Back Soreness

[Turkle]

I recently totally eliminated lower back pain in the exact same manner that everyone else is describing - I moved my seat forward 1.5 cm. Instantly 100% better. Night and day. It's nice when things are that easy. It also seems to have eliminated numbness in my feet - maybe a nerve was getting pinched back there? But I'm going to wait a while to see if that holds true.

Rode 100 miles the other day without any discomfort whatsoever!

[giordana93]

I have very similar body type to you. 5'9" and 31 cycling inseam (30" jeans/pants). Anyhoo, had never heard of the move forward for back pain solution in my 40 years of riding, but I definitely like it better than the "raise bars at all costs" reply.

A few things to consider:
you are probably on a smaller than average frame. I have not taken many breaks since the 80s so I am still sporting a Lemond-inspired fit on a 52 seat tube 53.5 top tube absolutely classic geometry. but many small bikes in the 52 range have a steep seat tube, like 74-75, which might work for some but limits setback to take weight off hands when it pushes 75. fwiw, my setback range is around 4-6 cm on a normal, non stubby saddle, with 2+ inches of drop. Endurance geometry is the opposite of what I/we need as those frames work best for people with long legs, short bodies--very similar to "women-inspired" designs. are your arms proportional to legs or body? (do you wear a short jacket, for example?) Reach and drop increase with arm length


what works for me is to avoid curling the back and instead do the pelvic roll forward (gotta find a seat that works, I am a fan of new, short-nosed perches, but they do tend to push me forward). To do that, hamstring flexibility or a low enough saddle to allow the roll, is more important than core strength

final thoughts:
climbing can work the back over. age catches up with all of us. fitness and activity play a role too. My back is a little tender right now. No hills but in a deep tuck trying to hold the 30mph pace before getting spit out by the younguns, then drilling it home with the rest of the group. Kind of like a sore butt, sometimes you have to pay the man. When it gets chronic, mess with fit, but not for occasional aches and pains, especially as years pile on. I do a 14mph recovery ride at least once a week or so. Not by coach's order, body just needs it, and I get to check out the scenery in a relaxed position.

Yoga is the bomb for this kind of thing too. I never practice but there are some fantastic poses that help to stretch and build core.

[fourflys]

Originally Posted by giordana93

A few things to consider:
you are probably on a smaller than average frame. I have not taken many breaks since the 80s so I am still sporting a Lemond-inspired fit on a 52 seat tube 53.5 top tube absolutely classic geometry. but many small bikes in the 52 range have a steep seat tube, like 74-75, which might work for some but limits setback to take weight off hands when it pushes 75. fwiw, my setback range is around 4-6 cm on a normal, non stubby saddle, with 2+ inches of drop. Endurance geometry is the opposite of what I/we need as those frames work best for people with long legs, short bodies--very similar to "women-inspired" designs. are your arms proportional to legs or body? (do you wear a short jacket, for example?) Reach and drop increase with arm length

Thanks! so I don't wear short sleeves as far as I can tell.. my wingspan is roughly the same as my height (within .5 of an inch I'd say)..

[giordana93]

Originally Posted by fourflys

So thought I would pulse the collective here.. I will say it sucks being off the bike for ~10 yrs and then coming back with all of your preconceived notions of how your fitness, etc should be..

Up front, I will say I realize I need to ride more and gain more core strength..

Having said that, I had an observation that led to a "am I doing it right?" question..

At 5'9" with a true 31" inseam, I have short legs for my height.. most traditional saddle height formulas have me around a 68cm saddle height. When I have my saddle at 68cm, I will typically get soreness in my lower back, right above/at where I bend forward. If I lower my saddle height, the pain goes away..

so that's good you say, the pain is gone! well, at that saddle height I have, what I assume, is too much knee bend at the bottom of my pedal stroke..

could I just have a wonky body mechanics thing going on? Do I just need to ride more and gain core strength and eventually raise my saddle back to ~68cm?

The other weird thing is I tend to have to push my saddle pretty far back on the rails (with a set-back post) to get to a point where I don't get numbness in my hands.. again, I realize some of that is core strength..

Thoughts?

so as you push the seat back, you have to lower it to maintain the same theoretical leg extension. I wouldn't worry about too much knee bend if you are not having pain there. The question then becomes why you need it that far back. If your setback is more than 5 or 6 cm (nose to bottom bracket on normal length saddle; add/subtract about 2.7 cm for short-nosed saddles), I would call that excessive and suggest you look at the saddle angle (it should be mostly flat) to make sure a dropped nose isn't pitching you forward and putting weight on the hands, then causing the excess setback to compensate.

tight hamstrings also bring the saddle down