Mountain Biking - Pain

can anyone give me advice on what to do for sore wrists, everytime i try ride on rough stuff on my bike, my left wrist starts to hurt really bad and espically if i bend it a bit.

try warming up ur rists like streches and stuff it might also be due to ur brake response do u have discs or v's, maybe even lack of suspension response

the bike i got at the moment is just a Haro V1 and it has v brakes and SR suntour (***** forks) sus, it prob is the forks that is doing it. even when im not riding they hurt, so maybe i got weak wrists. my old man reckons i should do a few weights to strengthen them, what do u think of that?

I think you just used the word "reckon" :lol:.

Check the alignment of your brake levers. When you're sitting on your bike in your normal riding position, look down at your hands. Your hands should be straight. If you have to roll your wrists down to reach the levers they're too low. If you've got to roll them back, they're too high.

All you need is a 5mm allen wrench to adjust them.

L8R

It might be how you are holding onto the handlebars, when you ride are your wrists bent or straight? I think I read somewhere that your wrists are supposed to be straight when holding onto the bars, which would make sense because if they are bent and you had a hard impact it would start to overextend the wrist, and that would hurt.

Must've posted at the same time!

Great minds......

L8R

Wow two posts in the same minute containing the same advice.

wow very interesting. yeah my wrists hurt when i do jumping. I should try warm-ups like you guys said or doing something about it. becuase when u land hard with wrists like mine, your in deep sh**! lol thanks for the ideas and good luck to you newby!!!

Check the alignment of your brake levers. When you're sitting on your bike in your normal riding position, look down at your hands. Your hands should be straight. If you have to roll your wrists down to reach the levers they're too low. If you've got to roll them back, they're too high.

All you need is a 5mm allen wrench to adjust them.

L8R

Also, the sweep of your handle bar affects it too. Only way to find a better sweep is to experiment though...so really thats no help haha

my old man reckons i should do a few weights to strengthen them, what do u think of that?

I reckon your old man's right. Strength training is a good idea.

my friend just got out of his cast about 2 weeks ago he's been in it for about 4 months should've been less but he kept riding with the cast on so it didn't heal and he now cant ride properlly due to his wrist so he tends to strap it up before riding. i agree with ur old man too u should try to strengthn them up

laters antoni.s

if the pain continues see a doc and ask for sugestions .... ?Wrist supports?

the rise and sweep make a huge difference.i've broken both wrists several times sk8ing,and until i found a decent sweep/rise shape,they hurt big time.after a break or a sprain an elasticated bandage works well.keep it tight though.oh, and forget the "wrists straight" thing,whatever feels comfortable is comfortable.

oh, and forget the "wrists straight" thing,whatever feels comfortable is comfortable.

Yeah, but if you land a decent sized drop with bent wrists and they are all that are supporting your body from falling into your handlebars chances are that it's going to hurt a bit, but with straight wrists you don't have to worry about overextending them really. Generally (for me at least) it's more comfortable to ride with straight wrists anyway.

And yes, rise and sweep can play a big role as well.

yeah i agree to a degree.i started with flatish xc bars and they hurt like hell,even after a really tame ride.i think a slight sweep may increase muscle tension laterally or something, that might act like buffer in the stress from landing.theres so many bones involved,mine are probably not really where they should be these days...