Originally Posted by
willhub
So all the back pain is being caused by the stem??...
no, the back pain is caused by two things
bad position on the bike
weak core muscles
The bad postion is easy enough to fix and usually just means getting a new stem to put the rider more upright and therefore less pressure on the back and a gives a slightly more upright head postion. Double check with your local bike shop (NOT evans) before changing anything as I could be completely wrong.
Weak core muscles just means doing plank exercises twice a day and crunches as well. See diagrams below for plank exercises - you should do both left and right sides and the face down method always remebering to keep your stomach sucked in during the exercise. After a few weeks you should notice an increase in strength, better posture and, hopefully, reduced back pain.
edit: you're resting on toes/elbows and elbow/foot in the above diagrams - not floating in space
