IANative

My wife and I both got new Roubaix's late last year. We both went through a detailed fitting at the LBS where we bought the bikes. Me- no problems. Wife- back pain. Specifically, low back, right side, in the area normally associated w/ sciatica. After dumping her bike a few months ago and tweaking her saddle, we went back in and had the saddle corrected and the entire fitting re-done, after telling LBS owner of the back pain issue. Needless to say, the back pain is still there.

Now, regarding my wife... excellent physical shape, works out religiously, runs road races (5k and 10k), extremely flexible and has no pain (other than normal muscle stiffness following an intense workout/race) EXCEPT for when she's on her bike. It always starts around the 7-mile mark, and never goes away until after the ride. We did 50 miles during Day 6 of RAGBRAI last Friday, so you imagine how uncomfortable she was for 43 of those miles.

The LBS isn't terribly convenient, location-wise. Can I start safely/responsibly experimenting w/ her saddle position to see if we can aleviate her pain? If so, with which sort of correction/adjustment should I start?

Gallo

This fit calculator is very good.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/za...LCULATOR_INTRO

A fit expert is best

some LBS are good some not so much

performance.com guarantees a saddle fit so you can try a saddle and return it if needed

I rode Ragbrai for the first time this year

good luck

rearviewbeer

No advice from me, but GO HAWKS!

Campag4life

Going to be pretty hard on the internet. Back pain generally for somebody with no medical history, flexible and fit is based upon position on the bike and technique...cadence, posture etc.
A picture of her on the bike in profile on the hoods would be a pretty good place to start unless you want to start posting metrics of her bike and her to see if they line up. I would say more have back pain for being too cramped more than too stretched out so a hazard guess is she is riding too upright...but that is only a trend based upon what I see on the road and on this forum.
I am a Roubaix owner as well.
Good luck.

ColinL

I agree with C4L-- super tough to diagnose and assist on the interwebs.

However, I will try. Because my wife is fit exactly like yours, and she had exactly the same problem last year. We changed the saddle and tuned her setback. Did not touch the bars or stem.

Mostly, I think, it was just riding more. Though she's super fit, she rides less than 100 miles a month. So if your wife is well above that, it could be that my example is no longer valid.

mtbikerinpa

Agreed. Saddle type/position is big, sometimes reach and grip angle is bigger. If the bar is too straight it can transfer stress through the hands/arms and affect weight distribution. Lastly, shoe cleats are adjustable and shimmable because many people are asymetrical. If it is exlusively one side it is possible that side is shorter and needs a reach or shim adjustment at the shoe pedal interface.

Nachoman

I'd first try raising the handlebar. Higher riding position reduces strain on the low back.

Terex

If no physical problems (that you're aware of...), then bike fit is first. Could be as simple as seat height. See : https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/...ard-can-it-be/

In general, search Steve Hogg's web site for other tips.

It could also be spine support issues. Spine support exercises are similar to but not the same as core development. See Foundation by Park and Goodman. https://bicyclelab.com/interview-pete...-eric-goodman/

ursle

Seems the concensus is get another opinion from another bike fitter, but I'd bring an allen wrench and adjust away from pressure, up, down, back forward, nose up, nose down, 7 miles each or different days.
jmho but (most, some,newer,) riders have the saddle to high and just put their body weight on their bones every revouloution, compressing nerves is going to eventually show up, if her knees were the problem I'd reccomend raising the seat

009jim

How is her core strength? You might be in great shape from running and doing gym work but poor core strength will allow your back to flex too much when you're on the bike and thus put pressure on the lower discs. By core strength I mean the lower muscles of the back specifically and the sides and front.

ultraman6970

IANative, the back pain could be several things, starting for the most obvious thing, a saddle tilted back. It could be other things but is hard to tell you w/o at least checking up the bike. If you could post a picture of the bike and your wife seated in the bike that could work better.

The reason of back pain unless the rider has other physical issues. Is because the weight distribution is wrong, in this case too much weight in the back of the bike, since the contact point in the back of the bike is the saddle the lower back is the one that suffers.

Causes of back pain:

Saddle tilt wrong, level the saddle or tilt it down a couple of mms or just level it using a level.

Saddle too low.

Saddle seat back, with some guys is too back with others is too front, never noticed a consistent way to know if one or the other one. Sorry.

If the saddle height is ok then flip the stem (if the stem is going up), that will shift the weight to the front of the bike.

If the saddle height is ok and stem is already flipped, lower the stem 2 or 3 mm at a time, no way to know if she might need more because is just personal. Maybe 2 or 3 mm will be enough, maybe more, test.

The other thing is style, if your wife have the bad custom (bad style) of seating in the back of the saddle, i mean back like... half of the butt off the saddle then you have another issue that IMO is kind'a mayor because i have noticed that women that have that style of riding have back pain no matter what you do to adjust it. When you pay a LBS for a fitting they will fit you, if the riding style sucks they wont address that at all, same with bad riding customs riders have.

To finish hope what i'm saying makes sense to you, because to get rid off issues sometimes you dont need to pay the guy and if the guy makes a suggestion and the rider style is not good then you have problems and the one that will be blamed is the fitter. Post a picture could help to figure it out better what could be wrong.

