Road Cycling - handle bar padding

I recently tried some weather stripping I found in the basement. I think it was originally for the bottom of a garage door. It is rubber like (not foam). I had tried cutting a sponge, but when compressed by handlebar tape-even the sponge was a bit hard. The weather stripping is perfect and has taken the "buzz" from the bars. My only problem is that even with gel gloves I still have too much hand numbness.

John

Sorry for the confusion - this was to have been a post to JHAWRYLAK's post on bar padding.

Hi John

I believe the general cause of hand numbness is too much weight on the hands and either arm stiffness or reduced circulation to the arm. Padding helps but the the main causes or solutions are:
1. handle bars lower than the saddle. I moved my bar up so it is approx. 1 cm above the saddle (I have a Brooks and is hard to get a level location, generally use where your sit bones indent the leather). This has helped.
2. Exercise both hands every 10 minutes when riding. This has helped me a lot, especially after climbing. I rotate each arm like a propeller and then flex at the elbow a couple of times when riding. It keeps the circulation up and your can feel it in your shoulder.
3. Move the hands around on the bar. This has helped. This takes more thought sicne you tend to forget about hand position.

Hopes this helps
John Hawrylak
Woodstown NJ

There are other factors that tend to throw weight forward onto the hands, especially saddle position, which also affects other things. Make sure your knee is directly over the pedal spindle with the pedal at the 3:00 position. This also affects pedalling efficiency. For me this means having the saddle all the way forward. I also feel the difference in my hands. Also the area where you actually sit on the saddle needs to be level. On my pretty much flat Selle Italia, this means my saddle is level. My Brooks Team Pro slant up a bit at the back. To get this part level I must raise the nose just a bit. The difference in one notch of adjustment is the difference between feeling stable and balanced and feeling like I am sliding forward throwing weight onto my hands. You still have to change hand positions periodically, but if you feel like you are leaning heavily on your hands it may be your saddle position. Saddle to bar distance can make a difference, but I can tolerate a range there as long as my saddle is correct.
FWIW,
Raymond

A stronger back will really help with the numb hands. I have never had some do back training and still have the numb finger problems.

There are some resistance training (weight lifting) execerises called "good mornings" that strength the back.