More travel to help my back?

xcMuttley

Ive been suffering with a back problem for 15 months now (Im only 15 as well Its unexplained chronic back pain and its putting my life pretty much on hold for now) I have been able to walk, cycle and work a few times in those months but at the moment i am back to wheelchair and crutches was just wondering if a bike with longer suspension or A full suspension bike would take more of the strain off my back? Obviously when i am better i will be road cycling to start with but when i can start mountain biking would it help to have more travel as obviously i dont want to be putting strain on my back?

monkey_man_1

hiya, i would definately wait untill you are much much better before even attempting to ride! im just about recovered after having spinal surgery and its still a little dodgey on a bike! a full sus will definately help to take the jaar out of the little bumps and thats just on the road. i wouldnt risk off road yet. even if you feel like you can do it dont untill you get a clean bill of health from the doctors. i did this (not cycling tho) and it made me twice as bad and delayed recovery by months. health is number one... riding comes later all the best mate and hope you get better soon. really is not nice i know how you feel.

Anonymous

Bust my back earlier in the year and despite pain standing, some sitting and definitely sleeping, riding the bike was the best thing for it. No pain at all while riding. I can't say what travel or basically geometry would be better, I just road the bike I had.

But yeah, don't go against doctor's advice, though once I was told I could do gentle riding I went out and realised after a short while what I could do. Recovery was fairly good after that.

But all that is from an accident. Your situation sounds very different and could be down to all kinds of reasons. Chat with the doctor and physio if you have one (worth getting one) and see if they think gentle rides would be good for the back. Very much depends on the cause of the back pain. In my case the riding position appears to be a good thing for a bust back as it stretches out the vertebra. Physio exercises I was given do similar things. Your case may be very different though.

cat_with_no_tail

Not sure if more travel is necessarily the answer. A softer suspension setup may help with the jarring you get going over bumps, this can be obtained by increasing the sag on a shorter travel bike though and does not need to translate to more travel.

As a sweeping generalization, longer travel bikes tend to be setup for descending, so your centre of gravity is more towards the middle/back of the bike. When you climb on a longer travel bike, you have to lean forward more and put more efort in. This could possibly translate to increased stress on your back.

Obviously, the above is a very simplified example, and no 2 bikes will be exactly the same, but you get my point.

I would suggest looking more into the geometry of potential bikes, and the natural seating position than the travel as such.

You've got other considerations too, such as how well your camelbak (assuming you use one) distributes weight and how heavy it is.

Most of all though, I'd echo the sentiments above, speak to a proper, qualified, medical professional for some real advice. It's all well getting advice off some webbos on a website who've never met you before, but the best advice will obviously come from someone who knows your condition and is properly trained to advise you.

Good luck with the recovery!

gmacz

If it is that bad, just stick to the road bike.
Even a pothole can cause severe damage to the body.
Why risk not being able to ride again.
I am hoping to get back on the mtb by January, if it is not to be, I will stick to roadie stuff.
It is a lot easier on the body.

xcMuttley

I do have a physio and just about every other type of therapist and doctor, they did tell me that cycling is the best thing for me when im walking about obviously i wont be on my mountain bike as soon as im better i have a lot of recovery to do on my roadie before that, but at the moment i am pretty imobile, School wont allow me to go in im having to be home tutored and about the best i can do from day to day is walk 50m non stop at the moment and thats on a good day This post was more for future refrence than anything else as i cant ride at the moment at all, the best i can do is go out and look at my bikes more annoyed that i cant ride my singlespeed roadie that i refurbished through the summer, And to the people wondering what my condition a random guess would be as good as the doctors they have many theories but have branded it unexplained chronic back pain should be going in for even more tests soon will hopefully get an answer then. Thanks for the ideas so far though so maybe a hardtail with longer front suspension may be the answer for when im back to riding offroad?

Dirtrider

I would say it's more to do with your position on the bike than anything else.

You need to keep your back straight I imagine, therefore, your probably after something with a very slack head angle, and high handlebars so your sitting more upright.

Anonymous

I wouldn't advise whether straight or curved back is the right way. I'm not a doctor so can't advise what is right for someone else, and the Internet is one of the worst places to get any kind of advice related to medical issues.

It's down to the individual situation really and need to chat with the doctor/physio/specialist to see what they reckon is right when riding a bike. I'd say you probably just have to wait for an answer to what it actually is as treating it may vary, and without knowing you can't say what the best solution is going to be when you get back on the bike. Messing with the geometry without knowing what might work could just be a waste of time (if not money). It might be you don't need to do anything at all other than just ride.

Myself, a curved back was encouraged to stretch it, but that was specific to me due to the way I'd squashed the spine effectively.

cooldad

The only advice I can give is don't take advice on anything this serious from the internet. Seriously.

nicklouse

suspension is not designed for comfort.

diy

Generally I would say that cycling is not a good exercise for muscular back pain. Best to talk to the doc about what exercises/therapy to do. Warming up and down can make a huge difference. But seriously you should not be taking advice from anyone here.

.blitz

nicklouse wrote:

suspension is not designed for comfort.

^^ this

If you have a bad back on a HT you will still have a bad back on a FS, it makes no difference.

GWS.

1mancity2

cooldad wrote:

The only advice I can give is don't take advice on anything this serious from the internet. Seriously.

This and this,

.blitz wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

suspension is not designed for comfort.

^^ this

If you have a bad back on a HT you will still have a bad back on a FS, it makes no difference.

GWS.

xcMuttley

I am not taking advice directly and as a final decision from here i am asking what i could do to make my bike comfier for my back as everyone on here is a cyclist i am not asking you to make me better im asking what could help to make my bike comfier for me, I have been told by the doctors and physios that cycling is the best thing for my back, I have been doing some research and it seems that slightly larger tyres and A better fork would help a lot taking the bumps and lumps out more and i asked my physio the same question today they said that they didnt no much about bikes but clipped/clipless pedals would help as i am doing the full rotation with power with both legs which is one of the best excercises for my back. Thanks for the help so far

1mancity2

Full suss, soft settings, 2.5 tyres low psi, thats all i can think of, oh and maybe a gel saddle.

mikeysickalrigh

I often get lower back pain and must admit that after moving to full sus the aching doesn't occur half as much