Originally Posted by
FiftySix
Just to add this to the conversation . . .
Last night I went on another ride. (Unable to ride since Sunday morning due to work and high water from heavy rain.)
Last night's ride was on much smoother pavement and my hands didn't go numb until much, much later.
Sunday morning's ride had a lot of wavy concrete on the road which vibrated the fork so much that if I pulled one hand off the bars the front would shake so much that the fender would vibrate into the tire. That's the ride that made my hands go numb in about 10 minutes. Arrrgh.
Anyway, I got notification the 25 degree stem (original 10 degree) I had ordered had arrived at my work. I'll pick it up this weekend on my way out of town for work.
Hmm. I don't know what your position is like. For riding any distance, one wants about a 45° torso angle. Many people make the mistake of thinking that position is about aerodynamics, but that's not the case, though it is convenient that the position helps with that. The standard road and MTB position is about comfort. It's been the standard since the invention of the safety bicycle. This is an original Wright Brothers bicycle, built in 1898:
Rather amazing, isn't it?
But back to your hand issues. Looking through the Norco bike lineup I see only the step-through Scene model have swept back bars. All the rest are either flat bars or drop bars. The Scene bikes are designed to be ridden bolt upright, which takes the weight off the hands. If one's position puts any weight on the hands, then drop or flat bars are preferred.
To see how to ride on rough surfaces watch riders on the Paris-Roubaix cobbles:
Leaning well forward, elbows bent, arms relaxed, most riders either on the hoods or bar tops. Set your bike up to imitate that position. There's a reason for it.
So what to do? Change out the bars. Move the saddle back until your hands are light on the bars with so little weight that you can lift your hands off them without sliding forward on the saddle. Lengthen and lower your stem until your upper arms make a 90° angle with your straight torso. It's not complicated and everyone does it this way.
The other thing of course is tires. Run wide rims and wide tires at a relatively low pressure. The new Continental 5000 IIs tires are available in nice widths. What you can run will depend on the clearance in your fork.