Originally Posted by
Trakhak
Carbonfiberboy is right. Many new riders think that a more upright position is easier on the back, but the opposite is true. The more upright the position, the greater the compression forces on the spine from road shock. Think of riding with clip-on aero bars as the equivalent of doing a back-stretching exercise for hours on end.
Yeah that's just not true at all. Maybe if you're only thinking about road shock but you ignore pedaling dynamics that way. I blew up my back in 2010 riding a bike with too much drop. Wound up in surgery and got all new bikes in the end. 10 years later I now ride a Defy Advacned and can do 100 miles plus with no back issues.
The reality is that a proper fit is essential and if riding is giving you back pain the fit is probably wrong for your body and fitness level...not matter how cool it looks.