Lower back pain and bikes

[Toomanycats]

I have a double whammy: disc disease and degenerative scoliosis. I can’t walk far, or stand for long, but miraculously I can ride a bike for a couple of hours at a time without much back pain.
I started out with a Trek Pure, which is very upright, but now have an electric mtb style (Raleigh Lore) with modified handlebars and a slight forward lean. The stock handlebars caused back pain.
My biggest problems now are hand numbness, and also, I think I’ll need a more forward style saddle. But no back pain. You just have to see what works.

 

[tomjasz]

Trek Pure,

My favorite kitted bike!

 

[DouglasB]

I have a double whammy: disc disease and degenerative scoliosis. I can’t walk far, or stand for long, but miraculously I can ride a bike for a couple of hours at a time without much back pain.
I started out with a Trek Pure, which is very upright, but now have an electric mtb style (Raleigh Lore) with modified handlebars and a slight forward lean. The stock handlebars caused back pain.
My biggest problems now are hand numbness, and also, I think I’ll need a more forward style saddle. But no back pain. You just have to see what works.

I'm still trying to figure out how to solve the hand numbness issue. I have very little of it with my road bike, which has a very forward leaning position. You would think a more upright position, with less weight on the hands, such as with my E-bike would be even better but alas no, it's worse, much worse. I'm still playing around with it but it seems to be the pressure across the palms that is causing it. On my road bike I ride with my hands on the brake hoods. I tried some of the standard Ergon grips, and they are nice but didn't really help. I'm now trying a set of the Ergon grips that have the "horns" They are more similar to riding with my hands on the brake hoods. I also whacked off two and a half inches of the width of the handlebars to bring my hands into closer alignment with my shoulders. The numbness and discomfort get bad enough that I often wear hand braces at night for relief.

 

[MikeDee]

I'm still trying to figure out how to solve the hand numbness issue. I have very little of it with my road bike, which has a very forward leaning position. You would think a more upright position, with less weight on the hands, such as with my E-bike would be even better but alas no, it's worse, much worse. I'm still playing around with it but it seems to be the pressure across the palms that is causing it. On my road bike I ride with my hands on the brake hoods. I tried some of the standard Ergon grips, and they are nice but didn't really help. I'm now trying a set of the Ergon grips that have the "horns" They are more similar to riding with my hands on the brake hoods. I also whacked off two and a half inches of the width of the handlebars to bring my hands into closer alignment with my shoulders. The numbness and discomfort get bad enough that I often wear hand braces at night for relief.

I have hand numbness on my mountain bikes with flat bars, and much less numbness with road bars. I think it's that flat bars lock you into one hand position whereas road bars have three positions (hoods, drops, tops), and I switch my hand positions from time to time.

 

[Toomanycats]

I'm still trying to figure out how to solve the hand numbness issue. I have very little of it with my road bike, which has a very forward leaning position. You would think a more upright position, with less weight on the hands, such as with my E-bike would be even better but alas no, it's worse, much worse. I'm still playing around with it but it seems to be the pressure across the palms that is causing it. On my road bike I ride with my hands on the brake hoods. I tried some of the standard Ergon grips, and they are nice but didn't really help. I'm now trying a set of the Ergon grips that have the "horns" They are more similar to riding with my hands on the brake hoods. I also whacked off two and a half inches of the width of the handlebars to bring my hands into closer alignment with my shoulders. The numbness and discomfort get bad enough that I often wear hand braces at night for relief.

I think what many of us end up doing, myself included, is bending forward from the hips and resting our weight on our hands. I’m sorry that yours are giving you so much trouble. I assume you’ve already tried padded bike gloves, those are my next stop.

 

[indianajo]

Putting weight on my hands makes them go numb. Less so with the bars left in the picture than the straight mountain bike bars I was riding, but by the 2nd hour - . This yubabike has a weird sized handlebar clamp, I'm going to have to machine an adapter collar to try any other handlebar.
My sympathy to people with spine & torn muscle problems in the back. I'm so blessed my only major problems are my knees.

 

[John from Connecticut]

All of my bikes are flat foot frames, except my soon to be finished step through. I find there is a sort of balancing act between seat height and handle bar position. I think my Pure frames are slightly more recumbent than my Townie or KHS Manhattan builds. A high quality suspension seat does offer some relief. I’m disabledwith severe back issues but foundthetightcombination of position and seatpost suspension.

What I have discovered in 15 years of office ergonomics is that everyone is different and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. I have had patients who also could not sit on anything but a kneeling chair. I had one client who was most comfortable on the flattest, hardest, most non ergonomic chair available. Another fellow needed a chair that was more of a pillow.

I strongly support installing a quality suspension seat posts. I recommend Cirrus Body Float https://cirruscycles.com/ I have two and love them. Also consider
having a professional bike fit by a shop with a trained bike fitter... I had a professional fit and it made a world of different. My two bikes fit me like a glove. I was
dealing with lower back and neck pain. A quality fit will cost several hundred dollars and take 1.5 to 2 hours.

 

[DouglasB]

I have hand numbness on my mountain bikes with flat bars, and much less numbness with road bars. I think it's that flat bars lock you into one hand position whereas road bars have three positions (hoods, drops, tops), and I switch my hand positions from time to time.

I agree, switching hand position is one of the keys. I have the Ergon grips with the horns that allow for multiple griping positions and it hellps but not completely.

 

[rudymsmith]

So i have a Raleigh Retroglide beach style cruiser and I like it a lot. I like the upright riding position. In order to get an even more upright position, I raised my bars and lowered my sit a little from where I was riding. Now my lower back hurts and it never did before. I also did this to my wifes bike, same as mine, and she said her back hurts too after our last ride. Does a very upright riding position add more strain to the lower back? Anybody else notice this?

Seat height is critical to proper pedaling - without going into a lot of detail you should be almost fully extended at the knee but still have a slight bend with your foot flat on the pedal. Other positions will affect either extensor muscles (quads) or flexor muscles (hamstrings) and glutes all of these muscle groups can affect the low back in different ways. I suggest you go to a local bike shop and let them do a basic fit for you. well worth the time.

 

[JRA]

Some methods discussed here on how to achieve optimum saddle positioning: https://www.mantel.com/blog/en/how-to-determine-the-correct-saddle-height/

Watching the spring classics coverage this year I noted that most pro road cyclists don't go with as full an extension as the above would suggest. As kinematics are really important to them there must be a reason. But they are pro's and put way more miles on than the average cyclist.

I have always followed the most common reasoning and keep all my bikes at the same relative distance that I determined years ago to work best for me that I measure from the nose of the saddle to the center of the bb. I use the same length crankarms on all my bikes too. If I ride a bike that is different I feel it right away. Another thing I find is that wide saddles put more pressure on my glutes and riding one I also feel that right away so I keep my saddle size consistent also.

 

[rudymsmith]

As a neuro-muscular therapist I can offer lots of valid time proven advise - but ya'll have so many questions!

Numb hand(s)? if it is bilateral it could indicate some cervical or thoracic issue. It's odd for both hands to exhibit carpal tunnel at the same time - not impossible just odd.
Learning how to stretch your wrists and forearms can make the world of difference in hand pain/numbness. I suggest you visit youtube and search carpal tunnel stretches.

We live in a world where flexor dominance is common place; bicycling further encourages this do to the antalgic position we ride in - flexed anterior muscles with posterior cervical muscles constantly straining against the weight of your head. Your heads relationship / angle towards the stem/handlebars makes a big difference.