rbk_3

I took about 4 years off cycling due to low back/ pelvic pain I was getting after cycling that would last several days after a ride. It started after I got heavy into road cycling and had adjusted my saddle too high and too far back. Last summer I did some rides on a Hybrid and no pain after my rides. So I thought I was good to go back on the road if I adapted my bike to make it as upright as possible.

I picked up a used Trek Domane and put on a short 70mm stem and made it up right as possible to get it more in line with my Hybrid but that familiar pain returned after my first ride. Super disappointed, I don't think there is any way to make this thing more upright. Has to be something with the reach is causing my low back/tail bone/pelvic area to flare even in the most up right suggestions.

I am thinking of selling this bike again and perhaps picking up a high end Hybrid, as much want to be on a road bike, I just don't think there is anything I can do to make it work.

Has anyone else been able to ride a Hybrid, but not a road bike? Attached is a picture showing how upright I have it set.

scottfsmith

Bring in both the hybrid and the road bike to your local bike fitter. They will be able to figure out what is different in the geometry and can get you a good fit on your road bike. Or, they can tell you it will be impossible.

Iride01 

Maybe it's the more upright position in combination with that saddle and the other geometry involved. What saddle is on your other bike? Maybe swap them.

When I have had to take significant time off from riding, my tail bone will sometimes have what seems like excruciating pain for a week or two every time I get on the bike. I just ignore it and ride anyway. After that week or two, everything is good .

If your pain feels like it's deep in the bones and joints, then I might just suspect it is that same pain I get. But if it's soreness of muscles or numbness, then that is definitely something else that needs finding out.

rbk_3

Yes, it is a deep full ache that I don’t know exactly where it comes from. Like I can’t press on the pain like it’s a muscle and can’t really move to make it worse if that makes sense. Just a constant dull aching.

79pmooney

Being a (retired) engine and knowing how to draft (vellum and pencil, then CAD; not paceline!), I'd draw up the two bikes; one on top of the other using a common bottom bracket. The point is to locate the the seats, handlebars and brake levers (on the road bike). You also might want to position the bike next to a wall, sit on it in your usual riding position and mark where your shoulder balls are with a piece of tape and put that location on the drawing. I'll bet the resulting drawing will tell you a lot. Work, yes. But it would cost $25 for a posterboard, yardstick and drafting triangle. Probably 1/10 of a pro fitting. (Keep the posterboard. Draw in the changes you make to your road bike. Looking at a new bike? Before you buy it, measure it up and draw it on. What you need for seatpost, stem, etc, will now be obvious and you may see immediately that the bike won't even work well for you.)

zandoval 

I had to go to Bull Horn Bars because I can no longer get to the Drops without having back pain.

I suspect you are going to have to go through the long a tedious process of finding your personal bicycle geometry settings, and bike fitters be damned.

Take some good measurements on the bike you feel most comfortable on and then slowly apply them to your road bike. Remember that moving your bars or seat even a few millimeters can some times make a drastic change in your ride comfort.

79pmooney

And my experiences with spinal pain on the bike. I broke my tailbone late '80s. Fell on a slippery surface and sat down hard with expensive stuff in both hands. Hurt but I thought little of it. Many months later, nagging lower back pain. Doc sent me to an ortho who took X-rays and immediate;y showed me my broken tailbone. Said I could do PT and learn to live with it or he could fuse it. Routine operation he done many times but there was always the risk of something going wrong and affecting the lower body nerves. I went PT.

I was also getting older and the unforgiving Selle Italia seats I raced and had 10s of thousands of miles on were no longer working. I'd moved on to the more forgiving Turbo. But, after the tailbone, that turned up seat back became torture if I wanted to sit up and ride no-hands. Both en route and long afterwards. My mileage started falling off fast.

My commuting took place on another bike; this a slightly large touring frame set up fix gear. The front end of the frame was high so I rode a long (130mm) stem slammed down. Worked kinda OK but on hills, my back wasn't entirely happy and I felt anerobic pain in my torso. So I pulled out the vellum (I had a drafting table so I didn't need the posterboard of the post above) and drew on it my commuter, my Mooney and from memory my old racing bike that was both racing extreme and all day comfortable. Revelation! My commuter handlebars were several inches closer and higher! My Mooney was also closer but by a lot less. So I gambled. Based on that one drawing, I had a local frame builder make me a 180mm stem! Yup, you read that right. Mounted it. Went for a hilly 75 mile ride north of Seattle. No back pain! Hills were a joy! Sold! (Mooney eventually got a 155mm stem. Also a real improvement.

2000, I had hernia surgery and rode the trainer as rehab. Knew my so-so seats were not going to cut it and by now the seats with grooves and holes for us aging males were out. Bought one. Next revelation! So now I have: seats with perineum comfort, no tailbone interference and handlebars located to enable deep breathing. (Oh, and while my very long reaches might sound like a back killer, I find that if I think of myself as going a catlike full body stretch, my torso and spine love it. Like you see your cat do when it goes to 6" longer than it can possibly be.)

I'm not saying you (the OP) or anyone else should copy me. Just relating my experience. These revelations came while I was in my late 30s to early 50s. I'm now 68. My handlebars have come up an inch and I have to pay real attention to the details of how my hands land on the handlebars but all my bikes are now comfortable from the first pedal stroke to the end of long days. Like my racing bike was long ago. (Sadly, the long day mileage is now far less and the speed? )

zandoval 

Yep... I have also found I can no longer tolerate changes between the bikes. All my bikes have the same set up now. My old Road Bike has become a Wall Hanger and the last time I took it down I had to turn back 8 miles out due to discomfort. For a guy who used to raise his seat and slam his bars to a guy who keeps his bikes within millimeters change of each other... I am still ridding... But Rats I am such a Woose...

rbk_3

I’m not getting the numbness problems. I solved that with the Specialized Power. Now I on a Rido R2 which is a super unique saddle that is said the be the best nosed saddle for perennial pressure.

rbk_3

So another wrinkle, I did a trainer ride on the hybrid yesterday and it flared my lower back pain right up, couldn't even sleep last night it was nagging so bad. Interesting that it would get flared on the trainer but not outside

Iride01 

You might should go see someone about it. Talk to you GP or other medical professional about whom you should see.