Tandem Cycling - Aching hands

I was wondering if anyone out there suffers from aching hands. I have been, and only when I am on the tandem. I ride several other bikes the most similar being my road bike and have never had the problem but everytime I am on the tandem my hands ache.

I am 200+ and the stoker is +130 ish my road bike is mostly carbon while the tandem is a steel co-motion speedster, steel fork. I have used some non-padded Cannondale gloves and also some gel Cannondale gloves it does not seem to make a difference. The tandem bars are oversized (31.6?) but that is probably only where the stem meets. The road bike I think has traditional bars (26.0?) I do not know if I am gripping something that is larger with the tandem or not. It seems like I am in a more aggressive position on the road bike than on the tandem. I have large hands, meaning gloves are a size large.

I think I might take the tandem for a solo spin and see how my hands feel.

Any suggestions, experiences, or stories out there?

Thanks

perhaps with the added stress of steering braking etc. for two, you are unconsciously gripping the bar tighter. My wife/ stoker used to twist the bar tape until she became comfortable and relaxed her death grip..Haa!

When we first got our tandem, my hands ached as well. Eventually, as I became more comfortable with the bike and relaxed my grip on the bars, the aching disappeared. Just give it time.

Is your fit similar in both bikes? Particularly watch the relative position of the saddle, the bottom bracket, and the bars. Having the saddle too far forward will place more stress on hands/arms/shoulders.

Don't have a 'death' grip' on the bars, relax the hands. Move them around to different positions on the drop bars.
Perhaps raise your stem fraction of an inch so there is less weight on your hands and more on the butt/pedals.
Just our experience.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

It sounds like your position on the Tandem is off from your single or you you have a death grip thing going on. I doubt it is bar, glove or padding related, IMHO.
I would really focus on relaxing the grip for a few more rides before chasing the fit as that will probably be a more time consuming process. Since you don't have an issue on your single I'm sure the fix is there....good luck....let us know what you ultimately do to solve it.

Bill J.

I have the same problem. We only have about 140 miles on our tandem and it is getting better as we both learn to relax more. Part of my problem is the campag brake lever hoods are a bit high (set up like Shimano) but I havent got round to fixing them yet (too busy enjoying ourself).

+1 on seat position. I'd been suffering as well, but moved the seat back about 3/4 of an inch when cleaning up the bike yesterday. Don't know if it's a long term fix, but today's ride was much improved.

all the suggestions on fit, relaxing, etc. are good.

In my experience riding a tandem puts more stress on you than riding a single bike. Mostly because you don't move around as much, and change positions, and for the cpatain you have the added stress of steering for 2.

So all the stuff about fit becomes even more important. As well as working on relaxing,and changing positions frequently.

I recently solved the aching hands problem by double wrapping my bars with foam type
bar tape. Makes for a bulky bar but that is easily adapted to and it is much more
comfortable. Bar tape comes in relatively compressed type and a closed cell foam type,
I use two layers of the compressed cell foam type.

we have both been having issues with numb hands lately. Tried a pair of Pearl Izumi Gel Vents today, and after 3.5 hours, no tingley...I think we have a winner, right there.

Thanks for all the responses. I will see about pushing the seat back and trying to relax more.

As far as adding extra tape, I think I will wait on that suggestion as it requires more effort. I would think adding another layer of tape would make the bars thicker thus making it more difficult to hold.

I would also think moving the seat back would put more pressure on the hands...... The fit does feel more upright than my single bike, and if my knees feel good where I am at, perhaps I could accomplishes the same thing with a longer stem as pushing the seat back.

I'll report back.

I would also think moving the seat back would put more pressure on the hands...... perhaps I could accomplishes the same thing with a longer stem as pushing the seat back.

You can do a quick little experiment in the privacy of your own home to gain an appreciation for how moving a saddle forward will put more weight on your hands whereas moving it back does the opposite...

Stand with your back and heels against the wall and squat down with your hands at your sides. If you didn't already fall forward on the way down, extend your arms out in front of your body -- again, heels and butt still against the wall -- and see what happens.

Now, move your heel out about 1" from the wall and repeat the process. Notice any difference?

Moving your feet away from the wall does the same thing that moving your saddle back does.... it allows your butt be positioned a bit further back which shifts your center of gravity back. Conversely, moving your saddle forward moves your center of gravity forward and causes you to put more weight on your hands. Therefore, moving your handlebar's further away from your saddle might increase your reach, but in doing so it will put even more weight on your hands.

This is somewhat overly simplistic as bar height, your leg legth, your upper body mass, and fitness will all determine where the sweet spot is for your preferred riding style. However, it does offer some food for thought as you evaluate your riding position and what you might need to do to optimize it to solve different ailments or enhance performance by bringing different muscle groups into play, i.e., time trial posture vs. road racing, etc..