Pain in neck – rucksack or rackbag?

sem69

I suffer from back problems and get a pain in my shoulder and neck after riding for about half an hour. I sit at a desk all day and then ride home on a road bike with a rucksack on my back. I just wonder if anyone has switched from a rucksack to using panniers or rack bag, and found it a lot more comfortable?
Is it the rucksack that's making my shoulder and neck hurt or is it my riding position?
And any recommendations for a rack bag that can carry a change of clothes, lock etc?
cheers

CheapSkate

sem69 wrote:

Is it the rucksack that's making my shoulder and neck hurt or is it my riding position?

Or is it the way you wear your rucksack? Mine's got the straps done up nice and tight so it's effectively bound to the back of my shoulders rather than dangling loose around my kidneys, and I find this makes all the difference in the world. I carry about a stone of locks, tools and general rubbish, and don't have a problem with an hour of that five days in seven, all year round.

It's possible your riding position AND your rucksack are the source of your trouble - try changing one variable at a time and at least then you can tell what made the difference.

BentMikey

Get a recumbent and avoid all riding pains altogether? LOL, more seriously, have you thought about a saddlebag like Carradice make?

I have a longflap camper, it holds my skates, lunch, teaching stuff, rainwear, toolkit and spare tubes with ease, and will take jackets and other kit as well for when it's cold/wet. I also have the SQR quick release. See here:
http://www.carradice.co.uk/saddlebags/c ... ebag.shtml

carlstone

Get one of these:

http://www.carradice.co.uk/sqr-saddlepacks/sqr-tour.shtml



Not cheap but they are bomb proof (family heirloom quality) and take literelly 2 seconds to mount and dismount. Also take up to 10kg weight. I have never looked back since getting mine (ebay bargain at £35 second hand).

secretsam

See a physio, sounds like you've got compression of the upper vertebrae - I had that once and it was agony - a bit of bending from some strapping lass and I was right as rain .

jedster

I would stop using a rucsac fast. I'm not saying they are a problem for everybody but rucsacs are designed to be worn with the spine vertical and the weight falling predominantly downwards (in general the better the design the more that this is so). The your riding position is likely quite different to this an d it may well be placing odd loads around your shoulder.

I use a single ortlieb office bag (panier that looks a bit more like a case) - it works very well.

J

sem69

Cheers for the advice everyone! I'll get myself off to the chiropractor. Those Carradice saddlebags look perfect, if I'd known about them I wouldn't have bothered getting a rack compatible bike! No regrets though, love the bike (Giant scr2).
I'm new to this forum, its great! Only trouble is it's keeping me from getting any work done!

SPOODZILLA

Are you carrying too much gear? I used to have quite a big rucksack, carried a change of clothes, spare jumper, lunch, bike tools etc. Used to be quite a chore.

Now I keep some clothes at work that will last a week, and have a supermarket near the office that I buy a weeks worth of fruit & snacks from on a monday. I now carry a small camelpak with an innertube, pump, multitool, small cable lock and my sandwiches. Dont even feel it.

davy king

put a tortec ultralight rack on my dawes audax and use an altura dryline 16litre pannier for lock clothing lunch etc commute.every day to work and find it perfect.

phil_ss1

Hi,

I swapped from a rucksack to rack mount bag (see below) and never looked back.

Back felt better, less sweaty and the hi-viz is now more visible! And you can get to stuff easier.

I use a quick release rack mount (make sure it's the right one for your bike):

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... ear%20Rack

One clip and it's off for the weekend rides and a bag like this:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 20Bag%20DX

Which slides on and off in a second. Helmet fits inside when expanded, room for tools, extra lock cable, tubes, overshoes etc.... Carries nice too with the top handle and the bungies on the top can take a bag of shoes/rolled towel etc...

Made an aluminium bracket up take two LED lights on the back of the mount

Takes a trip or two to get used to the change in bike dynamic! - Like sprinting.

It's only the odd day when I need to break out the bum bag.

Phil

Fuzz Monkey Five

I had same problem (commute - desk job - commute), in the end I didtched by cheap Nike backpack, got a camelback mayhem(?) - so I can also use it at weekends for off road - got teh backpack set up righ (sitting high and tight) and sorted out my slouching at work. No problem has gone away.

andrewc3142

I'd second (third, fourth, whatever) the comments on Carradice SQR bags. I've got clips on both my road and mountain bikes.

However, for commuting you may find the Slim better than the Tour. Same capacity but the Slim will take A4.

prj45

I've never used a rucksack.

Strapping a heavy bag to your shoulders and back? Always a bad idea.

Currently using one of these:



http://www.topeak.com/t8/products/bags/rxtrunkbagex.php

Nice and small so I'm not tempted to overload it, can get pants and socks in, and a folded shirt at a push, and no weight on my body when I'm cycling.

Not fully waterproof though which is a bit of a pain, but I've squirted it with water repellent and it seems to do the job.

Fuzz Monkey Five

also....................
Are you carrying excessiev stuff around with you ? Items yiou can leave at work like towel, shower gel etc ? All that weight adds up.

Professorlandslide

I use a symmetrical courier bag as the weight hangs lower and i find that with a rucksack my right shoulder gives me gyp... I hang the bag over my left and can switch sides if it gets uncomfortable. And of course i look cooler as well.. :P :roll:

zoomshot

I cycle at one end of my train commute and have a long walk at the other end. I use a versatile backback that can take a big load if I I stop off at Sainsbury's on the way home. As a result I now have backache too.

Apparently frequent use of a shoulder bag can be another source of back trouble. Therefore I'd like to find a panier bag that can double up as a rucksack - rather than as a shoulder bag - when I'm away from my bike. Does anyone know if there's a quick release panier bag that has two good padded straps to allow the bag to be used as a backpack?

Thanks.

Swannie

I remember reading about this (Ortleib rucksack convertor)::

http://actionoutdoors.co.uk/shop/ortlei ... -1021.html

Or maybe something a bit like this:


http://www.klickfix.de/rucksacke.htm