Well, now I’ve broken the ice by responding to a thread on here for the first time in a couple of years, I wonder if anyone could offer me some advice. Following two serious motorcycle accidents and a recent fall, my body is pretty much knackered (previous injuries were a badly broken pelvis, pinned and plated left wrist, ligament damage to both knees, brachial plexus damage due to dislocated right shoulder and severe muscle / rotator cuff damage). Following a recent fall, I have a fractured L1 vertebrae and damaged disc. In a nutshell, I’m left with little or no movement in my right upper arm, pain, stiffness and weakness to both knees, and pain / stiffness to my lower back. Having said that, I’m desperate to start riding again (and yes, given half a chance, I’d go back to motorbikes as well, though the less said about that the better – it goes without saying that my wife isn’t too keen). I have an old Cannondale hard tail, which I think is going to be a bit unforgiving, and have been looking on fleabay for a light(ish) full suspension bike. I’ve spotted a couple of Yeti 575’s which were going for a reasonable price, and was wondering if anyone had any experience of these. Any advice would be much appreciated.

If I were you I’d be seriously looking at an ebike.

Enjoy the downs, don’t punish your body too much on the climbs.

Is your right arm actually weight bearing so you can lean on bars?

There are a lot of systems available where you can control both front and rear brake with one brake lever, which may be worth looking at.

If you have problems steering with restricted right arm, look at a steering damper to assist?

Personally, i have a pinned right shoulder from bad accident, and i fractured two vertebra in neck playing rugby, so i now that i have to restrict hwo and what i ride now.

Best thing would be to start slowly, don’t rush in to buying another expensive bike, get a decent hardtail and just start on fire roads, find where your limits are, what you can do to address the physical problems (like being able to brake & steer correctly) and take advice from a decent physio as to what can be done physically?

Realistically, I’m setting myself the small goal of being able to go out with my 2 kids on gentle rides of a couple of miles at a time. I live close by the trans pennine trail, so nothing too rufty tufty there, and I’m thinking full sus purely for the comfort factor. I’ve had to give up a hell of a lot over the past couple of years, and I’m desperate to try and regain at least part of what I now think of as my ‘former’ life. I have full movement in my lower right arm and hand, and although my right shoulder pops and creaks alarmingly, I can weight bear with it.

Good on you for making a return to cycling.
I’ve ridden an old triangular ‘knuckle’ 575 back in the day. Seemed great back then, fast and very forgiving of rider error too. Set one of these up to be soft and plush and it will be very comfortable.

Thought about a recumbent trike?
No problems with weight bearing on the upper body or balance when you stop.
I’ve one you’d be welcome to borrow for a bit to see if it would work.

yeti 575 is a bit overpriced for your usage scenario, and harder to find.

i understand you don’t want any old thing.. but any big brand full suss will suit you.. something like giant anthem? trek fuel 5, 6 7 7?

i bought my santa cruz superlight from a guy who’d had a serious motorbike (track) accident which broke his back and had it for similar reasons. they’re not squishy compared to other bikes though. bit like the yeti, they don’t come up often.

silly suggestion, but the biggest tyres you can put on that old cannondale run at a forgving PSI might just do you right

I had a Yeti FRO back in the 90’s, and have always thought of it as the best bike I ever owned (Rose tinted glasses, I know, but I always wanted another Yeti). Mike, I really appreciate the offer, but I think balance wise, I’m OK. Probably the best thing for me to do is try some short gentle rides on my hard tail, and see how I go. I suppose the main obstacle for me is getting past the negative ‘I can’t do that anymore’ thoughts. Regarding prices, I’ve seen a couple of 575’s with buy it now prices of around £1400, which I don’t think is too bad, but I have been out of cycling for a few years, so I may be a bit unrealistic.

In your position, I would bloody well get the yeti. If a yeti will inspire you to get back out again, then go for it.

575 is a classy bike, get one bought if that’s what you fancy

If you have the old bike I would say get out on that for a bit first and take it easy, I think the first ride I did after breaking my acl was 3k ! Also doctor advised road and pedalling seated! I hate road so found flat not too bumpy tracks. Agreed a FS is the way to gomfor comfort, a xc orientated one is all you need but plenty of choice used and lots of 26 bargains so you can buy what you want. E-bike would get you out and about and further afield but thats not your objective right now, they are also a lot of £££ and might encourage you to e-climb a big hill and plumet down which doesn’t sound smart at this stage. As you say just get out and enjoy some time with the kids

Good luck with the biking and the “rehab” in general

A cheap option to soften the bumps on your hardtail would be a Thudbuster seatpost. Really smooths it out riding the likes of gravel tracks etc.

Maybe let you see how the cycling goes before going for a full sus.

Have you had a go on your old hardtail? Why not give that a go for a tester on an easy cyclepath or something? See how it goes and weigh it up from there.

If the knees are a problem I’d hire or demo an ebike and see how that goes.

Good on you fella – its great reading this type of post

Best of luck on your return to mountain biking 🙂

Try an eBike

When you take it out for a ride use the minimum boost, not Turbo. It will feel like a normal bike but easier.

Lots to choose from starting around £2K upwards.

It got my broken body back out riding and can now stay with the group on the Thursday night rides. It really does make a difference to getting back into riding and allows you to enjoy stuff you couldn’t enjoy without that little assistence

I accept it might be very difficult form someone in your situation, and I may well unwittingly seem insensitive (which is not at all what I want), as I simply cannot effectively relate, but maybe consider the possibility of looking inot any disability cycling groups/clubs/projects in your local area. There may be folk there who could offer advice and support, have adapted cycles you could try out, and offer potential solutions to your issues. You may well not consider yourself ‘disabled’, I’m not suggesting you are at all. Please don’t take me the wrong way. I volunteered with such a group for a sort while, and found it to be a tremendous resource for all sorts of folk, disabled or otherwise. Getting involved yourself could help provide you with a means to help others as well, and be an active part of something positive.

I wish you all the best in your development and recovery.

Good to see you posting back again barnsleymitch.

I’ve still got my 575 and love it, nothing wrong with them for about a grand. Worth more really but everyone wants different size wheels these days of course.
Shame you’re not closer or I’d lend you mine.

Good to see you again Mitch.

I’d try your old bike before buying something different. I suspect an ebike may be ideal for you, if you enjoy your old bike but find it too difficult for whatever reason you could demo one. If you don’t like it and think the Yeti is the answer then do that!

Nice to have you back fella. I have no useful input on the thread though.

As others have said, go with the bike that will inspire you to ride. I imagine that making sure the saddle position, stem length, type of bars etc. will be important to maximise comfort. Perhaps a riser bar to give you a more upright position?