Back pain

So I bought myself an Abus Granite Chain a month or so ago and have been wearing it around my waist on my commute (Hackney to Clapham and back). In the last couple of weeks I've started getting pain around my lower back and shooting pains in my arse (delightful, I know), and seeing as nothing mush else has changed in my lifestyle I'm thinking the two might be connected.

I know a lot of people carry chains around their waists - anyone ever had a similar problem - I'm gonna be annoyed if I have to revert to a D-lock on my frame :)

Cheers,
T

Keep the big lock at work (or home) and then carry a mini-D for your short stops in between.

how tight is it round your waist?

it's possibly your position on the bike, maybe from pushing your hips forward and arching your lower back instead of pivoting forward at the hips and keeping your back straight.

Sounds like Sciatica. Not nice. Maybe the chain (cold metal on your spine) aggravated an unknown problem.

So I bought myself an Abus Granite Chain a month or so ago and have been wearing it around my waist on my commute (Hackney to Clapham and back). In the last couple of weeks I've started getting pain around my lower back and shooting pains in my arse (delightful, I know), and seeing as nothing mush else has changed in my lifestyle I'm thinking the two might be connected.

I know a lot of people carry chains around their waists - anyone ever had a similar problem - I'm gonna be annoyed if I have to revert to a D-lock on my frame :)

Cheers,
T

try riding without your lock and see what happens!

^Are you some kind of scientist?

Keep the big lock at work (or home) and then carry a mini-D for your short stops in between.

Unfortunately it's the stops in between where I need the size - the one-time cyclist that is my boss lets me keep it inside at work :)

how tight is it round your waist?

er, quite? I'm pretty slim and it sits around my hips - it's tight enough that it doesn't fall of when I'm standing but not so tight that I feel restricted when sitting.

it's possibly your position on the bike, maybe from pushing your hips forward and arching your lower back instead of pivoting forward at the hips and keeping your back straight.

I'll check this out next time I'm going by some mirrored buildings, but I think my riding position is pretty good.

Sounds like Sciatica. Not nice. Maybe the chain (cold metal on your spine) aggravated an unknown problem.

Yeah - I've had similar problems in the past (with my piriformis, if you're medically minded) so I figured this could easily be doing a similar thing. The problem is that the pain is always delayed by a few days after whatever is causing it, so the cause is always quite hard to pin down. Just wanted to see if this was a known problem.

try riding without your lock and see what happens!

^Are you some kind of scientist?

+1.

Problem is once it starts it takes a couple of weeks for the pain to clear. So though I am now doing this (surprise surprise), I have to wait a few weeks to see if it goes away, then, if it does, put the chain back on to see if it was acually that and not just some other injury (no-doubt drink related), then wait a week or two to see if the pain comes back, then if it does wait another couple of weeks for it to go again.

So it's either the above or a quick message to the good folks on here. Which to go for I wonder?

Sounds like classic lactose intolerance to me. Or possibly a yeast infection.

Sounds like classic lactose intolerance to me. Or possibly a yeast infection.

A yeast infection? Goddammit.

Maybe I'd have more luck if I use the chain in the bedroom and some extra-safes to secure my bike.

Just get the Mini D, it may look nimble and weak against the chain lock, but it's the opposite mate.

How does a lock look nimble?

well being small and thin and looking weak?

.

Thanks for clearing that up

if the chain is re-occuringly pushing on one of the vertebra, it could be pressurising your lower lumbar spinal nerve, giving you characteristic shooting pains that people with slip disc almost always talk about.

Or this could be a slowly-developing, chronic issue that is only just becoming apparent. In which case you should totally get it checked out.

My humble* opinion?
Ditch the lock. Take it easy. Concentrate on your posture and the use of core muscles while riding (good practice anyway), and see how you feel.

• entirely uneducated, totally subjective, and quite possibly worthless
  

Strapping some big piece of shit to your body has got to alter the way you hold yourself.
Throw the lock at a cab and see how you feel in 2 weeks. Oh.. and HTFU. ;)

Think it might be the chain. I vagually remeber someone on bikeforums.net asking exactly the same thing.

Thank you all - think I'll keep the chain in reserve for those high-risk 'look at the the size of my motherfucking lock' occasions and switch to the MiniEvo for day-to-day sub 10min use. Incidentally my boss, who is fast working his way up the 'best-boss' ladder, just paid for me to see an osteopath and I'm otherwise in good shape, so hopefully no creeping chronic conditions on the horizon.

On the taxi cab front, for anyone who remembers Road Rash on the mega-drive I think the Granite might be ideal :)

jus put the lock bit over ur shoulders and that shall do the trick . . .
would love to put it around mu waist but im too slim for my lock . . . got the 100CM 1

Id go with the sciatica . Any pain through the leg yet ?
If so get it checked out .
Maybe seat adjustment if not ...

Incidentally my boss, who is fast working his way up the 'best-boss' ladder, just paid for me to see an osteopath

Where do you work!?! Any jobs going?

. Incidentally my boss, who is fast working his way up the 'best-boss' ladder, just paid for me to see an osteopath

]

Does he compliment you on your slim hips too? Suggest that, perhaps, an hour in the jacuzzi at his house might ease the pain? Has he ever asked you if you like gladiator movies?