Biketiger

You're recommending $6500 for an ELECTRIC BIKE?!?! She'd be better off buying a Vespa - go faster with even less effort, it's cheaper and Italian! She'd get up that hill she lives on No problemo!

GlennR

Yes I am. E-bikes have their place.

63rickert

Thank you. Replying on forums like this mostly we never know if remarks hit the target or not.

Am much impressed that you are able to ride now. No idea what sort of Stumpy you have or what sort of routes you ride. Just know your neck is able to survive some bike riding. Should be able to survive more.

One small suggestion would be to try some modern roadish tires on the bike you use now. I am very partial to Rene Herse tires. Like floating on air. Schwalbe, Maxxis, WTB have similar and excellent offerings. Try the light ones, not the survive the apocalypse tires. Light roadish tires are and can be used for plenty of trails less severe than pure rock garden DH routes.

In Bay Area you might visit Black Mountain Cycles in Port Reyes. His MCD is the low production version of almost the bike I would imagine you on. No idea what test ride policy is there, but I would hope they would be ready to help, your situation is the sort of thing that always motivates bike guys. Also over in Santa Rosa Fitzcyclez (two z’s) builds customs of the sort dreamed of.

Traditional long rake steel forks will have 10-15mm of useful suspension travel. More before the fork bends on big hits. Wide tires are tall tires, lots of travel in a big tire when not overinflated.

For decades popular market bikes have worshipped at the altar of stiffness. The reverse of what you want. There is now a tide in the other direction. Suspension works better the closer to ground it begins. Softer tires and flexible fork tips do a great job on bad roads.

There are custom builders in carbon. I know little to nothing of them. Carbon can be comfortable. You will know quickly talking to a builder if he has thought over comfort or if he is about light and stiff only.

Biketiger

Sure, ebikes "have their place." We can argue where that is. Did the OP ask about upgrading from their entry level ebike? Not at all. Recommending one that starts at $6499 to a rider who doesn't own one and wasn't asking about them just seems absurd to me. I don't think a motor is a good first solution to a bicycle problem.

GlennR

The OP is already talking about carbon bikes and with a hill that has a 10% grade, an e-bike is a good option.

Neither you or I know the OP's budget, my post was only a suggestion. And these days, $6500 for a bike is not that odd. There's plenty of bikes costing twice as much.

And there's a huge difference between a e-bike that weighs 50# and does 25mph all day long and one with pedal assist so you can make it up those steeper hills.

70sSanO

You’ve got a lot of things going on and even well intended suggestions are guesses.

But you need to start with your Stumpjumper. As much as you hate it, can you ride it on the road without pain?

Have you thought of swapping out the bars for something like mustache or flared drop bars to see how it rides with lightweight tires for the road?

The idea isn’t to have you keep riding your Stumpjumper, but to help find a position that works for longer distances on the road. If you have access to a good stationary bike you could also find adjustments that way.

The other issue are leg spasms. You would probably need a doctor to give a reason why climbing on a low geared mountain bike is the cause. I can’t see how a bike change would eliminate it. It may always be present regardless of a new bike. A lightweight (25lb) e-assist road bike might be needed. Unless you want to have to drive your bike to a starting point that needs to be addressed.

John

BikeOnForever

Chiucat, I think your potential choice of a Trek Domane SL 6 is excellent. Relatively upright geometry, shock absorption in the seatpost and handlebars, relatively wide tire acceptance (upto 35 mm), and some mounting options for panniers, etc. (for your desire to bike tour some day). Based on your requirements, the Trek Checkpoint SL 5 or SL 6 would be an even better choice. Even more upright geometry (while still an honest to god road bike with drop bars), shock absorption (none on handlebars), even wider tire acceptance (40 mm), and full fledged mounting options for bike touring. A friend just bought a Trek Checkpoint SL 5 a few days ago and I was VERY impressed by how well all these issues were managed. Also, the latest Checkpoint comes with a Shimano GRX groupset with 46/30 chainrings and 11-34 cassette which will be very friendly on your back and neck AND will help you get up that hill at the end of your ride. My main ride is a custom built Trek Emonda SLR (comparable to an SL 10), and I'm salivating over the Checkpoint SL 5!

tangerineowl

See if you can find a secondhand Blue Prosecco EX/SP/ carbon bike or frameset. Build/mod it to suit the gearing you want for climbing.

For an off-the-shelf carbon endurance dropbar bike, nothing else approaches its short-reach, tall-stack numbers.

Fits about a 38mm rear. 40mm? front.

You could strip it down / build it up with something like an Ergon CF3 seatpost, and a Redshift ShockStop stem, and carbon bar.

Chiucat

We own a Keiser spin bike and I ride it in a quite upright position (in and out of the saddle) to keep bike fit. I like the upright positions on that and the StumpJumper fine. Because the fusion is at the base of my neck (C1 & C2, I believe), going down on handlebars and bending that neck to look up/ around is really not feasible over hours. We (my husband is my mechanic, honestly) did swap out the fat MTB tires for as skinny a set of road tires as will fit the SJ, and still, he has to abandon his regular Look road bike and get onto a hybrid so he can keep the speed down to accommodate me. Still... he freewheels faster than I can pedal hard. It's very frustrating, and demoralizing.

