20 Best Bikes For Back Problems (2023 Updated)

I read numerous reviews from reputable publications about how good the new Deore 12 speed is; all of which were right. I’ve been riding XT/XTR 10 speed for the past 11 years, finally upgraded to a larger (51t) cassette and needed a derailleur to handle the gigantic “pie plate” cog.

I’m still using my XT 10 speed shifter and this 12 speed mech works perfectly fine (with shimano, you can use a higher speed derailleur with a lower speed shifter, but not vice versa). Super crisp and predictable shifting on par with the upper level Shimano components, AND IT’S CLUTCHED!.

This is a case in which “trickle down” actually works, I can’t recommend this enough, especially if you’re on a budget. If you’re a weight weenie or refuse to ride anything less than XT/XTR, skip this and spend the extra cash.

Weight is the only thing you’ll save, performance is the same. (Oh, and SLX is only a couple grams lighter than Deore. Weight savings of any significance are found in XT/XTR).

This review is about the Shimano M5100 group set as a whole. I made my first foray into mountain biking a few months ago with the purchase of a gently used Orbea MX50 mountain bike. It came with a Shimano Atlus 3×8 group set (3 gears/cogs in front, 8 gears/cogs in back for those as new to this as I recently was).

This group set has been a HUGE upgrade. I switched everything to 1×11 which required buying a new crank, sprocket, chain, derailleur, annd shifter. I have plenty of gear range and it is SO MUCH more functional.

This group set has really changed my bike for the better! Keep in mind you will probably need to buy some special tools, grease, etc. I did the upgrade myself and it’s pretty involved but if you’re mechanical, it’s definitely a job that can be done in a basement or garage.

No regrets at all!.

Comes in widths, which matters to me. Super comfortable for any length of ride. A bit long in the nose; sometimes snags shorts on techy stuff, but not often. Problem is both rails snapped off on a small drop.

WTB promptly replaced it. A few months later, the second seat lost a rail on a flat section of trail while pedalling. I hope the F35 uses better titanium. I’ll be looking for something more durable.

I have 125mm sit bones when in about 45 degree riding position which seems to be a little wide for most guys. I picke dup the Deva as a last previous year demo for real cheap, and so far it is my favorite saddle.

Over the past 6 years I have tried everything from $20-$330 saddles trying to find the magical saddle that never causes pain. However I kept coming back the the Deva. After about 4 years the plastic developed an annoying creaking sound, so I am now trying the new Koda to see how it compares to the Deva.

I am in no way upset about the sound since 4 years for a saddle that I beat up mountain biking is good enough for me. I haven’t had the Koda long enough to give a thorough review other than it is similar to the Deva but slightly shorter and more padded.

I’m still not sure if those are good qualities or not.

I had one of these WTB Rocket saddles in the past, and guess it went with one of my bikes that I sold. For me, the WTB line fits best. I don’t even consider anything else after years of using their saddles.

I was riding a WTB Speed, and it was a little too wide (came on the bike), so I ordered a new Rocket (medium), with titanium rails. With about forty miles on it so far, it’s feeling great. In those miles I made multiple stops and adjustments to get it right, and now it’s pretty dialed in for some longer rides.

The Speed was used with a cheap carbon post (0 offset). This Rocket is used with a budget aluminum post and is a slightly lighter combo, but rides better. I splurged on the saddle, so I had to save on the post for the time being, but couldn’t be happier.

I do miss that it doesn’t have ‘Rocket’ printed on the back anymore.

I’ve been using these tires for many years and have found them to be quite reliable. Yes, I’ve had a few flats, but I’d like to think that number would been much higher had I not been using the Gatorskins.

I’ve been able to get what I consider good mileage out of them with nominal wear to the tread surface. However, what does give me cause for concern are the sidewalls. When I first started using them I began noticing black hair-like threads hanging off the sidewall close to where the tire is seated to the rim- *not* at the point of contact with the rim, but about 2-4 millimeters away from the edge of the rim.

Moreover, this happened not just on one rim or one bike, but it’s happened on multiple rims and bikes. I’ve come to the conclusion the sidewalls are simply delaminating on a thread-by-thread basis and I haven’t experienced a complete sidewall failure.

I just have to take a pair of scissors after the threads every so often. Just for reference, I generally use 700×23’s, but have had the occasion to use 700×25’s and 700×28 (only once). I had originally thought it might have been a heat build-up issue from using a trailer, but I haven’t used that in several years now and it didn’t seem to make a difference.

