plaucc

I get that too after 30 mins on my road bike but not so much on my hybrid flat bar with bar-ends and mountain biking. Mostly on my right arm but always thought it was arthritis or getting old related issues....lol.

79pmooney

OP, I will second travbikeman (post #21 ) but for a slightly different reason. Raising your bars will, as he says, take weight off your hands but it will also allow you to ride real amounts of time in the drops. When you raise them, see to it that you can reach the brake levers and shift easily when in the drops so this can be a good go-to position any time.

Oh, another rule that was passed on like a mantra back in the dark ages: Always ride with your elbows bent and angled out. Bent to minimize hand and other issues, to absorb road shock and ensure that unseen potholes don't throw you for a loop. Pointed out so when the rider beside you bumps you, it's no big deal. Your arms are always relaxed. Hands always have a firm grip on the bars (so that pothole doesn't knock them off) but never a death grip. These were all part of the "Allis way"; John Allis being the godfather and mentor of racing around Boston in the 1970s. (Google him; he's probably still riding, I highly doubt he has changed any part of those "rules" in his riding routine. Very good evidence that it works. And if he is still riding (he's ~75 yo) I'm sure he can still blow the doors off many much younger riders!

Ben

79pmooney

redundant post

Drew Eckhardt 

Fore/aft saddle position has a huge effect on how much weight your hands and wrists support.

Balance on your toes in the middle of the room and bend over. Nothing happens.

Do the same with butt and heels against a wall and you'll fall over because your butt can't move back to counter-balance your weight.

The same issue exists on a bike. You need to be far enough back your top half is counter-balanced, so that when you take your hands off the bars you don't fall forwards.

That distance increases with weight - I went from centered to nearly the end of my rails with 70 pounds of middle-age spread.

Knee-Over-Pedal-Spindle is just a starting point.

Joe Minton

CPS: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome ---- that is what you have. Look it up (Google: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome); see your doctor!

Joe

BTW: I am going to have CPS operations on both my hands. It is a 15-minute procedure and I expect that I'll no longer have the numbness and pain I now suffer with.
This is a common problem; the 'cure' is simple, usually permanent, and safe. If you wait too long, your medial nerve may be permanently damaged and the problem might then persist. See your doctor and be pro-active about this, Now--- PLEASE?!!

Joe

fietsbob

One hand off the bars , to restore circulation, Then the other one ..

On my (97) tour at a spry 50 , I had built up my Randonneur bend bars with rubber lumps "grip shapes"

under the tape so the bars there were flattish, not round .. Unfortunately the company 'Off the Front' expired.

customsound79

I spent 30 min on the trainer making sure i wasn't locking elbows or pinching my shoulders back which took a bit of effort but no hint of numbness. Handlebars are still too hard so I'll try the double wrap anyway. Thanks!!!!

Scooper

One other thing that can cause numbness and tingling in your hands/fingers is the angle your hands make to your arms at your wrist. Your handlebar should be adjusted so that your hands grip the bar with your wrist in a neutral position. If your wrist is angled, it can cause pressure on the ulnar nerve and also cut off blood circulation to your hands.



Cyclist's Hands: Overcoming overuse injuries

Joe Minton

Check this link:
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-me...-new-stem.html


DannoXYZ did us all a great service with his post #13 . Read it; you won't be sorry.

Joe

ColaJacket

Yep, that's the one that I was going to post (but from a different forum in 2011). Looks like he reposted the information here.

GH

jsigone

thought of this post when I saw this

Watch: Mechanic snaps counterfeit handlebars with his bare hands - Cycling Weekly

customsound79

That seems pretty fishy. Why were they taped with no levers installed?

dr_lha

Maybe they were from a track bike?

RubeRad

I wrap my bars with old inner tube underneath the tape, for extra cush.

Also, general principle, there are 3 contact points with your bike: hands, butt, feet. To get weight off your hands, you have to shift it to your butt or feet. To shift it to your butt, get your bars higher so your center of mass is pushed back. To shift it onto your feet, RIDE HARDER, COAST LESS. If your feet aren't pressing on the pedals, all the weight (except your legs) are shared with butt/hands.

agenkin

I had this issue. I solved it in three ways:
1. Reduced reach by changing to a shorter stem - went from 90mm 10* stem to 60mm 35*.
2. Moved my saddle backwards. This seems to be the opposite of (1), but in effect this takes the load off your hands by moving you back relative to the pedals.
3. Switch to Bontrager double-gel bar tape over Specialized Bar Phat gel strips.

I used to have hand numbness just doing my 6km commutes. Since I did the above, I did three century rides and have no issues with my hands at all.

JohnJ80

Most numbness is almost always related to technique. There are nerves that go through the palm in several places that you must not pressure or you will get numbness. Learning how to hold the handlebar is critical.

Read this thread especially posts 7. It's the best explanation I've seen and tells you exactly how to hold the bar and specifically how not to hold the bar. This solved it for me after decades of problems. Kind of pisses me off that I wasn't smart enough to study the anatomy earlier.

Adding padding to gloves can actually make the problem worse.

J.

Bike tinker man

Yes I agree with Joe Minton's comment on Carpal Tunnel, if you've tried all the obvious like using gel grips & have the wrist postion right, as mentioned in the previous posts, then a trip to consultant to have your wrists checked. I had the same issue did all the above mentioned posts adjustments & still had terrible numbness after awhile riding, but once the simple operation done on both wrists the problem cleared up immediately, you've not mentioned your age but if you are nearer retirement then this is a high probability

RubeRad

Thx for that link, very interesting. I will experiment with that (and with those principles for flat-bar riding) and see if I can improve hand-comfort for longer rides.

Wilfred Laurier

Excessive pressure on the hands is often/usually a result of improper saddle placement, specifically having he saddle nose down - perfectly level or nose up is preferable. Other general bike fitting issues can also be the cause.

JohnJ80

Hopefully, that should work for you. Numbness comes from nerve pressure so paying attention to not compressing the nerves is beneficial.

Flat bar riding (like mtb), I've found that grip section matters. I use the Ergon style grips that provide a larger platform for better support of the outside of your hand and less pressure on the more sensitive regions mentioned in that post. The best guidance in all of that and it pertains to all bars is that the pressure needs to be on the same parts of your hands that would bear weight when you are doing a pushup.

J.

dim

I bought a cheap roadbike on the weekend and had my 1st longish commute today

after approx 20 minutes of riding, my hands started going numb .... I moved the seat back by approx 1 inch and problem solved

customsound79

Swapped the stem for a shorter/ higher angle. That let me move the stem back. It helped a lot. I'm still going to try double wrap and I got some new gloves in today.

VCSL2015

I switch hand positions when this happens. Switch to drops and tops.

tunavic

Proper saddle position is determined by factors other than hand numbness. Moving a properly positioned saddle creates a bunch of other problems more serious than hand numbness.

Get a longer stem.

LivingCodeBlue

I have similar issues and have found that I need to remind myself to keep changing positions on my bars. It helps, but after enough time, I would still get numb.

Years ago, I had a Cannondale road bike and I was experiencing the issue even way back then. I purchased a set of bolt on aero bars. I found that having my forearms down on the pads, almost completely eliminated the problem. I was able to raise the bars slightly which made that Aero bars actually more comfortable for me than riding in the drops. Having multiple hand positions available is never a bad idea.