Hello ladies! I have been road riding for over one year and ride a 53" Gary fisher ion. I have grappled w low back pain for years and switched from running to cycling as a result.

I have loved my Gary fisher and have tweaked the seat height, moved it up, back, moved the bars up, ect. After an hour or so my low back starts to hurt and that's all I can think about.

Hubby and I rented bikes two weeks ago while vacationing in So Cal and I had a wsd 5.2 madone. I rode four hours without any low back pain or sore rhomboids. We rode every kind of terrain, types that aren't here to ride in Mn (low mtn pass, big descents) and I had zero back pain or shoulder pain. Other than that I didn't notice a huge diff between the bikes. Fast forward to today I cAnt get that out of my mind. As long as I'm not in pain I want to tide. Went to our lbs yesterday, they don't have a 52" (that's what I rode) but another lbs in mn does. We called to rent it and they will let us use it for one hour. Agh!!! I am scared to commit to a 3200.00 bike after one hr of riding! I lift weights have seen a or and chiro and back pain is getting better. My question to you experts is could the madone really be what I need? Is it a fluke that I ride that far without pain?
Thanks in advance!