All that said, I like the tires- but I wish I could have greater confidence in the sidewall construction. If not for that, I would rate the tires with a “5”.

These replaced Continental 4000S tyres. The Gatorskin is a tighter fit so be prepared to use tyre levers for the last bit when fitting. They are tough especially on the sides because just as many punctures happen there as elsewhere on a tyre.

I’m in the Swansea area which has a lot of bikeways cos the Council wants to make the place into bike city and they are succeeding, but the roads are diabolical. Nothing is ever puncture proof but these Gatorskins are about as close as you can get and they roll along wonderfully.

I wouldn’t put anything else on my bike and I don’t really care that they cost in the 25 to 30 quid zone. My bike is a Cannondale Caad8. Steve.

Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration. I’ve only had 3 flats in about 5 years with these tires. Thousands of KMs. These may be a bit heavier than other tires, but I don’t spend time on the side of the road cursing at a flat tire anymore, so they are dramatically faster overall.

:^) I agree with other reviews that the bead can be very tight, but then again, you only have to change them once every few years, so who cares. LOL. I highly recommend Gatorskins. They are the only tires I’ll put on my racing bike.

I purchased the Xl boyshort and it was way too big for me. I’m used to brands that have only minute differences between sizes but this brand actually sticks to sizes. Because it was big, I messaged customer service.

Steffi was so kind and quick at responding. I’ve ordered from alternative fabric stores and they took at least 2 days to respond. Even then they seemed like they didn’t want to help me and never answered my questions fully.

Steffi was amazing and if I could give another 5 stars just for customer service I would~~ Anyway, it was my first pair so I was sent an L size for free. Y’all! This underwear is so comfy! Having lived/visited super humid countries it feels as if all the sweat glands in my body opened up and that leads to sweating in areas I’d rather be dry.

We all know too much humidity in the crotch region could lead to imbalances and infection. With cotton undies if you sweat they usually get wet and stay wet all day. With these WAMA undies I felt cool and dry! I absolutely love them! There are just 2 gripes I have.

Waist length and leg rollup. I wish there was an undy with a higher waist. I don’t like low waisted undies, pants, etc. I wish y’all would make a boyshort with a higher waist. Also, the stitching on the leg part makes it so that it rolls up when pulling pants up.

Maybe slightly tighter leg holes might prevent that? I’m not sure. Also, as with the bra, more styles of undies would be good. Either way, I’ll definitely be back to purchase more- keep up the good work.

This GRX RD-RX400 rear derailleur is meant to work with Shimano road bike mechanical shifters that uses the long cable pull introduced with their 11-speed road groups, which means it works with 11-speed Dura-Ace/Ultegra/105 shifters, as well as the 10-speed Tiagra 4700 shifters and GRX “gravel” groups.

The great thing about the RD-RX400 is what Shimano calls an “SGS” long cage, which means you can use a very wide-range cassette like 11-40T on a double-crankset road bike with the above mentioned shifters.

The long cage gives the RD-RX400 enough capacity to accept the much longer chain needed to run the big cassette, which the shorter-cage standard Shimano road rear derailleurs cannot do. Shimano officially says the biggest cassette you can use with this rear derailleur is 11-36T, but plenty of people have successfully run an 11-40T cassette with it, some were even able to go to 11-42T.

To get the easier hill-climbing gears on your road bike with any of the above mentioned shifters, you will need this rear derailleur, a wide-range cassette (10- or 11-speed depending on what shifter you have), and a longer chain to accommodate the bigger cassette cogs.

I bought this rear derailleur to run a 10-speed 11-40T cassette on my road bike with Tiagra 4700 shifters and a 50/34T crankset, and it gives me a very easy hill-climbing gear combo of 34T front / 40T back = 0.

85 gear ratio. In comparison, climbing the same steep hill using a standard 11-28T cassette requires approximately 40% more effort (34T front / 28T back = 1. 21 gear ratio). The ability of this rear derailleur to run a wider-range cassette is an invaluable equalizer for those of us who don’t have diesel legs and need easier gears on steep hill climbs to keep up with stronger riders using standard gearing!.

My red panniers held up beautifully on two unsupported week-long bicycle trips on the Erie Canal Trail and Great Alleghany Passage. They were incredibly easy to pop on and off my bicycle using the handle latches.

I had a short window, just a few minutes sometimes, to put them on and take them off the bike rack while on the Amtrak train platform or even inside a crowded traincar at rush hour. The easy latch makes a huge difference.

Easy to carry the panniers on the train and put them in the overhead storage like a carryon bag. Very roomy and sturdy. I fit a whole weeks worth of clothes, toiletries, and electronics in there with room to spare.

