Back pain & new stem

rockmonkeysc

This week I changed my stem from 90mm to 110mm. The day after my first ride with the new stem fitted I had a bit of back pain, by Friday I couldn't even stand & now, loaded with pain killers I can just about walk. Could it have been the change to my riding position that has wrecked my back or is it just coincidence?

biff55

no coincidence.
small changes to riding position can make big physical differences.
for example , had left knee pain for first few weeks of owning my bike , was completely solved by raising saddle just half an inch.
could try moving seat forward 20mm or go back to original stem.
its what is putting me off trying a shorter stem , reduced overall riding space.

ricardo_smooth

it most likely will be the cause.

stretching out your riding position puts more strain on your lower back.

I'm finding this with a 90mm stem so am looking to go shorter in order to 'sit me up a bit' to help it out

Uchiga

It most probab ly is the differance in stem length. What my brother has done recently actually is buying three or four differant cheap stems of differant length from ebay just so he can try them out on his bike before choosing one he feels is comfortable. And at the end of it he spent no more than buying one completely new stem. Might be worth a go if you really want to change your stem. Of course you could just stick with 90mm again.

rockmonkeysc

I like the extra stability of the longer stem. Maybe I could go back to 90mm or 100mm with a wider handlebar.

Mr Wu

Ive just been through this with my Crush.

Ive tried it with a 110, 90 and 70mm stem.

Bars of 745, 711, 685.

For me, i find it alot more comfortable with the 70mm Stem, 745 bar combo.

Im 6'4 and dont feel cramped up at all. Climbing is obviously different than it was with the 110mm, but ive just changed the way i climb, which surprisingly feels alot better which leads me to think i had a pretty bad technique before.

Im sat a bit more upright, which is ace when the bikes pointing downhill, its alot easier to drop your weight off the back and side to side, the front end pretty much takes care of itself. With the longer stem i found that when cornering i would concentrate on what the front wheel was doing and hope that the back end would follow. Now, with a bit of hindsight it just didnt feel right. When i corner now it just feels a little more in control as my fat arse is over the rear wheel and if the front slips out its alot lighter and easier to control.

rockmonkeysc

I have seen a doctor today and she says I have got sciatica so no riding for 4-6 weeks, bad times
Fortunatly it does mean that it wasnt my bike that caused the problem though I may go back to a shorter stem as I think it may have been poor technique that made me feel that I needed a longer stem.