Changing to a flat bar due to back problems.

magnetdoggs

I have recently suffered from a sciatic pain in my back caused by cycling.

I dont want to give up cycling, so i was thinking of ditching the drops and changing to a flat bar setup on my racer.

I think it should be ok but ill need
a flat bar
new 9 speed brakes/shifters
grips.
shorter stem.

The only problem i can foresee is the left shifter will be for a tripple and i have a double chainset. Im guessing i can just not use the full range of the shifter and it will work fine.
Will the atb style shifters work ok with rim style brakes and shimano 105 derailers?

Im hoping this will work for my back, it should mean im not as huntched over.
Has anyone else done this?
cheers

nicklouse

to answer you questions in a word. Yes.
shimano do make tiagra flat bar trigger shifters. ( for the left hand just dont wory about the 3rd position.

if you are used to the shimano dual control brake/lever combos they do do an MTB version But i dont know if they will work with your brakes.

magnetdoggs

ive seen some duel brake/shifters which work for v brakes, im guessing they will work with race style brakes as they both essentially pull on the cable to apply braking pressue?

nicklouse

i dont know what your brakes are but the amount of pull is different between V's and cantis and the levers are not cross compatable.

what are your brakes.

magnetdoggs

they are tekro brakes, cantilever race style.

do cantis require more force or is it the other way round?

mea00csf

I'd think carefully about changing to flatbars. I had sciatica caused i believe by landing on my head while snowboarding, 2 days later a disc in my spine slipped and caused the muscles on one side to contract and trap the sciatic nerve, the most painful experience i've had in my life, (i did in fact pass out momentarily with the pain after attempting to walk to the kitchen before being taken away in an ambulance, left sat in a wheelchair crying in pain for 2 hours while they tried to dose me up on as many painkillers as they could think of which did nothing)

What i've found is that a more upright position on my commuter bike acutally causes more twinges (my sciatica has mostly cleared up with just occasional stiffness and odd twinges left over which i think are more muscular to be fair) than the more stretched out position on my road bike. I'm not sure why this is, i suspect it might be to do with how you put power through your legs. In the more upright position i seem to engage my back and core muscles more, on the race bike it's more about the legs.

My other point is, are you sure it's sciatic pain and not more muscular. Sciatica is pain resulting from the sciatic nerve which runs down your spine, and trust me, you'll know if it is, it is excruciating. If it is sciatica, go and see a doctor or sports phsio

magnetdoggs

gees! painfull

well its nothing that bad but its deffo not muscular pain as my core strength is good.

I have recently developed a slight aching pain which runs down from my lower back to the ball of my foot, only one side.

i have rested the last week and a half and the pain has stopped reaching my foot and is now in my upper leg and buttocks.

Its from cycling, ie race bike position.

magnetdoggs

these are my brake style
"dual pivot design road caliper"

can ATB levers work with these?
cheers

mea00csf

hmm, the running pain running down the leg sounds familiar, so could be a mild case. I'd still say try a sports physio or go to your doctor and ask for a referal to an NHS physio. My understanding is that it isn't something that you just have to put up with, it can be sorted, I definetly wouldn't start changing your bike until you've asked for some professional medical advice.

Even with my extreme case, they gave me diazphan to relax the muscles to unclamp the nerve (the only thing that actually started to help with the pain.) followed by a 2 week course of diazphan and strong painkillers (sent me totally doolally!!). I hobbled around like a 90 year old for about another 4 weeks and had physio. I am now mostly fine and don't need to take any special precautions concerning my back.

If you've had the bike for a while and it was fine before and you're only just starting to get these problems I really would suggest you go see someone and try and treat the root cause rather than treating the sympton.

Monty Dog

Rather than just switching bars, you'd probably be better going to a specialist bike fitter such as Cycle Fit - many people find the variety of hand positions on drop bars more comfortable than the single position offered by flat bars - a shorter/ riser stem might be all you need. Also, might be worth checking with a physio/chiropracter whether your spinal/pelvis alignment is good - I have well-developed core body strength but an innocuous crash a few years ago knocked my pelvis out of alignment leading to all sorts of problems.

baudman

Monty Dog wrote:

Rather than just switching bars, you'd probably be better going to a specialist bike fitter such as Cycle Fit .

I second that!

magnetdoggs

cheers

yeah maybe i should get a bike fit done.
id be interested to know what size bike i should have.