Lower Back Pain

[rsvdaz]

just moved off a spesh rockhopper to my first road bike..spesh secteur.

Im 5-11/6-0 I tried the 56 and 58 frame and felt more comfy on the 58

the LBS did turn the headstock upside down so the handlebars wasnt so extreme and said we can turn it back on the first service..he also said we can look at the length and possible put a shorter one on

I went out on last night..and apart from getting used the gearing..i noticed i was starting to get a bit of lower back pain after about 12 miles..i only did 18 in total

is this to be expected and my body will get used to it? would the shorter headstock help this?

I'm 41 years of age..ive ridden sports motorbikes that have a nose down stance and was fairly used to a cramped / nose down ride and heavy on the wrists...lthough it was 3 years ago i was last on a m/bike

also the muscle in the palm of my hand where my thumb attaches is sore..will i get used to that?

 

[ttcycle]

hi and welcome

As a short answer give yourself a couple of weeks to get used to the riding position - the feeling in your hands is usual for getting used to drops but could also indicate that you're set up isn't right but as long as you don't feel too stretched out it's a good start. Give it a bit of time and see how it progresses.

 

[Norm]

How many miles have you done on it in total? You might find that you get used to it, you might find that you need to ensure you move around a bit when riding, you might also find that you are too tense when riding and you need to loosen up and relax.

Unfortunately, though, you might also find that the 58 wasn't the right size for you after all. Whilst the larger frame might have felt more comfortable short term, after an hour in the saddle, the extra reach might be causing issues. The sizes are quite different - top tube of the 58 is 17mm longer and they even use a 110mm stem, compared to the 100mm stem on the 56.

By way of contrast, I'm about the same height as you (although I have short dumpy legs ) and my Secteur is a 54. That has carried me for rides of 4/5 hours without skeletal problems. (Only fitting a 1000cc engine seems to stop my legs aching though ). The point of that comparison is that there are more things than just your height to take into account, inside leg and weight can also be an issue.

Do you ride exclusively on the hoods? If so, try switching between the tops, the hoods and the drops, just to stop you getting fused in one position. This will also reduce the pain in your hands.

The good news is that it should be resolvable. Flipping the stem will make it higher, and fitting a 90mm, or even a 75mm stem will reduce the reach to the bars. Bringing the bars back should both reduce your back pain and reduce the pain in your thumb.

That said, though, I'd do a lot of miles (200? 300?) and make sure that you didn't just need to get used to the new position before doing anything.

 

[rsvdaz]

admittadly ive only done 18miles so far!

I will give it a few weeks and see how we go..planning on a 35mile ride on saturday morning
Actually i do ride a bit tense at the moment..it was dark last night and the roads round 'ere are really pot holed..so probably hanging onto the bars for dear life!

I aso try and sit down when tackling hills...so perhaps I should get out of the saddle more

 

[ChrisKH]

I've got the same reach problems on my Spesh 58 and we're about the same size. I need to get a slightly shorter stem. It does take a while for me to get used to the road bike after using a straight bar bike all week. Some of it could be set-up. I tweaked mine too much the last time I went out and came back with thumb and neck problems.

 

[eldudino]

I've got a 2004 Allez Sport 58cm, I'm a shade under 6" too and I find I get the back pain after about 40-50 miles or so though this threshold has been going up the more I ride - a lot of it is to do with position. I fitted a 90mm stem to mine.

The other thing to think about is you Ape Index - measure your height, then arms outstretched fingertip to fingertip, mine's negative meaning my arm to arm length is less than my height which means I have a short reach but a 32" inseam means I have a comparatively high saddle-BB height (79cm).

All of the above means my new bike will be a size smaller!

 

[Banjo]

Trouble is that standard size bikes dont suit everyone. Im only 5 ft 9 but need a 56cm frame to allow for leg length.This makes the reach too long which initially gave me some lower back pain ,now i am using an 85 mm stem with a raised angle on it.No more back pain in the last 700 miles. I may refit the original stem again to see if I can get used to it but the bike rides fine with the shorter stem so I dont know if its worth the bother and risk of more back ache.

 

[Banjo]

I've got a 2004 Allez Sport 58cm, I'm a shade under 6" too and I find I get the back pain after about 40-50 miles or so though this threshold has been going up the more I ride - a lot of it is to do with position. I fitted a 90mm stem to mine.

The other thing to think about is you Ape Index - measure your height, then arms outstretched fingertip to fingertip, mine's negative meaning my arm to arm length is less than my height which means I have a short reach but a 32" inseam means I have a comparatively high saddle-BB height (79cm).