Good luck.

I <3 Robots

I had a similar issue with my left lower back. Got a fit and it turned out that my saddle was too low and far back. Pain is now gone.

Looigi

Certainly make sure the fit is correct but don't necessarily go chasing the problem. It takes time to develop conditioning and for the body to adapt to riding a bike. People make changes to fit or equipment and credit that with curing problems but as often as not the problem resolved itself due to them having been riding longer and adapting.

rdtompki

I can't comment on the specifics of the problem, but I know from personal experience that being very fit in one sport can cause some issues transitioning to another. I'm very fit cycling wise, but on business travel I will frequently have to use hotel exercise machines and I can relatively easily strain a muscle trying to get my HR up because I don't have the specific muscle development for that equipment. The recumbent exercise machines are an excellent case in point; the Q-factor is absurd, the cranks are too long and leg muscles/glut use is very different from on a road bike. Although the OP's wife is experiencing asymmetrical symptoms, this might simply be the result of one set of leg muscles more developed than the other. I ran marathons for years into my 40's with a bit of leg-strength asymmetry and while I never had a problem running, the lateral strength difference might have produced symptoms when cycling.

banerjek

There's some reasonable advice in this thread. When you start experimenting, just make incremental adjustments and change one thing at a time so you can figure out cause and effect. It will probably take a few weeks to get things figured out.

eippo1

Second opinions are a good thing. Perhaps she sees a different fitter at same or different shop. We often suggest that people see a different fitter if they come in for a refit at the shop where I work.

boze

If you got a fitting then they should fix the problem for her with another visit - or try to at least - so it might be worth the trip.

You might also say a bit more about the "detailed fitting" was like. I just had a professional fitting and I was sent three measurements at the end: saddle to center of crank, saddle tip to middle center of bar ("reach"), and amount of drop from saddle to bars. So in theory I should be able to take my other bike and make it match those numbers and as long as my leg is positioned correctly over the pedal I'm good.

Another wrinkle, although not part of the central conversation here: I've been training on a rower a lot more lately and I'm no longer experiencing back pain from sitting at work all day or being on the couch at night. So +1 to the post about adding core strength.

rm -rf

I got back pain on a long, very steep climb. I was pushing hard on the pedals at very low cadence. Does she spin the cranks at a reasonably fast cadence, or grind away at a low cadence?

mmmdonuts

New rider? Do you know what type and source of the pain? Probably needs more time on the bike to build up the specific muscles that are bothering her.

berner

As a long time back pain sufferer, I've become fairly expert in dealing with my own situation and may be of help to your wife. Most of us are way more sedentary than our hard working ancestors. The result of hard work is a body with a strong core. A strong core, in turn, supports every other activity. Since your wife experiences no difficulty from running, it is relatively safe to assume there are no degenerative discs. I would also tend to assume the bike fitter is moderately competent so that her position on the bike is reasonable. There could be a leg length difference but bike fitters check for that. I do know from my own bike fit that apparently minor adjustments in foot beds, cleat placement, saddle position and handlebar can have a seemingly disproportionate effect on comfort.

My best guess is the main issue is lack of core strength. A safe prescription would be to work on the core and in the meantime, raise the handle bar by flipping the stem or installing a stem with more rise and maybe bringing the bars a bit closer to the saddle. The changes would be cheap to try and present no danger.

Campag4life

Core strength advocates remind me of top tube fit guys on 41. It doesn't take a tremendous core to ride a road bike fast or long.
Core stength is widely misunderstand. Of course it takes some basic fitness to ride a road bike and his wife has that.
If you hold yourself up with your core on your road bike you are riding wrong. Any top cycling coach knows this. Muscles enlisted to hold the torso in place rob energy to the pedals and inhibit breathing. An effortless position on a roadbike is achieved through proper weight distribution fore and aft...not holding your torso in position with your core.

IANative

Not to diminish any of the other responses- I see potential value in nearly all of them- but, this question is very interesting to me. She does not ride at an elevated pace. I've encouraged her to try to "go faster," but her response has always been, "I don't care how fast I am; I want to accumulate distance." However, because she wants to feel as if she's getting a "good workout," she rides at a slow candence in a high gear. (For example, if I'm on the 3rd largest cog, easily spinning along at 15mph, she's likely in the 3rd smallest cog, doing the same speed.)

As for questions regarding her core strength, I don't believe it's an issue at all. A graduate of P90x and Insanity, she continues to incorporate core training from both of those programs into her regimen at least twice a week. I think her overall core fitness far outshines my own.

rumrunn6

try a different bike altogether. did this happen on her last bike?

dimachka

There's your answer right there. Mashing at her pedals is bound to cause back pain. Get her a cadence computer and convince her to stay above 90, likely the problem will be solved.

Machka 

Is her current saddle flat or curved up slightly in the back?

I'm a long distance cyclist who has discovered that I greatly prefer a saddle that curves up in the back. I tried a completely flat saddle once, and did some longish rides with it, but really suffered with lower back pain. Returned to a curved saddle, and the pain was gone. Tried another flat saddle, and the lower back pain returned. Now all my saddles curve up in the back a bit.