The inside pocket is super handy to slip in maps and guides. It took a couple of YouTube videos to figure out how to put them on my bike the first time. Depending on your rack style you have to put a piece of plastic in to grip the rack.

You also have to play around with the clips figure out the best placement for your bike. If you haven’t done it before it takes some time to figure out and that probably applies to any panniers you buy.

Once you figure it out, it’s easy but give yourself time to establish it the first time. Also, the shoulder straps are theoretically a good idea and I used them the first few times. But when you use the shoulder strap, it pulls on the rings and causes the bag to lose its nice rolled up shape and crumples the sides a bit.

It also takes a minute to put the shoulder strap back in it’s little clip when you put it back on your rack. Overall, I love these panniers so much. Whenever I see someone with Ortliebs on their bicycle I feel like I’m in a special club.

When I see someone else’s bike with rear red Ortliebs, I’m always like, wow, that’s some good looking gear! I researched these a ton and based on reviews decided to fork over the $$ to get these beautiful, reliable panniers.

Best decision ever!.

I had a cheap pannier that I had grabbed for commuting when I started cycling. It converted into a backpack but wasn’t waterproofed save for a bag cover. I discovered to my dissapointment that when I was taking groceries home on the bike, they had totally wet through, exploding a 5lbs bag of flour and ruining the pannier.

That was when I decided to go in on these Ortliebs. I use them every day, and they have been phenomenal. I only have good things to say about them–the waterproofing is astonishing, they have been sturdy enough to withstand several bike wrecks, and have all the space I need and more for buying groceries, taking my things to work, or other errands.

The quick release clips are an amazing ease-of-life upgrade as well–being able to easily drop my panniers on and off my rack makes life a breeze. Furthermore, I’ve been really impressed with Ortleib’s commitment to the life of these bags.

Spare parts are easy to find, and Ortleib is helpful with bag reparis. When I kicked this bag off on accident, finding a spare set of mounting clips was a breeze. This is one of my bike gear purchases I have not looked back on.

I commute 7 miles every day, these bags are large and very well constructed, I expect they will last. My first dozen or so uses were not perfect though. Opening and closing takes time and when carrying, they are awkward if left open.

Clipping them on the bike is good and if you do it properly, they stay on, but I found them jumping off for no reason which could have resulted in damage or an accident. I discovered that on my bike, I had to clip the quick release strap underneath the buckle and make 100% sure it was attached to the bike properly.

This adds time to my commute, as attaching takes me about 5 minutes. If I then find I need to put something in that I’ve forgotten, it is a pain, but it’s getting quicker for me the more I use them. I have used them once in the rain and they worked well.

I actually washed the mud from the panniers off using the shower, I’m happy because the material is tough and looks brand new after a quick shower down. They are definitely premium quality in both build and materials and I do not regret buying them.

The complications I have are undoubtedly due to my pannier rack (Trek Conduit Plus), so I would guess that most ‘normal’ designs would be less fussy about attaching. They look great on the bike and in the office and I would definitely recommend for anyone commuting by bike in England all the year round.

Really happy with this wheels. Excellent braking in the wet and dry, very low weight (just 20 grms difference from my Zipp 303 Firecrest with tyres included). Was having a rough time braking with my Zipp’s in the wet, but these wheels have given me back the confidence of braking.

Mind you, I weigh 107kg, was happy with the Carbon wheels but these are so much better. Really stiff wheels and stealthy look. Would definitely recommend, no second thoughts, go for it if you want a good rim braking wheels.

I’ve only ridden these wheels for 50 miles or so to date but initial impressions are v. good. Both wheels are still true to within half a millimetre or so and there was no spoke ‘pinging’ at all on first ride.

Braking performance in dry (no wet miles yet) with the supplied blue BXP pads is exceptionally good although the initial pad wear rate is high. The Oxic coated rims appear totally unmarked.

I purchased a Trek Emonda for exercise and weight-loss. I am a former century rider from the early 90?s and thought I would get into riding casually but later found myself drawn back to the riding community cycling more and more.

(Not a bad thing, right?) Anyhow, the Bontrager TLR?s served me well. I abused them. Initially I was significantly over the weight limit for those wheels and they held up fairly well. [greater than expected] When it came time to replace these wheels, I wanted DT Swiss because I was familiar with their reputation for building quality wheels.

DT Swiss are well known for producing excellent spokes and hubs used by competitor brands. Truthfully, I wanted a set of wheels with 240 hubs but that wheel set was out of my price range and ?well, I am still fond of abusing things and not really worrying about breaking anything but I digress.