All of the above means my new bike will be a size smaller!

You have to be a bit cautious in getting a smaller frame to get a shorter reach.

The smaller frame will mean that your seat will end up much higher in comparison to the bars. This means even more stress on your lower back and the length of the reach will be longer than you expect due to the angle downwards.

I ended up having to take my Scott back and change for a larger frame,luckilly the LBS (Tredz) were really good about it.

 

[eldudino]

The smaller frame will mean that your seat will end up much higher in comparison to the bars. This means even more stress on your lower back and the length of the reach will be longer than you expect due to the angle downwards.

The bike I'm getting has quite a tall head tube for the frame size and a moderately high stack height so I think it will be ok. From what I've read, due to my -ve Ape Index, the best course of action is to go with the smaller frame size if I fall between sizes. I'm going to give it a go and see how it feels, the option is there if it's not good.

 

[mr Mag00]

do some stretching too

 

[ASC1951]

It might be worth spending £50 on a proper fitting on a jig once you have a few more miles under your belt. You only need to do that once.

 

[Rob3rt]

also the muscle in the palm of my hand where my thumb attaches is sore..will i get used to that?

I dont have experience of back issues, so cant comment much on this, bar maybe just the harsher riding possition taking some adjusting. Pretty much everyone else has commented on bike sizing too, they know more than me, so ill just say something about your hand pain since i have experienced this.


It could simply be that the bike vibrates more than your other bike on the road and it takes its toll, get some gel padded gloves and see if this helps.

Alternativelly if you were in the drops a lot maybe just the change of pressure point.

Or as in my case, maybe you are just grabbing grabbing at the bars really hard due to feeling less confident, nervous etc for a number of reasons, for example, going faster than you are used to, being in the new riding possition, being very wary of having an accident on the new bike and damaging it or possibly because of the different handling characteristics.


Also you dont need to spend all your time in the drops just because they are there (being a newby I made damn sure I got this into my head early on ), most people seem to ride on the hoods a good portion of the time, me included (and if not on the drops on my fixed which doesnt have hoods, ill spend most of the time holding the top of the drop like a bull bar style handlebar or holding the top of the bar nearish the stem). Dont feel you need to be in a tucked racing possition all the time just because the bike allows this possition to be acheived. Consider the drops as an extension to give you the possibility of more riding possitions rather than feeling forced into suffering their harsher riding possition all the time, the joy of road bikes is many many hand possitions, use them.

To be honest when I see people riding at 3-4 mph weaving through traffic etc in the drops looking unsteady and awkward I just think "wtf are you doing?" not only does it make people look like toddlers wobbling about while trying to ride in a straight line the benefit is null at slow speeds.

 

[Trek Trauma Chris]

As has been mentioned before, the hand pain is probably nerves getting squashed, gel mitts will help to spread the load over the whole hand and alleviate this problem (thats why they were made) also move the hand's around occasionally. Bike set up is very important, go to a good L.B.S. and get this checked. Weak lower back muscles that do not like the riding position (start to strengthen them and stomach as well). Warm up and stretch before your ride (cold muscles do not like being cramped up on a bike) and finally Lower Back Reverse Stretch, this is an exercise that all cyclist's of any types should do, lie on your stomach, totally relax, leg's, bum and back. Raise up onto your elbows and stay there for 2-3 mins still relaxed (floppy, saggy) if you get a pain or ache during this time but it appears to move then thats good, it indicates a tight muscle or a slight disc bulge rather than a spine problem or osteoporosis type problem. Next gently and smoothly place your hands on the floor and try to push yourself up to create a bigger arch, take it easy at first (when I first started this, several years ago I could only do the elbow part thats how tight my back was, now I can straighten my arms out, I do this 2-3 times a day always after a ride and no more back pain, this is apparently also a Yoga exercise) hold for 3-5 secs, smoothly go back down rest 2-3 secs and repeat 5 times. This encourages the muscle's that you have had bent over in the opposite direction for 1-2 hrs to stretch back out again, it helps a disc to re-centre itself and it also encourages the natural curve that should be in your lower back.

 

[rsvdaz]

cheers for the advice everyone!

 

[GreenMambaGreen]

I'm getting lower back pain and I only have straight bars. But I have been very lazy with stretches.

Do them as a warm up, but not from cold, warm down and even on non riding days.

Keep doing stretches gently and regularly until you can put your the flat of your hand on the floor. Can take some time but the more flexible you become the better the back will be on the bike.