Good idea about checking in with the doc about the leg spasms. Something else might be at work. It's not just the cycling. Walking up and down our hill also causes the problem, just not as severe. So no, changing bikes won't solve that one. But going uphill hard with that problem means that, on occasion, the whole lower half of my body locks up. That's happened a couple of times, when I couldn't even get OFF the bike because raising my leg over the handlebar was not possible! Anyway, this is a medical issue, not a bike issue. It's just another factor I must consider when figuring out my bike solution.

Chiucat

Interesting. Will look into it. Thank you.

Kapusta

This may or may not be helpful, but....

I was having some discomfort from having to turn my neck up when leaned over on my road bike.

Raising the bars helped, but if it was too upright it was not comfortable to pedal hard for long and my back would get tight.

The real “ah-ha” for me was focusing on tilting at the hips at the pelvis, not at my waist. Tilting my pelvis forward, and flattening my lower back out ended up making my spine a striaght line from my hips to my neck, rather than a curve. This meant that my spine is already angled upright when it gets to my neck, and therefore I am not needing to bend my neck back as much to look up. I am not any more upright, but the upper part of my back is.

This did involve working on hamstring flexibility, and I needed to tilt my saddle down a notch.

Jicafold

You are talking about a physiatrist.

63rickert

Maybe I am. My doctor, now retired, was among the founders of both specialties.
Physiatrists go way beyond just Orthopedics. The wife was once referred to a physiatrist, he did do a very extensive exam and case history, he never came up with anything useful.
Saw my orthopedist five times over twenty some years, each time one or two office visits, twice a referral to PT, total recovery and total understanding of process each time. Last time I saw him he was struck by how I always spoke of bikes as beneficial and wonderful while he had a waiting room full of people injured on bikes. He made two hour long appointments with me to pick my brain and watch me ride a bike. Not an ordinary doctor.

Toadmeister

My balls get in the way of doing that...

MoAlpha

This works fine with my C 5-6 fusion, artificial discs above and below, and bad degenerative disease throughout the spine. Everyone is different and has different goals, but, to a significant extent, it's about how hard you're willing to work on rehab and strength.

Kapusta

I don’t think the OP will have that problem.

Marylander

I have congenital fusion of c4-c5, a bunch of arthritis, plus issues further down my spine (including congenital fusion in the lumbar region). I recently picked up a black mountain cycles mcd, which has tall stack/short reach (https://bikeinsights.com/bikes/5ae0b...020&build=700c). I've put a thudbuster seatpost and a redshift shockstop stem on it. I plan to use it whenever my neck is killing me. I haven't had much chance to ride it yet as I've been almost exclusively using another bike that has fenders due to the wet conditions lately. So, I can't say for sure this thing will do the trick but I at least had fun on it the one time I did take it out in the mess...

63rickert

This.
Yes.
Tilt the pelvis. Many positive effects from tilting at pelvis.

Elbeinlaw

My wife and I bought "low step through" bikes. We bought Treks, but there are a bunch of others, including specialized. She has multiple fusions and even her hybrid was hurting her neck: she needed a very upright position. My hips don't allow me to do that cowboy swing into the saddle, so the low step through was a necessity. My biggest issue was that I was damned if I was going to ride a "girls bike." But when you're on the internet nobody knows you're a dog. (I also discovered the low bar on BikeFriday "foldables"--which have turned out to be my favorite bike, though I'll never fold them--let me do what I need to do, and the way mine's adjusted, I'm very upright.) If you want to contact me off-forum I'll give you details.

veganbikes

Like I tell everyone but especially those of us who have physical issues, GO GET A FIT! Seriously go see an experienced fitter especially one who does dynamic fits and start there. You might even go to some of the custom builders out there as some of them are trained fitters and they can get you on the right bike that will work for your body, proportions and issues. Once you get a fit you can better find a bike because likely that fitter will have good suggestions and if you go to a custom builder you will have a bike perfectly tailored to you.

If you do want something with more of a flat bar you might consider some of the great alternative bars out there like the Surly Moloko, Koga Denham or Velo Orange Crazy Bars or some of the more ergonomic aero base bars/bullhorns (the Profile Design WINGa has wider sizes)

Toadmeister

My very woke daughter tells me to NEVER assume such things....

gif4445

I've had neck problems for years. To prepare for the 2019 Trans Am Bike Race, I purchased a Specialized Diverge and got a professional bike fit. I think about everything was replaced on that bike, except for the frame. The most important changes affecting the neck included stacking the stem to get the handle bars up and give me a more relaxed, upright fit. The Diverge has the future shock, which is a great thing IMO. Also, I went with 32 mm tires which also soaked up some road vibration. The neck was golden on the ride. This past year however, I did have 2 levels of fusion in March. With Covid restrictions and the surgery, I didn't get near the miles in, but managed to get back in some sort of groove by June. I did some riding in the Black Hills area with some friends and it went well. Spent a little time on the Mickelson (limestone). The Diverge treated me well. A couple weeks later I had a crash on a group ride that took me out for the rest of the summer. (Neck was ok, shoulder and clavicle, not so much). Long story short, I have had good luck with the Diverge and FS before and after the fusion. From my point of view, the FS, endurance geometry and a professional bike fit will get you there. The new Roubaix looks like a great option, if you can get it. In fact, I've decided to attempt the TABR in 2022 and am looking long and hard at the Roubaix, with DI2 and future shock 2.0. Good luck!!