Lower back pain

[MrB1obby]

Over the past 3 or so rides, I've been getting lower back pain after about 45mins to an hour on the bike, and this will continue until I get off, or stand on the pedals. When I've been on the pedals and sit back down, it only takes a minute or so for the pain to come back. It's quite annoying as being new to cycling I want to continue further and longer, however I only manage about 2 hours before going home because it's just uncomfortable and It gets to the point where I have put up with enough pain and don't enjoy it at all.

Today I increased my seat height slightly as I knew it was a bit low, however this seemed to make no difference at all. Although the 'saddle' region seemed to hurt a little bit more, I'm prepared to give that time.

I was looking for advice on what needs positioning/moving/adjusting whether it's me or the bike. The bike is a 1980's roadie.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[cyberknight]

Saddle height and saddle set back need to be sorted out 1st , the general guidelines are...
http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html,

you can then look at your reach and how much drop you have from saddle to handlebars, i am guessing you have the quill style stem rather than the newer threadless headsets so if you need to change your reach its a little harder to do but it is still doable.

Have you only just started riding for this long ?, assuming your set up is right it could be a case of getting used to the position and adding some core exercises to give your body support .My personal favourite is the plank

http://www.active.com/cycling/Articles/8-Core-Exercises-for-Cyclists.htm

 

[MrB1obby]

Ok, I'll have a look into that bikefit in more detail and then I'll adjust the bike.

The reach to the handlebars last night on the ride actually felt a lot nicer than normal with the seat slightly higher, although I'll look into this aswell.

Most of the time I do a couple of sets of a few different core exercises including lower back and I do a couple of sets of press ups aswell as a bit of stretching, although last night I didn't.

I've only been riding 'properly' for the past 3 weeks or so, but I always go out for more than an hour and it's only been recently that I've had this pain.

Thanks!

 

[MrB1obby]

So I adjusted the seat 1 inch upwards, about 1 cm forwards and tilted it level. It's more comfortable, for reach to the bars, seat area, lower back except there was a sort of aching/muscle burning feeling on my knees even when I only pushed a bit harder, then after 1 hr 30 my knees were completely dead and went at about 10-12mph for the last 40 mins. I think the I need a shorter stem so I can bring the seat back to 'standard' again so it doesn't ache my knees but still have the same reach to the bars with the shorter stem for my back and comfort.

 

[cyberknight]

Yes once you have your saddle height and for/aft distance set you need to change the stem length or flip the stem to make the handle bar a bit higher which also reduces the reach a bit as well assuming you have a stem that looks like this?