Originally Posted by
oldacura
So I had a bike fit (on my single bike). My intent was to try to migrate the saddle position & bar position to our tandem.
The fitter changed my single pretty radically. Cleats on shoes moved from far forward to far back. Saddle moved down & back. Bars moved up & back.
I've ridden the single on several short rides. It seems to be more comfortable initially but I find that the new position takes weight off my shoulders/arms/hands and transfers the strain to my lower back. My "core" has always been weak and this new position makes that more obvious. At the end of a short ride, my hands are no longer numb but my lower back is really sore. Aside from doing exercises to strengthen my lower back & abs, I'm just trading one complaint for another.
Gotta grin at that one. Can't fix weak with fit. One of my mantras. Aging just makes that more apparent. Heck, when we were 20, we didn't know what "bike fit" meant because it didn't really matter. It matters more when we get old and weak, but it's not really a fix. In lieu of working out at a gym,
Core Advantage offers a way forward. Just riding a lot is also a fix. It'll gradually get better. My system is "make my back hurt like hell, then rest it. Repeat."
Unlike numb hands, back pain is fixable. Numb hands never goes away, they only get worse until they're non-functional.