I'm doing my first century in two weeks. I can ride 60 miles pretty easily right now, except my wrists start to hurt about 45 miles into my ride. Do you think aero bars (as Fred as that may be) will help me out? Or should I try to fit my bike a little better?

Thanks.

-Mag

Although they may help, aero bars are not the solution to hand or wrist pain. Better to work on bike fit and/or core muscle strength.

Feeling somewhat the same as you, I got aero bars to help with my first double century. But you should be able to manage a century all right. Bike fit first, then concentrate on hand positions. I rotate 5 different hand positions. My favorite is wrists resting on the bar behind the shifters, little finger or two under the hood, remaining fingers clenched around the hood top. That means I have to get my forearms just a little above horizontal, which means I've got a pretty good reach to the bars and my thighs shouldn't hit my stomach in that position, so I can't get too fat.

Two weeks isn't long enough to train adequately on the bars so as not to endanger yourself or others. Train with them for a few months before using them in a group situation, and even then you can only use them on the front, which you probably won't want to do, not being that strong yet anyway. So get a bike fit, grab a wheel, and change hand positions.

I use aero bars on my touring rig. Back-to-back-to-back-to-back days of over 100 miles tend to make my hands numb. I rarely ever get wrist or hand pain - just numbness that creeps in over the course of the tour.

It took three months for me to get back full feeling/movement after my first extended tour, which was enough for me to try anything...even silly looking aero bars. ;)

I've found that wrapping them with matching bar tape makes me not hate the way they look quite so much. :D

Yeah, 2 weeks isn't enough time to learn how to use aero bars. Besides, you might wind up trading wrist pain for neck pain. ;)

If you have wrist pain, the first likely culprit is you're getting too much road shock from the front wheel. You can try the following:

- use wider tires
- use lower PSI tires (this will slow you down a tad)
- if you use drop bars, get Fizik Bar Gels (gel pads that go under your bar tape)
- get new/thicker gloves

The other likely culprit is that you're keeping your hands in the same position for too long. If you use flat bars, I highly recommend getting Ergon grips and bar-ends, or possibly a trekking bar. If you use drops, move your hands around frequently.

Go all the way and ride a recumbent. No wrist pain!

Seriously, change hand positions more often and check your fit.

Go all the way and ride a recumbent. No wrist pain!

Seriously, change hand positions more often and check your fit.

yeah aero bars will only give you another position to set up in. you can just keep moving your hands around, and try it more often if u feel it hurting again.

do u have any injury to your hand? ive broken my right wrist twice in my life and every now and then it bothers me.. but nothing a new hand grip cant fix!

yeah aero bars will only give you another position to set up in.

Yes, but if this additional position is what it takes isn't that a good thing?

Yes, but if this additional position is what it takes isn't that a good thing?
It's much harder to control a bike when you're in the aero bar position; you also can't paceline when in aero bars. So I would say that if the only way you can relieve wrist pain is with aero bars, that's probably not a good thing.

It's much harder to control a bike when you're in the aero bar position; you also can't paceline when in aero bars. So I would say that if the only way you can relieve wrist pain is with aero bars, that's probably not a good thing.

agreed