Flipping the stem right for me?

[cyberknight]

I have been suffering from lower back pain and numb hands.

After much furtling i have moved the saddle all the way forward which helped and as a final guess i have flipped the stem to give me a bit of a more upright position as i found the drops a bit of a reach.

Has anyone any experience with this and have i done the right thing?

Bloke at work who is a really experienced cyclist says the bike i bought is really 2 cm to big as i bought it off ebay i guess the guy did not take into consideration the sloping top tube when measuring it and i did not know better at the time .

 

[Crankarm]

I hope your adjustments make you comfortable. The moral of the story is no bike will be comfortable to ride if it is the wrong size. So however cheap it was it will still be a waste of money unless of course you can sell it on without loss.

 

[cyberknight]

Maybe it was cheap but it was the only way i could get a road bike .If i did sell it the money would go on silly things like food

 

[XmisterIS]

How about replacing the drop bars with flat bars or risers? Or turning the bars upside down?

I have lower back problems and drop bars give me back ache + numb hands, no matter what size the bike is!

I have a flat-bar road bike.

 

[cyberknight]

I think i need a shorter stem TBH the one in the bike is a 110 mm (threadless with a 25.4 mm handlebar) and maybe some spacers to reduce my reach as it does seem i struggle to reach the bars .

I was just seeing if flipping the stem would make any difference.

Thanks for the input though.

 

[cyberknight]

Update.

Forked out £10 for a smaller stem with a upward angle.

My <Insert diety of choice > !!

First time i have ever used the bike and not had numb hands, back seems ok as well so far