Originally Posted by
Wheever
I have both lizard skins 3.2 AND the Bontrager bars with the built in (stuck on, more like) padding, and I still need lots of cushion on my gloves. I might have to think of moving to a carbon bar. My hands are really sensitive.
[edit] What I haven't mentioned is that the pavement on the roads I ride is usually really, really bad, and even though I'm on a Domane 6 with 28 tires, it's still often bone-jarring for hours at a time. That might be part of the problem with my hands, and maybe a carbon bar would go a long way to easing it.
The padded bars on the Domanes are a good idea in concept, but the foam is thin enough that it is basically fully compressed if you wrap your bars with anything resembling a tight wrap, even with the small channel made for the padding. I did upgrade to carbon bars on my Domane and it helped quite a bit. I also added the Bontrager foam stuff to the bars knowing it wouldn't help so much on the tops as it does on the drops if you are careful not to wrap them too tight. After preferring thinner tape, I landed on the Fizik 3mm performance stuff for my bikes. It has an old school leather look and feel with a bit of extra padding.
What pressure are you running in your 28's? I've been running 95 rear and 85 front on 25 and I'm fat (215 right now). Tire pressure makes a massive difference in ride quality.