Pain riding with backpack

[cpach]

I've been looking at these forums some as well as people's setups, and I've noticed that it's fairly common for people to bikepack with a backpack. I did a ~65 mile ride yesterday that was mostly road with lots of elevation change, but included maybe 10 miles of singletrack on my cyclocross bike and I experienced borderline debilitating lower back pain from the first 5 miles on. This wasn't really bikepacking (I was riding to a friend's house for a party and taking the fun route), but I'm interested in doing some trips with a more bikepacking style (despite having a perfectly good Long Haul Trucker touring bike and panniers). My backpack seems common on this site, an Osprey Stratos 24, which I like for commuting and groceries because the webbed back keeps me from getting too sweaty, has good compression, and can cinch down for no sway with the waist and sternum straps.

I'm mostly certain the cause of the pain was the change to wearing the pack, as this ride was not very outside my usual ride difficulty, and I've never experienced discomfort like this. My bike fits me great.

Is there anything I can do fitting my pack that could make this work better for me in the future? Unbuckling the waist made it a little better, although mostly I just had to get up and stand every once and a while to alleviate the pain. I'm going to make a framebag for my cross bike and probably get a large saddlebag for when I want to carry stuff (and possibly camp), but I'm wondering if a pack can be a good option. I'm also just genuinely curious how anyone can do serious miles with a pack cycling. I have thousands of miles backpacking with both very heavy (up to 100lb) and light to ultralight packs, so that's not the issue.

[sslos]

Hey there,

While I'm new to bikepacking, I have a lot of years on the bike.
Carrying stuff on your back is obviously different on the bike than on foot, so you might just need to spend some time both building up to carrying weight, and dialing fit.
Is the bag long enough for your torso? Perhaps lengthening the shoulder straps to shift more weight to your hips might help.
Good luck with this- back pain sucks!

Los

[Roland Sturm]

I would think that most long distance bikepacker use the backpack as the overflow storage place (e.g. extra food that will disappear quickly) and light stuff (rain jacket). Using a backpack as an essential part of your setup (i.e. always with a lot of weight) seems like a recipe for an unpleasant ride.

I personally ride without backpack whenever I can, although for bikepacking usually bring one. It rarely is on my back, however, and more often put away (with minimal stuff in it, maybe hanging on the aerobars, or stuffed into forkmount bottle holders). It only comes out when needed, e.g. after resupplies. Overnight trips don't require a backpack.

I had to carry a heavier backpack on this years Tour Divide through New Mexico because of all the water needed that took up all the space on the bike (and some in the backpack as well). So for 5 days, I had to ride with a full backpack, which I didn't like. Together with the bad roads, that meant bruised sitbones and it took half way through Colorado to recover (I was going north). But once I got out of New Mexico, I rarely was wearing the backpack, mostly it was hanging on the aero bars, and I only carried it after stocking up on food or if it seemed convenient to have extra clothes more quickly accessible.

[mattyp]

i also think that the position plays a big part, a cross bike is probably a lot more horizontal back position than most mountain bikes;  so a larger percentage of the weight is pushing perpendicular to your spine;  where back packing the force is more parallel to your spine.  i think you'd be surprised how much you can get into the frame bag/ seat pack combo with a small handle bar bag you can do quicker tours with no pack.  i think a pack is more used for extended back country where no resupply is possible. 

i did a part dirt part pavement tour up the california coast this summer and got it all onto the bike and rode for a week and could have ridden much longer since resupply was easy. i really wanted to not have to have a pack and was glad i didn't when i did some longer days and some bigger climbs.  i think you'll also find the bike doesn't handle too bad with a bikepacking set up especially compared to a fully loaded touring bike.

[AZTtripper]

i also think that the position plays a big part, a cross bike is probably a lot more horizontal back position than most mountain bikes;

That was my first thought. I always wear a pack when riding off road. I've only ridden a cross bike once and hated it but to each their own. Maybe on different trails but not here in AZ.

For non tech trails with little or no hike a bike I could see putting all of the weight on the bike. On more tech trails a pack allows you to balance your load.

[ImAFred]

I ride with a camelbak almost every time I ride so maybe I've gotten used to it but I think Azt is right I balance between the bike and backpack.

[sub-xero]

First off, I'd recommend using a backpack only under 2 conditions:

1. You don't plan to carry more than 22 lbs (10 kg) of baggage.
2. Your bike or the track doesn't allow using bicycle bags.

If you have to use a backpack for such reasons you should have stable and strong back and shoulder muscles to avoid pain.

I mostly use a backpack because I ride a full suspension bike and my routes are very steep and rocky; there's no way doing it with bike bags. I never suffered any pain or injuries although my backpack weighs around 22 lbs. However, a more heavy backpack would reduce my biking fun immensely.

[stevage]

Interesting comment above cross bikes vs mtb. I ride a cross bike, and usually have to take a small amount of gear in a backpack, but I keep it pretty light, maybe 3-4kg. It's definitely the last resort, after the frame pack, gas tank, handlebars and saddle pack are all stuffed full. It usually ends up being the sleeping mat, thermals, and a little bit of food.

Sometimes I've also lengthened the straps extremely long so the weight actually sits directly over my hips. It's hard to stop it sliding around then, though.