Originally Posted by slowandsteady

Numb hands has nothing do with hand strength or even handlebars for that matter. Strengthening your muscles will not help nerve inflammation which is what that numbness is. You have too much weight on your hands. That can be corrected.

Move your seat back. Yes, move it back. It makes sense and here is why.

Stand in front of a mirror sideways. Now bend over. What happens? Your rear end moves backward to counter balance your torso. If you bend over but don't move your rear end rearward you fall over on your face.

Well if you are on a bike and you don't move your rear end rearward to compensate for bending over, that pressure of falling forward ends up on your hands. Just a cm move rearward of the seat often has a dramatic effect. You should almost be able to lift your hands off of the bars without falling forward. There should be very light pressure on the bars.

That is also why you can move to a bike with handlebars that are actually higher than your old bike but if the seat if too far forward on the new bike you will have greater pressure on your hands.