Should i get a professional bike fit before my first big tour for back pain?

[Matthew.J]

I’m trying to decide if I should get a professional bike fit before my first big tour this summer. My lower back gets sore after about an hour on my current road bike, and I’m not sure if it’s just my position or if I need to look at different components.

[Stella_C]

I did a long tour last year. After an hour my lower back would ache. I fiddled with saddle height, tilt, and even swapped to a longer stem to get a more upright posture. It helped a bit, but the pain would come back on back-to-back days.

[Matthew.J]

I tried core work and hamstring stretches for a month, hoping it would fix the pain. It did feel stronger mid-ride, but on tougher days the back still talked to me. Not a clean fix.

[Madison_B]

Honestly, I started wondering if it’s the bike not fitting long-term rather than me. I rode another bike one weekend and noticed the back felt less annoyed, even with the same effort. Could be the geometry difference.

[Abigail4]

I did a bike fit once before a big ride and it didn’t blow me away, but I didn’t hate it either. If you’re really worried about a tour, you might ask about a ride test and see if it changes anything. Do you think a bike fit is worth it for someone with ongoing low back pain?