80sMutRider

Ok, so I've been trying more "technical" riding (trackstanding, skidding, etc.) and I've found that my wrists are hurting more than usual. I have tendonitis in one, and carple tunnel in the other (caused by computer programming) so my wrists are REALLY sensitive. I'm currently riding with no bar tape and I found that when I had bar-tape my wrists were feeling better, but they still hurt. I was wondering if maybe I were to double up the bar tape it would be easier on my wrists? Or do you think it would make the bar too big?

s2sxiii

gloves?

chzman

can't help myself, but maybe its other activities instead of riding

chzman

Slodo

I know it looks cool to have no bar tape but it exists for a reason. Otherwise try a good set of gloves. I actually had some wrist pain of my own early in this season but it somehow just went away after a few weeks of hard riding. That being said, listen to your body; you can't always just "ride off" the pain. If your wrists hurt, either the bike is the wrong size or its adjusted improperly. If you want to skip the bar tape and gloves, the best way to approach wrist pain is either to lower your saddle or raise your bars (via a different angle stem). If you have a reversable stem try reversing it. The point ism if your wrists hurt that means your center of gravity is off and there is too much of your body weight on your arms. Try the stem and seat adjustment first.

80sMutRider

I do use gloves, I have a nice set of Pearl Izumi's, even this year's model. But my wrists are already bad from typing a lot (my last program was 80+ pages of code (fonst size 10) when finished). I only really experiance the wrist pain when I'm doing more strenuous things, like trackstanding or skidding, where you're out of the saddle and leaning a good portion of your weight on your wrists.

mcatano

I'm trying to sort out some nacscent wrist pain as well. I recently switched to a much longer stem and to deep drop bullhorns from regular old road drops. I think it might be the case that the stem is just too long for me (it's a 130mm), but I'm going to try my old bars with the new stem and see if that helps at all. I like the new stem a lot more than the new bars. A lesson that continually fails to sink in with me: changing too much at once is always a recipe for disaster.

There are so many variables involved in setting up your bike's fit that it can be really frustrating trying to narrow down exactly what it is that's causing your discomfort. The flipside of that, I guess, is that there's more than one way to go about fixing the problem.

m.

IchbinJay

I take it you have drop bars. I'm also guessing that your wrists hurt more when you're riding the top, right? I know what does it for me is when I curl my thumbs under the bar they put all my pressure on the wrist, where as if I run my thumbs parallel on the top bar than the pressure is more evenly spread out. Try that. I guess the same would apply if you had bullhorns or such. If that doesn't work than maybe you could try riding no hands? hahaha, just joking.

80sMutRider

I ride on bullhorns, though I'm thinking of maybe going back to my cyclocross drops if this pain continues

gnat

try relaxing your grip? if you're clenching your bars tighter while skidding/trackstanding, a looser grip might help. also, learn to trackstand sitting down. it keeps the majority of the weight on your seat, and you won't have to stress your wrists. and, while i do ride no brakes, i would consider a brake. if you can't skid comfortably, a front brake might alleviate a lot of the pressure from your wrists (if you use the brake instead of skidding)

80sMutRider

I do ride with a front break. And as for trackstanding sitting, I can only hold one for like 20-30 seconds standing. I've tried sitting, and I was at like 5 secs and I have a cool scrape on my leg from it. I have just found that I usually trackstand when I'm waiting for a traffic light, and usually I stand up to get the leverage to start pedaling againso I just trackstand standing up for that.

icithecat

Bike fitting seems to be elevatated to a black art. Lots of theorys and no proof. Personally I find that the theory that the 'drops' should be parallel with the road is a bust. Mine tilt downwrad to the rear. If not, I die. Long leg to torso ratio but also long arm to torso ratio. To achieve the 'ideal' tt/ stem length that blocks the view of the front axle when in the drops, requires that the drops be tilted or the wrists be excesivly bent.

lilHinault

Some modern bar tape is fat, there's some called bar-phat, and some other tape that goes under the tape you put on to look good, to fatten things up, there are also handlebars made apparently to be easier on the hands/wrists, those might be something you love if you give 'em a try.

I hate the bars on my Langster and am kind of amazed my wrists don't kill me after riding it. I have some other bars on order. Try different things and see what works for you, that's what matters.

Plinkerton

I don't know if I'd be able to handle that...

80sMutRider

I was wondering how long it would be until someone made a crack like that. Sorry though, wasn't from that.

Ken Cox

I ride with taped bullhorns and severely padded Trico gloves.
That said, I have found experimenting with stem angle and length has influenced my wrist comfort more than anything else.
I mean, the tape and the pads help, but the angle and position of the bars seems more important.
I now ride with an 80mm stem and a six degree rise, and I adust the angle of the bullhorns to match the natural angle of my wrists in that position.
With any other stem (and I have a collection) my wrists hurt.

absntr

Bar/stem/seat/seatpost all matter. You have to find the right balance between being too high or too low for either seat/seatpost or stem/bar. It took me a long time (over two years experimenting) to dial in what I think is almost a perfect fit for almost all the kinds of riding I do these days (track, street and long distance). Play with some angles, minutely, and see if anything makes a difference. You never know, you might find an even better position. I know I did.

dokushoka

It sounds like you're just not distributing your weight evenly enough. Definitely learn to trackstand in the saddle. Make sure you are centered on the pedals (ball of foot right over the spindle) and everything and it should be even easier than doing it standing. That'll take a lot of weight off your wrists and you'll be able to hold your trackstands for a loooooooog time.

As far as skidding, if that is hurting your wrists, it could be because you're not shifting your body weight far enough forward over the frame. If you do it too far back, you have to unweight the rear wheel by essentially "twisting" forward on the bars, and that is all wrists. Get your nuts right over the stem, at that point, you should find skidding effortless.

80sMutRider

And hope that you don't find a pothole in your way

dokushoka

Heh...
But seriously. What I like to do (I skid with my right foot in back) is to take my right leg and actually press my thigh against the top tube. This helps stabilize things and keep the little squirrels on the road from cracking my nuts.

80sMutRider

I've also noticed that when I skid (leaning all the way forward), my feet are at about 11 and 5 o'clock on the rotation. Do people usually skid with this much off of level? I find that it is easiest for me to skid that way (I've skidded almost an entire block after a long hard sprint).

mrbertfixy

considering your body position, 11 and 5 is level. both knees bent about the same. when skidding there is hardly any weight on my wrists.

i seem to have the same problem. i've been getting a little wrist soreness lately. most of the the time when i go over rough patches of pavement, i'm ridiing no handed anyway. maybe it's all the skidding i've been doing to show people what a fixie can do. i guess i'll try adusting stem/seat/bullhorns too.

80sMutRider

Well, I wrapped my bars with a slightly thicker bar-tape and I rode for about 5/6 hours today and my wrists feel pretty good. I guess I just needed that little bit of extra shock absorbtion. Hope this fix lasts for a while.

jasonyates

If anything habitual ************ should strengthen the wrists, right? Perhaps you aren't doing it enough.

Plinkerton

That's possible. Cause remember, Ralphie, if your nose starts bleeding, it means you're picking your nose too much, or not enough...