Originally Posted by
TimothyH
There absolutely is a correct way, and lots of incorrect ways to hold the hoods. Its all in the wrists.
Hoods too low means you have to move your wrists into
ulnar deviation which can result in locked elbows/shrugged shoulders and cause neck and shoulder pain.
Your wrist should be neutral - not flexed or extended. Extended wrists (hands bent back) can be caused by bars which are too wide or a frame/stem too long.
The wrist in this picture is correct...
Bike fit can typically fix most issues but sometimes it is a matter of form. I flexed my wrists a lot when I got my first real road bike and had to just work on proper form. Eventually it became second nature.
Bike and Body: Have neck and shoulder pain on the bike?
Wrist Movements
Not sure who wrote that article but that's not right. You want your hoods positioned so that you can easily grab the brake levers with your hands in the drops. Which is generally vertical to the ground. The way those are in the pic it would be more difficult unless you have really long fingers. Having the hoods pointing to the sky like that screams "Fred".
You want your
bars positioned so that your wrist isn't bent unnaturally
while in the drops. That does look correct in the pic.