for going back to the old stem was that I felt a bit cramped with the 90mm. I also wanted to get down and out of the wind a bit more.

But you're right, there's no point having back pain if I can avoid it. Ho hum.

unixnerd

Tried tilting the saddle slightly forwards and it made a big difference, much less back pain and greatly reduced saddle pain. Amazing the difference a tiny adjustment can make.

I'd love to get a proper bike fitting but that's easier said than done when you live in the Highlands! I don't even know of anyone who does them in Edinburgh / Glasgow.

chrisw12

Thank God for the search feature, I was going to post that I didn't agree completely with what 'sandbag' said, but I did my homework and found the thread about downward pointing saddles that sandbag greatly participated on. :shock: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... c&start=40


So I now say, I agree completely with sandbag and I'm off to buy a big kettle. :roll: