Courier Bag Is Numbing Me

Hey all,
Recently I have been getting numbness in the top of my forearm, I think this is from the pressure exerted from my crumpler bag when riding. The only thing I can think of doing is going back to using a rucksack...boohoo...anyone else suffer this problem...any cures(apart from not riding as much). Are rucksacks really sad? Any recommended bags (courier or sack...not scrotum)?

I've always had that problem with courier bags, I haven't found a comfortable one... And there's nothin' wrong with rucksacks!
Guess it all depends how badly you wanna rock the fakenger look... ;)

i find rucksacks bounce like a mofo. its all about the riding position, the only thing that goes numb on me is my other sack and only after long rides.

djm778 Are rucksacks really sad?

mine is. it's crying in a cupboard under the stairs.

But seriously, don't let any of that bullshit be a criteria. #1 concern should be to look after your back, not what looks cool on your back. You can fuck yourself up by riding in an awkward position and this is exaccerbated if you are carrying stuff.

Yup, go for what is comfy.

Though seriously, crumplers are smart laptop bags and it would be hard to convince me that the strap is going to be good for your back when you're hunched over on a cycle.

Get scott to build you something, or consider a rucksack. There is nothing wrong with rucksacks. I prefer a messenger bag for the ease of access (one arm, whilst riding, in a few seconds), size and weather proofing. But it's not like those benefits are such that were my back to be a problem that I wouldn't ditch the messenger bag and get a rucksack.

And if the rucksack hurt? Believe me I have no pride... I would get panniers.

Your back is way more important than anything else, put it first.

can you adjust the bag to sit higher on your back? sounds like its too low :( also I found my crumpler to be poor design, I use a PAC bag now, great bags but expensive. You should speak to scott (archies growbags) you will get something you want for decent money and ride happy knowing you kept him in gingersnaps for a month :D

velocity boy ...
Your back is way more important than anything else, put it first...

Never a truer word has been written, the pain, hassel, and expense from even small back problem is massive.

comfort over fashion all day.

My backpack looks ridiculous but it feels good!

^^^ True, true, true... I've suffered from sciatica, on and off, since I was fourteen... Take care of your back mate, sod what your bag looks like...

loads of nerves run through your shoulder. some weeks after breaking my collar bone, i did get some numbness on my arm as well as soreness on my neck, but that's on 1hr+ rides. now that it's sort of healed, dont get it as much. doctor said that some nerves mustve gotten caught in or rubbing against the fracture. prob something similar in your case. keep the bag tight so that it rests on your back instead of it 'pulling down' on your shoulder. play around with diff position of the bag. also, vary your hand position (if you have drops or bullhorns) from time to time.

or do the wild thing, go against the grain and get paniers!

teenslain, how did they diagnose that?
I just read the wiki page and it sounds like a plausible expalantion for what I've got. I've had chronic back and leg pain since January and have been totally off the bike for over a month now. I've had blood tests, nuclear scans etc etc etc, but no MRI yet. The docs don't have a clue what is wrong with me. How did you get diagnosed with it?

I don't think backpacks look bad anyway, maybe you are buying crap backpacks like this?

djm778 Hey all,
Recently I have been getting numbness in the top of my forearm, I think this is from the pressure exerted from my crumpler bag when riding. The only thing I can think of doing is going back to using a rucksack...boohoo...anyone else suffer this problem...any cures(apart from not riding as much). Are rucksacks really sad? Any recommended bags (courier or sack...not scrotum)?

do you have the crumpler strap pulled so the top of the bag is up by your shoulder blades? that's where my pac is when i'm riding, although it's pretty big so it kind of covers my whole back.

just get what's comfy. i find backpacks very painful after more than 5 min, whereas with my pac i don't even notice it's there.

get a scan or xray tomasito. the slightest misalignment of your vertebrae fcks up the nerves running down them. if you get pain at the back of your leg, then nerves are being 'stretched' somewhere up your spine. ive had an xray, then an mri, they found that ive got a ruptured disc under L5. rupture is coming out of the spine that it pushes out a nerve. when it's really bad, i cant support my back and i cant move my leg forward for more than 20cm. rest is best. but if it's too painful i go see my osteopath. ive had immediate relief from a chiro once, but i just feel that all the cracking is a bit brutal.

thanks ralph. i've had a lumbar spinal xray too, but the results form all these tests go back to the Rheuatic specialist at Homerton and it's so slow getting news. My next appointment with him is not until may. i'm also seeing an Osteo, again at homerton, next week. But it's become too much pain this week so I'm also booked in to see a private osteopath tomorrow - even if i have to sell a bike to pay for it I want this sorted.

Numb forearm? Not shoulder? Could this be something to do with bike fit.. ie. too stretched out, locked arms taking all the bumps and pressure from your upper body. Kinda like arm pump when mtbing or something. I don't see how the back pack/crumpler would be causing forearm numbness.. well none of mine ever have. I'm using the same Crumpler for 4 years and before that backpacks for 1000 years.

tomasito teenslain, how did they diagnose that?
I just read the wiki page and it sounds like a plausible expalantion for what I've got. I've had chronic back and leg pain since January and have been totally off the bike for over a month now. I've had blood tests, nuclear scans etc etc etc, but no MRI yet. The docs don't have a clue what is wrong with me. How did you get diagnosed with it?

Man, that don't sound good! :(
I didn't get diagnosed 'til about ten years ago, before then I thought I just had run-of-the-mill chronic lower back pain, I didn't think the shooting pains in my leg were connected in any way... I just went to my GP after a particularly bad attack and that's what I was told I had... I don't get it too badly, one or two flare-ups a year but a friend of my sister's was off work for a couple of years with it. She had surgery in the end and she's absolutely fine now...
I manage mine with Voltarol and Co-Codamol... I'm thinking about starting Pilates classes (gah!) to balance/strengthen the muscles down there...
If your symptoms sound like sciatica you should tell your GP, I don't think they expect it to affect younger people so they may not be looking for it... Not sure about that tho'...
Get it checked out dude, hope you're OK...
Joe
edit: I've got a pretty good osteopath/sports therapist I see when it's really bad (not for a year or so, thankfully), his name's Chris Penter and he works out of the Clapham Common Clinic... You should be able to Google him and the clinic... He's really good...

Hey lads, thanks for all the comments - its actually painful from the elbow down the back of the forearm.

Pretty sold on the idea of going back to a rucksack, though would miss the convieniance of a messenger bag.

Any recomendations on the rucksack front?

Before shelling out on new gear.. how bent are you elbows when riding?

hippy, how bent should your elbows be be?

just changing bars and stem at the moment, be interested to know.

Sounds like mouse-related RSI, to me.

Depends, I ride a 1980s Raleigh Racer, converted to to singlespeed (with drop bars) So elbows bent when down on the drops, pretty much strait when riding on the top of the bar.

I have wondered if it is positional...but my right arm is fine!!!

eeehhhh hippy, how bent should your elbows be be?
just changing bars and stem at the moment, be interested to know.

Dunno to be honest. But the point is they should be bent. You don't want road shock bashing straight up locked arms.
I tend to increase/decrease the bend to get lower, sit up depending on wind, effort and just to move around a bit.
There's probably some more useful into than that on fitting-related sites.

djm778 Depends, I ride a 1980s Raleigh Racer, converted to to singlespeed (with drop bars) So elbows bent when down on the drops, pretty much strait when riding on the top of the bar. I have wondered if it is positional...but my right arm is fine!!!

How often are you in the drops vs. the tops would you say? It sounds to me like you need to bring your bars up or your stem closer and add some bend to your elbows before worrying about bags and stuff.

is it your right arm???
+1 to what chunky said, it sounds more like a reach problem, than a backpack, type one, my forearms used to hurt a bit mainly through braking, extra stress being fixed and brakeless, got a shorter stem, no more problems.