I purchased these wheels a few months ago and have abused the mess out of them. They have served me well. They are a phenomenal wheel for the money. If you are looking for the best value at this price point, you should really consider this wheelset.

After purchase/delivery, I discovered that the attachment used is made of rubber. After numerous attempts to communicate with the manufacturer, by me and my bike shop to see if there was a more durable alternative, my bike shop noticed that Burley offers a replacement part for said rubber piece.

I pressed on, now more suspect that this rubber attachment between my bike and the trailer holding, in my case my precious dog, would not last as they offer replacements. On my 3rd or 4th email to Burley, after not getting clarity on this part’s durability, when I raised this issue, I was finally told that “on page 15 of the owners manual, we suggest that this piece be replaced every 3 years”.

This confirmed my suspicions about their dubious prior and evasive non answers. My bicycles manufacturer’s rep also alerted me to this issue. Burley replied that they and other big brand name manufacturers use this method as well.

That gave me even less confidence. I have found other, higher weight capacity trailers, for ½ the cost, that do not have an attachment piece requiring replacement as they are made of steel, not rubber, which they know degrades over time.

I cannot believe that this is sold this way and there is no alert in big red lettering on page one of the owner’s manual. I shudder to think of those kids and dogs being towed around with a degradable/degraded attachment piece and having little to no idea it requires replacement/maintenance.

Burley should be making it crystal clear regarding the need to replace this part and not hide from doing so by either burying the point deep in the owners manual or evading the question when asked.

It’s a great bike trailer. Smooth ride and good maneuverability. Even as a stroller it was smooth and easy to use. The only thing I couldn’t get over was the stupid handlebar. Any kids in the trailer will cause the handle bar to slip.

The world has very uneven terrains and the constant slippage was a deal breaker for me given how expensive this was. Pushing the handlebar down to lift the front wheels over a bump caused it to slip.

Pushing the handlebar up to lift the back wheels through the doorway caused it to slip. The seat recline was cool but limited in range. The storage is only usable if the seats are not reclined. Even then, any kids lunch bag was too big to squeeze into it.

We ended up putting their stuff at their feet which wasn’t ideal. The double stroller wheel was extra accessory but it was annoying that unlike the Thule, there was no option to store different accessories on the trailer itself and it had to just be store separately.

Suspension was there but it pales in comparison to the Thule. I really don’t understand how all the reviewers are raving about this stroller. I question how many free items are being sent to influencers for their positive reviews.

In summary, get the cheaper one and use it just as a bike trailer. To use it as a stroller leaves much to be desired.

We have a 20 pound terrier mix that was a rescue. She is super skiddish and using handlebar bags and other bikey carrier products just didn’t work out. We considered the smaller tail wagon from Burley but opted for the more expensive Bark Ranger since it also converts to a stroller mode.

Pick up at our local REI store was seamless and the product was not damaged. Out of the box we noticed the usual high end Burley quality that always shines. Assembly was easy even for me. We left the wheels off and left it in the living room, throwing treats and her toys in it on occasion.

This helped a ton! Once we were ready for the wheels she associated it with good things. She loved it in stroller mode right off the bat. We kind of blew it when we went for a bike ride at a local trail that is frequented by mountain lions.

She always freaks when we walk it but we thought the safety of the trailer would help but nope didn’t happen. Freaked out right away. Subsequent rides around the neighborhood have been fine. I love that the Bark Ranger has easy access, pockets, full mesh sides and front/back, and can stow almost flat.

It is pretty big for a smaller dog, but that’s not a bad thing. Plus when she gets older she might like the stroller mode more. Great Burley product!.

I love Schwalbe tyres. They are virtually bulletproof and are on all my bikes. Fitting – these tyres are tough to fit but once they’re on, the only time you’ll need to take them off are when the tread disappears or you’ve suffered a major puncture.

Handling and grip – the tyres are heavier than other road tyres but the grip these provide even in the wet are superb. My original Giant branded tyres hated the wet. On dry surfaces they eat up the miles.

They’ll even cope with light gravel. Speed – so, there is a disadvantage. Due to the weight of the tyre, you’ll go a little more slowly. If speed matters to you, don’t get them otherwise these are almost close to the perfect bicycle tyre.

As for the price and buying experience, Halfords did everything right. They were the cheapest. I ordered the tyre at 6pm previous evening and it arrived the next day by noon. I couldn’t ask for more.

