saddle angle

Lower back pain, the best way is to have a professional bike fit.

If you go down the diy path,
check frame size, not too big,
chech seat height, good leg entension,
seat tilt, more a "front end" problem solver,
seat fore/aft, may be too far back,
stem length, too long, be careful,
stem height, angled up if possible or
fit a stem riser,
just to name a few... 🙂

I am over 55 and was "fitted" for my bike, the recommended bike style is a flat bar road bike, very comfortable.

nath1 said:

Hi all, im jsut wondering what experiance any of you have had with adjusting the saddle angle. For instance tilting the nose down about ten degrees for the treatment of lower back pain, caused by inflexibility of the lumber spine. Now i thought that most people set their saddle at level, but from what i have been imformed today is that this is not always the case and that many people including pro's will do the above to eliviate lower back pain. Have any of you done thyis and what did you find? Cheers nath

Nath,

I have had my saddles tilted down about 15 degrees. My commute to work is about 1-1/4 hrs each way and, not to put a delicate point on it, my [censored] started going to sleep about 1 hour in. This cured that problem and I now put more weight on my sit bones than before which is OK as they can handle it. I have not noticed any downside other than when waiting at the lights I have to keep leaning on the bars or take most of my weight on one foot. Another benefit is that you lean forward the whole time which is great for sustained pressure on the pedals.
Happy cycling,
Roddo

gclark8 said:

Lower back pain, the best way is to have a professional bike fit.

If you go down the diy path,
check frame size, not too big,
chech seat height, good leg entension,
seat tilt, more a "front end" problem solver,
seat fore/aft, may be too far back,
stem length, too long, be careful,
stem height, angled up if possible or
fit a stem riser,
just to name a few... 🙂

I am over 55 and was "fitted" for my bike, the recommended bike style is a flat bar road bike, very comfortable.

Lower back pain? Saddle angle? If I had lower back pain I would think about other things first...umm like what? Like inflexible hamstrings?

nath1 said:

Hi all, im jsut wondering what experiance any of you have had with adjusting the saddle angle. For instance tilting the nose down about ten degrees for the treatment of lower back pain, caused by inflexibility of the lumber spine. Now i thought that most people set their saddle at level, but from what i have been imformed today is that this is not always the case and that many people including pro's will do the above to eliviate lower back pain. Have any of you done thyis and what did you find? Cheers nath

"Lower back pain" can be such a misnomer when taken at face value. If you are new to road cycling, then it could be your body trying to adjust to the new position .. which is more stretched out than normal. If so, you just need more time in the saddle .. PROVIDED that you are adequately fitted to a bike that is the right size for you.

If all that checks out, then you can tweak some things. And each person is different. If your seat is too high, you will get lower back pains (also if your handlebars are too low .. of course). The conventional wisdom says that the more flexible you are, the lower you can go with your handlebar (or higher you can go with your saddle); this will give you a more aero position assuming that you are an aggressive rider (not necessarily a racer).

In my case, on longer rides, (again, long is a relative term) this season, I had raised my saddles by about 4-5 mm. And initially, I had some lower back pains. At the same time, I felt that my hands were supporting a wee bit too much pressure; this one was easy .. seat was too high (different saddle, higher profile than older saddle, so same measurements did not end up at the same spot). That helped some. But for even longer rides, I would still get some pains, though not as bad. I tilted the saddle up slightly. That's fixed the problem on both bikes.

The unknown in this case is what role my mileage and my back getting used to the position after a winter layoff has played. Perhaps it's just my back adjusting to the "new" position having sat through a few months of not riding outside.

So,

1. Check your Fit to the bike
2. Reasses your fitness
3. Give your body time (if 1 & 2 are okay)
4. Try higher angle stem/lowering your saddle (if 1,2 & 3 check out)
5. Try tilting your saddle up but only by 1 "notch" at a time (if 1-4 don't work).
6. Ride more (even if all the above work). Time may heal your back ..