Arthritis question

[sarahkonamojo]

Not sure where you are located, but around here the single speed craze is big. Most single speeds are repurposed old road bikes. Most have hand brakes or are fixed. Fixed would probably not be what you want either. BUT thinking a coaster brake on an old road bike would give you a lighter option than a cruiser. It would be much lighter and more nimble and not terribly expensive.
Best of luck. And have fun looking at your options.
S

[OakLeaf]

Just googling and not sure what you want to spend ... but what about a Moulton TSR-2? It's only a two-speed, but that's still double the gears of a single-speed, and it only weighs 26#.

[grey]

I don't have any bike suggestions, but I HAVE suffered from arthritis symptoms.

For me, it was dairy. Dairy is extremely inflammatory for joints in some people. Cutting that out helped a LOT. There are some independent studies that had arthritis sufferers cut out dairy and checked back with them in a month - nearly all reported improvment. Three months later, they were asked again - those that found improvement earlier now had very few symptoms. Worked for me!

Also suggested this to my aunt, who was noticing arthritis flare ups. She hasn't cut out dairy entirely, but says it is better with less dairy in the diet.

When I have a flare-up, I take turmeric - you can put some in capsules and take 1 or 2 a day. I hate swallowing pills and so I dilute a half teaspoon in a little water and drink it like a shot - chase it with water. Turmeric has capaisain (sp?) in it, works very well as an anti-inflammatory. I've noticed it takes 2-3 days for it to REALLY kick in, but you do notice a difference in a few hours.

I get my turmeric in powder form, in bulk, from Mountain Rose Herbs.(www.mountainroseherbs.com)

[emily_in_nc]

My husband has a Trek Cruiseliner 3-speed, aluminum bike. It is really light for a cruiser bike! I looked far and wide for a ladies Cruiseliner model, but never could locate one. The local Trek shops don't stock them, though I guess they might have ordered one for me. I ended up finding another ladies aluminum cruiser (single speed, coaster brakes) on craigslist and went with that (see my sig) as it was used and thus a lot less expensive, and still a very nice cruiser bike.

That said, a cruiser bike is just that. We bought these bikes for riding on the beach. The position on them is very upright. It's not a bike I'd want to ride for long rides as it's not built for speed at all. Just some things to consider.

Best of luck to you, and sorry about the arthritis pain.

[katerine]

My arthritis is very tied to the foods I eat, particularly gluten and to a lesser extent tomatoes and other veggies of that family, also corn, cow's milk, sugar and beans. There are other foods that give me trouble but those are the principal ones. People think it must be a nuisance to be so restrictive, but the pain relief is worth it. In the past tumeric hasn't helped much but I think I will try taking it again and see how I do. Thanks for the suggestion.

My knees are now affected and I'm hoping that a three speed might be easier when I'm having an episode. I realize that you get what you pay for, but I really can't swing anything more than 500 at this time so that does limit my choices. We have a great lbs nearby and I have researched all the brands they carry and made a list of possibilities, including used. Worse comes to worse, I'll have the old junky bike fixed up and ride it until something better comes along. There's always a way.

This is such an awesome place. People's eyes tend to glaze over when I want to talk about bicycles, even my very supportive DH, but here I can read all I want about bikes and have people understand my single-minded quest to ride a bike despite some physical setbacks. Joy.

[gabriellesca]

Welcome Katerine - I don't post as often but read alot. its a really great forum and I agree with the eyes glazing over syndrome. The minute I start talking about riding or the Tour I put people to sleep!

I don't have any advice at all but I also suffer from arthritis - mine is in one of my ankles due to an old injury and I'm really struggling with it this year as I get back in the saddle and really hurt after riding - not sure if it has to do with clipping in and out. I also have issues with tennis elbow which breaking, shifting, and drinking from my water bottle REALLY hurts. I can't imagine how tough it must be for you. So sorry!

Hang in there and please let us know how it goes finding your new bike.

[surgtech1956]

Can't comment on the bike, but welcome to TE.