Stick or Twist

Griff75

Just a quick question which I'm hoping you'll be able to help me with. I currently own a Giant FCR3 (flat bar racer) size L (55.5cm I think). I'm 6'2 and have found my back gets quite sore after about 20km of non stop riding. I've been told this is because the frame size might be too small for me. I wanted to change anyway to drop bars but was looking for advice on whether to completely change to a new bike in a different siuze frame (was thinking Giant Defy 3.5 or Carrera Vanquish) or pay to convert my current bike to drops with a longer stem?

Sorry if its a bit long winded but any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Monty Dog

A sore back is more often a sympton of poor flexibility and core muscle strength - particularly due to over-reaching. Fitting drop bars may worsen the situation because you are reaching further forward. It's very difficult to make an accurate diagnosis, but suggest that you either get a bike fit done or at least an extended ride on the bike of your choice before you commit your readies. 20 minutes every morning doing stretches, crunches and back-raises may help you far more than a new bike.

Suffolkwheels

Interesting post. I'm new to road biking and get the same thing after about 1 hour of solid riding. I have to stop, stretch and let my lower back muscles 'sort themselves out' before I can get back to it.

I recently had a bit of physio and Monty Dog is spot on; my lower back pain was/is mainly caused by poor core muscle strength. For me, this was created by poor posture; I work in an office and spend long periods driving and basically slouched a lot!

So basically, +1 for Monty Dog's advice.

Griff75

Thanks guys - very helpful - wouldn't be a bad idea to increase the core exercises. I suppose! In my own mind I have decided I'd prefer drop bars now anyway although I agree that a good bike fitting (which I never got done originally) would be worthwhile before committing.

Monty Dog

Just to let you know, I've been cycling seriously for over 25 years, I still race but I still periodically suffer from lower back trouble that means that core exercise is still something I have to do.