After reading lots of reviews I could not believe the difference these tyres have made to my cycling experience. My tyres needed replacing these were original tyres that came with my claude butler hybrid bike.

My thinking was there’d be no difference in the effort needed to get from a to b. I was so wrong the difference is unbelievable so much easier to peddle around now. These tyres have astounded me whish I’d have changed tyres sooner.

Feel so much more confident now going on longer journeys wow you need to try them. Can’t believe claude butler came with such crappy tyres. Also got great saving from Halford for two tyres.

Pros: very puncture resistant and tight fit. Cons: heavier tire and hard to mount (use the warm sunlight to help expand them before placing on the rimalso get the opposite wire bead into the trough of the rim to help the other size pop onto the rim).

This is the type of tire that’s a set it and forget itother than maintaining a proper tire pressure. I’ve trusted this brand make and model of tire for years. Great for urban street riding where there’s glass and sharp objects rolled over on every ride.

Works okay on a classic Westwood style or lipless / hookless rim at the lower tire pressure of 55 psi or 4 bar.

This machine is a gamble. For $1,100 you would expect a product like this to deliver on its promise of helping you sleep and breathe better at night. Unfortunately for the first 9 days I had to take the device OFF in order to sleep.

If you have any nasal congestion while wearing the device, you suffer from claustrophobia-induced panic as you feel like you’re trying to breathe through a coffee straw. Two nights ago I was up at 4AM unable to breathe, but after I removed the device I could suddenly breathe again! This was made better by the fact that there is NO REFUND policy from Lofta.

You’re stuck with a $1,100 suffocation machine! The medical industry is the only industry where they offload all the risk and cost burden completely onto the customer. If they were selling these machines on Amazon they wouldn’t be able to sell them for more than $600 and would have free returns.

The machine is self-adjusting and came with the most generic settings, only to be further tuned by the patient. What exactly is the role of the physician here? Furthermore, there is no way for the patient, except to conduct another $200 sleep lab, to know whether the machine is working.

Yes, the machine tells you that it’s working. But can you trust it? It lacks any of the sensing the original sleep lab did, so how exactly are the data comparable? To be fair, when you are lucky enough to sleep through the night with the device, I do believe the quality of sleep to be superior.

I’ve even lost weight since I started using it and feel I can sustain longer through the workday. If you’re reading this and considering doing the whole 9-yards through Lofta, know that there is NO REFUND POLICY, and that results are mixed, and that it will take work to get used to it and get the most out of it.

I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea 3 months ago. I went to my family physician for an annual checkup and he referred me to a neurologist. 1 month after the referral I finally had an appointment. 2 weeks after that, the Dr.

had me return to his office. He then scheduled me for an overnight sleep study in a clinic. 1 Month after that, my insurance said NO, use an in home study. 3 weeks after that I got the test and completed it at home.

3 weeks later I returned to my neurologist to get my results. I had severe sleep apnea. Neurologist then said, I want a sleep study in clinic. 3 weeks after that, my insurance company said NO again that Dr had enough information already.

I was beyond frustrated at this point and googled cpap machines. LOFTA seemed the best company I could find. Called LOFTA, next day scheduled a video meeting with a Dr. who read my report from my at home sleep study that was completed months ago and prescribed my “miracle machine”! I received it in 3 days, used it for 4 nights, and then had the nicest most patient therapist “Dan” go over my results I uploaded.

That was a few days ago. My Apnea went from 60. 5 events per hour to 9. 4 events after 4 days and now after 8 days, ( I shaved my beard off ) I’m down to 4. 7 events per hour and sleep like a baby. What an absolute “miracle” to have support, professional, and knowledgeable people just a phone call away with all the answers to my many questions.

Thank you Lofta and Thank you Dan (therapist) for such a positive and effective experience.

Probably just me… after a friend remarked how much better his sleep was when using the CPAP machine, I signed up for the in-home test with the findings strongly suggestive of my own sleep being improved with use of CPAP.

I financed then received the CPAP and based upon the manner in which I sleep, the full facemask was recommended. Upon trying to sleep with a full face mask applied, I found my ability to fall asleep now took about one hour (previously about 5-10 mins) and then typically one to two hours later I “woke up) and automatically removed the mask.

I say automatically, because I never remember waking up to remove the mask or the reason why. I tried for over a month to get used to the machine but could not and then eventually stopped using it completely.

I am paying for the machine still so at some point I may try once more. I don’t have access to a sleep medicine provider to help me figure out why the machine is not working for me, But I’m sure that would help.

From a product quality standpoint, I have no faults with the machine as it appears to do what it’s designed to do.