I recently acquired a road bike ( second hand) and have been doing test rides. I made all the basic adjustments to the best of my knowledge, like the optimum saddle height, fore-aft position etc.
Well now all seems to feel more or less okay except that my middle upper back is paining after an hour or two or on the bike. The lower back has no problems. So don't know whats wrong. I just don't wanna randomly raise the stem if thats not the issue.
I don't have a bike trainer at my place so I can really sit down and ask my mates to look at my posture.
I will be happy if you could give me some tips or also suggest places in Zürich/or around where they can help me with it and how much will it cost.
I am pretty enthusiastic to ride more but have to fix this pain first.

Could be stem height or length.

When I got my road bike first I built it with the stem angled downwards, after the first couple of rides I was noticing a similar problem, and also a little neck pain. I turned the stem the other way around so it was pointing upwards, it immediately made the bike more comfortable to ride. Now that I am getting more comfortable with riding a road bike I am thinking about trying to flip it back over again, but don't know if I will yet.

If this doesn't work then maybe you need a different stem length. Best bet here is to go to a shop and try to get them to measure you. But essentially if you are feeling a little cramped then a slightly longer stem might help, or if you feel stretched a slightly shorter one. If you change the stem length be careful because going to far either way will effect the bikes handling.

If its a newer style bike with a threadless headset then either put more spacers under the stem or turn it to angle upwards if it isn't already set up like this.


Oh... and you don't always have to ride on the drops. Its much more comfortable to ride on the hoods, and just use the drops when you need to push the pace on a bit or you are descending.

As you might have seen in other threads I'm having my own issues with pain on the road bike, mostly in the 3rd and 4th hours. This guide (which I have a feeling you might have seen) is considered the best on the web:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

The minor changes that I have made to increase comfort are:
- raising the seat to get better pedalling advantage (but not too far).
- shifting the seat back a little (based on the article, the more you lean forward, the further back the seat should be)
- raising the bar stem 1cm
- rolling the bars "back and up" a little so that the brake hoods are higher and closer to me.

Still having problems with pain to the point that I doubt I'll ever see 100km/5 hours on this bike. I think inevitably I will need to get a roadie with a higher seat tube size (from 58cm to 60cm) that doesnt also increase the reach to the bars, allowing a more seat level with the bars set-up.

Well I can take the seat back a bit. Probably that will help..But cant take it too far as then I don't feel I am applying enough power on the crank.

I was really wondering if there is someplace ( someone of you) where they can have a look at your stance and advice you. I can use that as a base line and make adjustments from there.

My upper body is pretty flexible so I don't anticipate much pains in bending. Its either that something is really not right or its just my learning pains.

Try www.lerchcyclesport.ch in Gattikon. they did my bike fitting when I got my bike. They use one of the fancy computer systems to translate all your measurements into the optimum set up for the type of riding you do. I think it costs 90sfr but they didn't charge me as I was paying for them to put the bike together.
For me it takes at least some of the trial and error bit out of the equation, so is worth it. They are very helpful and although v. busy (especially with it being Iron Man week) might offer some advice after seeing you ride around.

Check out this article

http://everythingbicycling.co.za/ind...d=31&Itemid=50

it is about setting up a road bike

but the part that applies better to your question is :

I developed a solution for to help you to choose the right frame size or fit your bike : SizeMyBike http://www.sizemybike.com. It is a bike fitting calculator available on iPhone.
I hope that this application will be useful for you !!!

The image shows the seat tube measurement as center-to-center. Center-to-top tends to be the more standard measurement, why not show that instead or as well? Also, there is no head tube or top tube lengths. When looking at frame geometry, I tend to look at the top tube and head tube lengths first, and only if these are both in the range that I'm looking for do I check that the seat tube is a reasonable length (but there is much more leeway in seat tube length than in the other two dimensions because it can be compensated for by seat post height).

Also, do you give different dimensions for different styles of riding - I see options for Road vs Mountain, but even within those there are huge variations between more relaxed/comfortable positions and aggressive/fast positions. The 80mm saddle to bar drop shown in the image suggests a relatively aggressive position, which is likely not appropriate for your target audience who are probably people who are quite new to cycling. These kinds of differences are largely accounted for in the head tube dimension, which again is missing.

I wouldn't recommend anyone to use this App until it is expanded a lot more. There are several more complete systems already available online (and so usable on the iPhone). Here are a few links: Colorado Cyclist, Ergobike, Peter White. I'm sure there are many others, too.

Ha ha. I was going to "OTBC" this post last night, but I knew ChrisW would like to see it!

The SizeMyBike model comes from several scientific publications. The aim of these publications is to optimize performance. Consequently, that's true that the proposed position is not the most comfortable. I will think about it and propose a model for people looking for comfort only. Nevertheless, I think that beginners can use SizeMyBike to choose the right frame size.

I completely disagree. I encourage people to choose a bike based on top tube length and not seat tube length, or a combination of the two, but top tube length is not given by this App according to the image posted above. Also, measuring seat tube as center-to-center may be standard in some countries, but in most countries center-to-top is the standard - giving beginners a center-to-center measurement may cause them to buy a frame that is one size (2cm) too big for them because they don't understand the difference in the measurement standards. This App is therefore not well designed for the uninformed beginner and does not have enough detail for the more experienced person.

A new version of SizeMyBike is available. This version allows the computation of the saddle setback.

I'm no expert, but have you tried varying your posture as you ride? As a kid I used to ride for hours sat straight up on the saddle, hands behind my back. Sounds tricky, but anyone used to cycling will master it in no time. $h!t, I used to corner and weave through traffic, although traffic isn't what it was back home, but here you should have no problem. Now if we were in India...

Go to a good bike shop and they will have the experience to make your bike comfortable. I know one very good shop in Basel and not expensive at all. If you need name let me know. A bike that fits is the most important. Better to safe on parts on the bike as the group set.
Cycling forever

What is all this about back ache and frame sizes etc?

Once you have been in the saddle for four hours, your back will ache. Riding position is not your normal posture unless you are born something like Neanderthal Man.

If you have raced competatively, you will know that you will actually often move your body along your saddle forward or back an inch to change slightly the muscles you use as you would pull up on your toe straps as opposed to pushing down on your pedals to relieve your muscles.

Measuring all your body dimensions and using some table is not going to mean it is the correct frame, though might help. Some of us have more rounded shoulders especially when cycling in a crouched position so I don't think all these measurements mean that much.

The pain generally goes the more riding you do. perhaps you have not been on your bike for a while.

I went out on an old mountain bike for the first time in two years and only rode 1.5 hours along the canal tow path for two days in a row (no suspension as that is for wimps) and I have had a back ache for the last three days so badly that I have been walking around like Neanerthal Man. I just put this down to my body not being used to it (plus back accident in 1998) and I am pretty convinced that if I had continued riding every day I would be OK.