Hardtails and back pain?

While I can ride my Five all day, a couple of hours (or even less sometimes) on the Solaris and I start to develop a pain in my lower back. I’ve tried to get the cockpit set up as close as possible on both bikes, but obviously one is a hardtail and the other full suss.

So, what to you reckon? Are hardtails tougher on your back or should I keep looking for some other cause?

im sort of in the same boat….lower back gets sore, covered just under 100 miles last week on the hardtail…. it was fine on Sunday on the rune.

very tempted to replace the hardtail with an anthem…

I can ride my Solaris all day and have had various back problems in the past few years. Could it be an issue of riding style? When on the full-susser I tend to sit on the saddle more and be a bit lazier. On the hardtail I’m out of the saddle much more and using my legs and core to support me rather than just putting all my weight on the saddle. A carbon seatpost helps too to absorb the vibration and shocks.

I thought this was the case, but switching to a low reservoir Camelbak (Charge?) cured it in the main for me. Ti hardtail but not the most compliant (456 original), big-ish tyres, Thomson post which I was considering switching out for carbon.

That said, 4 hours plus still leaves me beat up more than a full suss. Those rides are rare these days though, and the hardtail is more fun on local loops.

I would get a very sore lower back after 2 hrs on my old commuter/road bike but never on my Soul/Simple even after an all day ride, so it may not be down to it being a hardtail.

I have both bikes, i think a lot of people have suffered on hardtail’s as i also have suffered from lower back pain. I sold a lovely Ti 29er hardtail in 2013 because of this issue. I mainly ride a 29er full suss. But this winter i have gone back to a hardtail. I have done a bit of research, bike fit & tight hamstrings will cause lower back pain.
So lots of stretching & plenty of core exercises & try to get out the saddle as much as possible. Touch wood iv’e been ok for a while.

I’ve always found that hardtails give me backache (neary 20 yrs of MTBing), I put it down to the vibrations and impacts from a hardtail. Yrs ago when suspension seat posts were the rage it did help.
I find bigger wheeled hardtails better on the back than 26″ wheels too. My current HT a 27.5″ ghost Kato pro 6 is the best yet for back ache. FS bikes have always been better for me no matter how short/long the travel.

I ride hard tails exclusively and sometimes get a bit of soreness in my lower back. I tend to put it down to a weak core as a week or two of plank exercises sorts it out

Do yous with back pain tend to sit down a lot over bumpy stuff?

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I do tend to sit down over bumpy stuff, so I don’t think it’s down to a different riding style on the HT, but could just be extra vibrations etc. The annoying thing is that once the sore back starts I don’t want to stand up as that hurts more, which takes all the fun out of the descents.

Anyway, good to hear that I’m not alone 🙂

Used to get really sore back on a alu HT but found a steel and more recently a ti frame has been much better when sat down. However hovering over the saddle on the bumpy stuff has been the main cure. Quite easily do 4-5 hours now on a ti HT without issue. Running lower tyre pressure also helps.