Dont know if this is the appropriate place to ask this but..!

[Zobius]

So I recently got a road bike as some of you may already know (made a post about it regarding another issue). Anyways I am bake to ask what my issue may be. Now I obviously am experiencing some lower back pain due to being use to riding a hybrid bike for 2 years. But my butt seems to hurt maybe only 20 minutes into the ride. I am fitted correctly but I have no idea why it is like this. Any advice would be helpful. Should I go back to my comfort seat? I am riding on average 40 miles per day. Thanks

 

[turtletocheetah]

You might just need some time for your body to get used to the bike? 20 minutes into the ride and you are feeling discomfort does sound like your bike is not fitted properly though. Have it adjusted again, something could be off. Feeling discomfort 20 minutes into a 40mile ride is not good. But I'm sure more knowledgable people here will give better advice. Mike

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Keep changing positions as you ride. Stretch. Stretch your back before you ride and as you ride.

Assuming you are used to riding a couple of hours and your fit session got you at least close to correctly positioned (for YOU) on the bike:
Try better shorts or different shorts. Try different saddles. Try Chamois cream. Get up out of the saddle more frequently. Climb out of the saddle. Get out of the saddle as you come to a stop. Accelerate out of the saddle.

 

[coopers98]

Yeah, I'd say if you're hurting after 20mins, that it is very possible a fit issue. I know until I got dialed in on my bike that 20mins was the magic number of when things would start going so far south that I was ready to throw in the towel.

 

[Froze]

It also sounds like it's possible that your core muscles are a bit weak, try some core workouts and see how it goes after a couple of months of doing them.

Butt pain too could be due to lots of reasons, wrong width seat, seat tilt, seat height, and handlebar height. The width of the seat can be checked by getting your sit bone distance measurement and then make sure you get a seat that puts the sit bones on the padding and not off the sides.

 

[mpre53]

Lower back pain can be either a fit issue, or a fitness issue. But strengthening your core can alleviate minor fit issues.

If you've had the bike for a few weeks, and you're still experiencing butt pain, it may be a saddle issue. There's no such thing as a saddle for every rear end. You can try different shorts first, but you may need a different saddle.

As Bob told you, standing while pedaling can help ease both back and butt pain. Getting off the bike for a few minutes can also help the back pain.

 

[dhk2]

If you're riding 40 miles a day on a new road bike, my first advise would be to back things down and give your body some time to get used to the new position and new saddle. Take two or three rest days, with plenty of stretching. Then, start back with a goal of riding pain-free.

If you can only ride 20 minutes pain-free, then that's all you should do until the pain goes away. Then gradually extend your pain-free rides, no more than 5 minutes at a time. Take a rest day whenever you need to. Consider doing a bit of ab work to strengthen your core on your off days. There is no reason to ride with chronic lower back pain.

Once your butt and lower back are sore, the worst thing you can do is to keep doing what made them sore, ie, 40 mile daily rides.

In fact, if you're really riding an average of 40 miles a day, that would be over 250 miles a week. I suspect few amateur riders can sustain that kind of volume week-after-week without getting into chronic injuries.

 

[Bluman]

Yeah, there are certain pains that you don't want to just try and push your way through. I tried pushing through wrist pains from a bad fit so I could keep my riding up until I could get a pro-fitting done...... well, I wound up doing nerve damage to my left hand that still hasn't gone away after 2 months.

I'll also second switching positions fairly often as well. I'm probably too new to cycling (and heavy physical activity in general) to be pushing myself as hard as I am but when I go on my 'long' rides (every 2nd or 3rd week) and wind up spending 6-8 hours on the bike, I never spend more than 20 consecutive minutes in any given position. Since I still don't have my fit right, my long rides are limited more by comfort than muscle fatigue. So to combat discomfort I rotate through riding on top of the hoods, gripping the hoods, corners of the bars, drops, crossbar, and aero bars... and each time I change positions I take the opportunity to stretch out my shoulders and back. (I also kick my shoes off every other hour but that's a different problem.)

Thank god my saddle's broken in and I don't have to deal with that pain anymore. :-/

 

[AyeYo]

wrong thread!