Training & Nutrition - hand/wrist tingling pain

hi, new to the boards...

I've started riding again for first time since high school, bought a trek 7.3 fx, riding 2-3 times a week...

i've started to feel a weird pain/numbness in my left hand and wrist, with the feeling sometime going up toward my left elbow. It's hard to describe, but like a mild tingling, sort of like when you bump your elbow and say you hit your funny bone...except that it's staying even after my ride is over.

has anyone experienced this? Anything to be concerned about? and what did you do about it?

Thanks....

IMHO, your bike doesn't fit you resulting in too much weight being placed on your hands/arms. What can you do about it?

>Move your saddle BACK (away from the handle bars). This will give you better balance over the bike taking some of the load off your hands. This article explains why/how it works: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

>It appears your bike is a hybrid with straight handle bars. Without trying to sound preachy, road (drop) bars are generally more comfortable for the hands due to the variety of hand positions available. You could get bar ends to give you another hand position. These are the ones I have on my mountain bike which I would recommend:

http://www.bikeworld.com/graphics/full/3/2/329.jpg

>You probably should go back to the shop where you purchased the bike, though they may not be too interested in spending much time with you after the purchase.

Good luck!

-murray

xxx

a couple questions... take a tape measure and measure how high the top of your seat is from the ground, now measure the top of the bars from the ground. are they the same, is the difference more than two inches?

after your done measuring, when riding, does the bar block your view of the front hub? behind or infront of it?

also, relax your arms, don't straight arm when riding. and loosen your grip, that will screw up your whole riding experience. when all else fails, take it to your shop and see what they tell you. let us know how it goes.

Not to say your measurements aren't important, but many cyclists are perfectly comfortable with a wide variety of bar placements. The important thing is having your saddle properly placed relative to the bottom bracket. Read the article I linked above which explains it far better than I can. Once you achieve the proper lower body positioning, the bars can be placed just about anywhere and your hands won't go numb.

-murray

Hand numbness can be caused by something as subtle as changing the type of gloves you ride in. This happened to me last month--padding was different, manufacturer was same and quality was supposed to be better--at least from the price. I upgraded my Pearl Izumi's because the LBS didn't have my old gloves, and I'm hard to fit because I have large hands.

ps: rode w/my old worn out gloves w/the holes and had no numbness in fingers. Washed them and hope I can get a few more rides out of them.

a relax your arms, don't straight arm when riding.

+1 when you straight arm over time you can cut off some of the circulation to your hands and they can go numb.