Lower back ache when road riding

For some reason I’ve started doing some road riding which is all fine and dandy and I’m quite enjoying it.
The only downside at the moment is that after doing about 20 miles I start getting an ache in my lower back (coccyx area) which becomes annoying after a while.
I think this could be due to:
not being used to riding position
wrong seat/position
bad posture
all of the above
Should I just MTFU and get on with it or should I try and change something?

do you do any stretching?

err, no 😳

I get lower back ache on my mountain bike but not on my road bike.

I reckon that its either not being used to the position, or maybe not being stretched out enough (ie. my road bike has a longer reach than my mtb).

I’m planning a longer, lower stem on the mtb to see if that helps.

It’s from pushing too big a gear usually. I can be related to flexibility but not necessarily – more often you need to try to build better core stability

it will go over time. i used to get neck and back pain constantly…

don;t get any at all any more, recently got a touch when changing stems, think its just not being used to the position.

I’d look at saddle height – if it’s wrong can lead to you either dropping your hip as the pedal reaches the bottom of each stroke if too high or you using your back too much if too low.

I used to suffer from lower back and neck ache after about 30 miles.

What improved it was to tweak my riding position i.e. saddle position, stem height and saddle height, concentrating on keeping a straight back and increasing my core strength.

Only time I ever get aches now is if I do a hilly 70 mile ride, but that’s getting easier and my core gets stronger.

Quick solution would be a professional bike fit. HTH.

i got that when getting back on the road bike after a winter off it. (Now i’m riding more road, it’s gone away)

I put it down to losing the muscle shape of my lower back, and having to re-adapt to being more stretched.

Do some stretching. I don’t stretch enough, but when I do I notice a BIG difference when on the road.

For Lower back pain I’d look at torso position whilst pedalling. Being too cramped on a road bike will cause your lower back issues. But its a can of worms your saddle may need moving back or down or handle bar position may need moved forward or down etc etc. Play around with it, it takes time to find the perfect position.

I get lower back pain from being too stretched out, just to contradict anc!

Yeah that could also be the cause.. but most commonly it would be a cramped position, especially when mtber’s are venturing into road bikes they tend to set them up similar to their mtb… which don’t work on the road.

Because you spend more time in one more or less static position bar/seat set up is far more critical than mtb’s where you constantly adjust your position.Its not as easy as ‘make it shorter,longer,lower’ etc.Its taken me a while to fine tune my riding position and quite a few stems,handlebars and seats to achieve it (especially as its across two different bikes)!Not helped by the fact as I’ve ridden more the ‘ideal’ position has changed as I’ve become more flexible and my riding posture has improved.
I’m not a huge fan of professional bike fits either which seem based on some fairly arbitary ‘rules’.
Getting back on the mtb does feel like being on a beach cruiser now though!!!

Stretching +1
Saddle height +1
Big gears +1

What they said.

Thanks guys. I’ve just got a Romin saddle so I can now start adjusting things slightly. I did originally have the seat a little too high and lowering has helped a bit.
Interesting about the big gears thing.

Interesting responses – what kind of stretching / core exercises would people recommend?

Yoga 😳

Hi Sharkbait,

I see a lot of people with a lot of different causes for lower back pain, the suggestions above are all good, but try to restrict yourself to one at a time to see what has the most benefit. Is the pain fairly central or down one side or the other? A lot of folk sometimes have some instability of the joints between pelvis and sacrum which can be more pronounced with longer time spent in the saddle.

A slightly tipped back (nose up) saddle can also create the problem, what happens is the pelvis sits on the saddle, but is forced into tipping backwards, this means your spine then starts out going backwards and has to flex a lot more to “catch up” in order for you to reach the bars.

Saddle height and fore/aft position can also activate different muscles and put others at a disadvantage leading to aching lower back muscles.

There’s a few others that I won’t go into details as it just sounds like physio mumbo jumbo unless you can demonstrate to someone. At risk of sounding like I’m selling myself (I try not to do that), drop me a line if you want any more advice. Email on website.

Good luck,

Richard
http://www.pedalprecision.com

Yoga or pilates are good. I had major lower back problems a few years ago, went to yoga for a few months and continue with a lot of the stretches and dont get anything like that pain anymore.

I also stretch during rides, may get slagged from your mates but better that than being in pain, I guess….

DickieS: Thanks for that info. The bit about the spine heading out backwards makes a lot of sense and think I’m going to start with the saddle postion and see if that helps.