Fishrising

Cycling Elbow, is there such a thing?

After about 14 miles on my bike either on the trainer or on the road, one of my elbows begins to really hurt when I move it. No pain as I am riding, but as soon as I take my hand off the handle bars to stretch or shake my hands out, one of my elbows really hurts when the elbow bends beyond how it was bent when I was gripping the handle bars. The other elbow is perfectly fine with no pain whatsoever.

Any thoughts?

Any remedies?

Background: I was diagnosed as a type 2 diabetic at Thanksgiving and have put about 150 miles on my bike since then, as one of my workouts in my new weekly exercise routine. I purchased this bike about 5 years ago or so and had it professionally fitted at the time for me. Then I rode it for one summer and put it away, till this past November.

Could it be that I still need to get in "bike shape" specifically in terms of my elbow(s)? Or my core? Or is this something I should get checked out sooner than later?

Thanks in advance!
Ben

El Conquistador De Amore

I had elbow pain when I had bars that were too narrow. I'm broad shouldered and I was trying some 42's when I usually use a 44 or 46.

rdtompki

I wonder if you might be putting more weight on that arm. I find on the tandem that there is so much RD shifting I'm putting considerably more weight on my left arm; I'm working to eliminate the problem.

nkfrench 

Elbow pain but it started after I had a radial head fracture. Probably some soft tissue damage but I am not inclined to have surgery since the bone healed OK according to x-rays without cutting. It hurts when I snap it to full extension - when shaking out numb hands or swimming butterfly, but it's improved a lot in the 20 months since I fractured it.

I do notice some elbow discomfort when riding in the drops more than usual on a ride or when I have a lot of rough chipseal pavement on a ride. If I ride with straight arms on the chipseal, then I get shoulder irritation.

Obviously the chipseal would not be a factor for you on a trainer. Weak/unconditioned triceps not accustomed to that kind of load? Tendinitis?

Seve

Some thoughts.

It could be that your arms are of unequal lengths, riding with one shoulder a little higher than the other with unequal elbow positions, the hoods not quite matched or the bars being slightly misaligned?

Then again it could simply be a bout of less than ideal riding posture / core as perhaps some road vibrations / bumps etc are not being absorbed by your muscles, but, rather the bones and joints?

TrojanHorse

I would go see somebody about that. I don't think elbow pain is normal for bike riding. Everything else should hurt though... Maybe a couple rounds of physical therapy would take care of it.

Neil_B

Check the bike fit, and your position on the bike. And additional core work won't hurt.

RichardGlover

arm pain can be caused by a number of things: poor bike fit, gripping the bars too hard, bars unequally installed, road vibration, etc...

Strengthening your core muscles can only help the situation - you'll end up with less weight on your hands and arms.

If your bike fit is pretty good, closely examine whether one of your arms is having to reach slightly further than the other. If the bars are aligned properly left-to-right, you may have an arm that is slightly shorter (or an injury that restricts it's reach). One solution is to slightly - VERY SLIGHTLY - turn your saddle's nose in the direction of the 'longer' arm.

Mr Sinister

I had this problem too. I started doing some core exercises, and gripping the bars a little less tight. I now grip them more like I would a golf club, firm, but not tight. Since I did both I really haven't had that problem.

Juan Foote

My right arm does it as well, but it is arthritic and something I just have to deal with. I find that frequent moving of the arm helps a lot.

vic303

I gave up my DF Masi Gran Corsa due to arm, neck, shoulder and most especially hand pain. I ride a Vrex recumbent now, and NOTHING HURTS!!!

Pug

It could be tendonitis. What else are you doing for exercise?

Fishrising

I am pretty confident in the bike fit. So I am leaning towards core strength or tendonitis/acute injury.

My typical week consists of 3 days of cycling, 2 days of basketball, and 2 days of elliptical or other aerobic exercise. I am trying to drop my weight before starting any weight training. Instead of a day off, I do a light day of something, just to keep the bones/joints/blood moving.

Interesting thing is that my sore cycling elbow is the same elbow on my basketball shooting arm. Which has not bothered me in the least.

I need to figure this out well before June as I did sign up for the CT Tour de Cure Century ride.

Next time I am on the bike, I will focus on determining if weight/pressure/grip could be the issue.

Pug

If it's tendonitis, two suggestions for you to consider:

1) Google for info on elbow tendon stretches. You can find a lot of stuff under "tennis elbow" or "golfers elbow".

2) Wear a compression sleeve on the painful arm when you ride and play basketball.

Good luck!

pat5319

When your saddle nose "points down" you wil be using you arms to keep from sliding forward, often not knowing it. Level the saddle or put the nose up slightly to fix. You may need to lower it a bit as well, ridng with a saddle nose often results from havng it too high.

Zoxe

I get elbow pain on my flat-bar Giant Cypress, mostly in my right arm. I don't get elbow pain on my Bianchi road bike despite being much more hunched over. Mine goes away almost as soon as I get off the bike. I've always figured it was a combination of bike fit, seat angles, and the fact that I rotate my wrist to be up on the Bianchi's hoods.

Mithrandir

I would get this after 20 miles on my MTB/Hybrid. Never did find a cure for it on that setup.

Switched to a road bike, and the pain went away completely.

So I dunno. Maybe the drop bars are better for my elbows.

cyccommute 

I suspect that your, and fishrising's, problem are related to the way in which ride. Due to it's wider stance, a mountain bike handlebar can make the rider more likely to ride with straight arms, i.e. locked elbows. As you get tired, your tendency to lock your elbows gets greater as well because you are trying to hold yourself up instead of relying on your core muscles. If you have a tight grip on the bars, this exacerbates the problem.

Try riding with bent elbows and a relaxed grip while relying on your core muscles to hold you up rather than your hands. Look at your signature, some variation of the bent elbows rider in the drawing is correct. On the other hand, the drawing of the rider in fishrising's signature is how not do ride. The elbows are just way too straight.

pat5319

one more thought be sure to keep your arms bent - absorbs shock